Visualization of a week's worth of Amtrak traffic

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For some reason it did not work for me.  I wonder if it's Flash or Java.  I have both disabled in my browser.
 
The drop off at night on the NEC and the other state supported corridors is interesting to watch.  That and the splitting and combining of the Empire Builder.
 
Based on watching the Heartland Flyer and the 2 Eagles arrive and depart FTW at the exact same times each day, this is not a "real world" representation.  Nonetheless, it is still quite interesting.
 
What I would love to see is someone do this for the 1952 Official Guide. However it would be hard to watch it because of how dense the network was. You would have to make it interactive.
 
What I would love to see is someone do this for the 1952 Official Guide. However it would be hard to watch it because of how dense the network was. You would have to make it interactive.
It might be something the creator of this video might want to tackle. I've looked at some of the other "visualizations" on his blog at http://willgeary.github.io/data/. It looks like much of what he does is transportation-related.

Is the 1952 Official Guide available in a digitzed format? If not, someone would have to do the hard work of creating a database of the schedules and translating location data into lat/long format. Intermediate positions between stations would have to be extrapolated as well.
 
What was the Amtrak train that traveled between Florida and New Orleans? Is there such a thing? I saw two icons make the journey and I thought that was a thing of the past.
 
What was the Amtrak train that traveled between Florida and New Orleans? Is there such a thing? I saw two icons make the journey and I thought that was a thing of the past.
For a period the Sunset Limited used to run all the way to Florida, initially all the way to Miami. It was later cut back to Orlando. It was discontinued (officially suspended) after Hurricane Katrina.
 
For a period the Sunset Limited used to run all the way to Florida, initially all the way to Miami. It was later cut back to Orlando. It was discontinued (officially suspended) after Hurricane Katrina.
Ah. So it was the Sunset Limited. Thanks for the reminder, Jis. I just assumed that the Vimeo was using current train dispositions. My Dad used to have a phrase about the perils of assuming stuff. ;-) 

Sad to see an entire section of Amtrak coast to coast service lost.
 
For a period the Sunset Limited used to run all the way to Florida, initially all the way to Miami. It was later cut back to Orlando. It was discontinued (officially suspended) after Hurricane Katrina.
Ah. So it was the Sunset Limited. Thanks for the reminder, Jis. I just assumed that the Vimeo was using current train dispositions. My Dad used to have a phrase about the perils of assuming stuff. ;-) 

Sad to see an entire section of Amtrak coast to coast service lost.
There’s actually talk of a possible extention of the CONO to Florida. I would definitely prefer a restoration the Sunset East (ideally all the way down to Miami) over a CONO extension, but still, direct service from Florida to New Orleans and Chicago would be amazing.
 
So you prefer that everyone suffer a thrice a week service over daily service? What is the logic behind that? Rail frothing?
emoji3.png
I just like the idea of a true coast to coast train, and a one seat ride from LA to south Florida. And in a perfect fantasy world where the Sunset East were restored, why not make it daily while you’re at it? ;)
 
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dbfrese said:
It might be something the creator of this video might want to tackle. I've looked at some of the other "visualizations" on his blog at http://willgeary.github.io/data/. It looks like much of what he does is transportation-related.Is the 1952 Official Guide available in a digitzed format? If not, someone would have to do the hard work of creating a database of the schedules and translating location data into lat/long format. Intermediate positions between stations would have to be extrapolated as well.

Funny that you should mention that. I'm doing the hard work when I have free time plotting all of the former passenger routes on a google map, and schedule information for each town. The guide itself is available on line.

So far on my map I've completed the following Railroads: New York Central, Seaboard Airline, Atlantic Coastline, Southern Railway, Southern Pacific, Western Pacific, Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Erie, Lackawanna, Wabash, Chesapeake & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio, Santa Fe, Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific, Burlington, and Milwaukee Road (In Process). I think I've forgotten some of the ones I've done. Several states had so much coverage if you're zoomed out on the map you can't see the state. Especially Iowa,and Illinois.

The American Railroads that are likely vying to be the last completed are the Pennsylvania Railroad (because of its shear size of passenger operations), and the Chicago & Northwestern because their timetable is confusing.
 
Just to help you visualize how many trains we have lost here is a picture of my computer with the map pulled up.

IMG_7667.JPG

And this is with a lot of notable exceptions. And several railroads I haven't gotten to yet. Each railroad takes me roughly two to three weeks to place. Unless it's a simple railroad (Western Pacific, Lehigh Valley). PRR, CNW, CP, CN are all probably two month projects.
 
Just to help you visualize how many trains we have lost here is a picture of my computer with the map pulled up.

/monthly_2019_01/IMG_7667.thumb.JPG.d1b7e600264b26cae27e32bd4726f015.JPG

And this is with a lot of notable exceptions. And several railroads I haven't gotten to yet. Each railroad takes me roughly two to three weeks to place. Unless it's a simple railroad (Western Pacific, Lehigh Valley). PRR, CNW, CP, CN are all probably two month projects.
This is starting to look like a map of pubs in England. [emoji57]
 
I imagine at the peak of passenger trains, perhaps around 1920 or so, you would not be more than a full days hike from the nearest passenger train station, anywhere in the US, except maybe out in the desert somewhere.... :unsure:
 
I imagine at the peak of passenger trains, perhaps around 1920 or so, you would not be more than a full days hike from the nearest passenger train station, anywhere in the US, except maybe out in the desert somewhere.... :unsure:
Even most of the Small towns in the desert out West mostly had Rail Service available close by.( see the Sunset Ltd. etc)
 
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