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» RAILforum » Passenger Trains » Amtrak » Watching Amtrak with GPS

   
Author Topic: Watching Amtrak with GPS
TwinStarRocket
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I blatantly stole this discovery from trainorders.com, but did you know on Amtrak's site you can watch each train on a map.

http://www.amtrak.com/train-routes

Click on the "Train Tracking Map" box at the top and up pops a US map with the familiar GPS symbol showing where each train is. Then click on that symbol and you get a closeup map of the train's location. Click on the train and you actually get the speed and ontime status of the train.

So right now I see an eastbound Empire Builder raoring through Royalton, MN at 76 mph, heading toward St. Cloud 2 hrs and 40 min late.

Now if I can figure out how to make it interactive, I will speed up the train a little and head to the diner for breakfast.

And the Google Map toggles to satellite view to see the terrain. Now I am watching the eastbound Zephyr passing Aspen Mountain southeast of Evanston, Wyoming at 21 mph on the Overland detour.

Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
notelvis
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Doesn't look like I can make this work from my office....... but many cool things like Youtube and Facebook are firewalled to 'protect our kids'.

Perhaps from home this evening I'll give this a whirl. I don't need to be tracking trains at work anyway!

--------------------
David Pressley

Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!

Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes.

Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Ocala Mike
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Thanks for the link, TSR. Right now, #5 is rattling along at 34 mph somewhere past Denver, while #6 is "off the rails" (figuratively) in Wyoming.
Posts: 1530 | From: Ocala, FL | Registered: Dec 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Henry Kisor
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If it doesn't work for you, try a different browser. It would not work with Google Chrome on my Mac but worked fine with Safari.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
daniel3197
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The live URL link again for Easy Navigation to AMTRAK :
www.amtrak.com

This very COOL and AMAZING new Amtrak LIVE GPS Tracking feature works very well for me as I post this. I have SUCCESSFULLY used this feature in the latest version of the following browsers : Google Chrome, Firefox , and, Slimbrowser.
Slimbrowser does seem to navigate the Map a Lot slower than my other browsers but it does work albeit slowly.
By the way this new info IS Updated at least every 5 minutes and DOES SHOW DETOURING trains -- OFF their regular routes .
The Wyoming detour of the Amtrak California Zephyr shows updated locations at least every 5 Minutes if not more often.

--- Daniel

Posts: 283 | From: Palo Alto,CA | Registered: Jul 2000  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

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