Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

choicebutts t1_j9dwwow wrote

Reply to comment by UnfilteredFacts in When do trains pass over the trestle trail? Is there a schedule? I took this on film, and would like to repeat with a train passing. TY! by UnfilteredFacts

That, and trains run when there are enough things to move.

When I moved to the midwest in '07, trains passed through my neighborhood several times a day, but starting in 2009 traffic noticeably dropped off to maybe twice a day. Traffic didn't get close to normal until 2011.

You can Google commercial train schedules, but what you'll get are pages that are set up for industrial tracking and you have to have an account with the shipping company.

You could try the old photographer's trick of picking a day to sit and wait.

5

UnfilteredFacts OP t1_j9grs19 wrote

Having researched this I'm surprised to learn that industrial trains are so irregular, but apparently use a system of trains taking a particular route in a specific order.

But there is something "advanced train control system" or ATCS which has real time data on the locations of some trains. Some of that data is available on trainmon5, which I've submitted an application to join. Might end up being a dead end, but I'll report back.

1

choicebutts t1_j9h7651 wrote

I think part of the fun of it is spotting trains unexpectedly and learning their habits, much like birdwatching. :D

1

UnfilteredFacts OP t1_j9hpwo6 wrote

Agreed, but I still want the specific pic I described in OP. I live in the fan, and can't justify hanging around the canal all day just to pick up the train patterns.

Side note, I'm also planning to shoot (with a camera) the nearby heron rookery, now till March apparently being the optimal time of year for that (from what I've read).

But in both cases (trains and herons) the plan is to (as much as possible) pick the best times to increase the chances of optimal photos. I enjoy planning a good project - I'll appreciate the final product more.

2