How many trains in operation at one time ?

[the Other Mike]

The new tracking map has piqued my interest on this subject. Last night I counted about 145 trains operating at the same time ( yea, my life is that boring )

Besides counting on the map, is there a listing of the most Amtrak trains operating at one time ?

< back to counting trains >

 

[afigg]

The new tracking map has piqued my interest on this subject. Last night I counted about 145 trains operating at the same time ( yea, my life is that boring )

Besides counting on the map, is there a listing of the most Amtrak trains operating at one time ?

< back to counting trains >

Maybe the writer of Amtrak Status Maps could add a total train reporting counter. The peak is likely to be on a late weekday afternoon if I had to guess.

 

[John Bobinyec]

The new tracking map has piqued my interest on this subject. Last night I counted about 145 trains operating at the same time ( yea, my life is that boring )

Besides counting on the map, is there a listing of the most Amtrak trains operating at one time ?

< back to counting trains >

Maybe the writer of Amtrak Status Maps could add a total train reporting counter. The peak is likely to be on a late weekday afternoon if I had to guess.

Yep. That's doable. I'll look into it.

jb

 

[guest]

The new tracking map has piqued my interest on this subject. Last night I counted about 145 trains operating at the same time ( yea, my life is that boring )

Besides counting on the map, is there a listing of the most Amtrak trains operating at one time ?

< back to counting trains >

Maybe the writer of Amtrak Status Maps could add a total train reporting counter. The peak is likely to be on a late weekday afternoon if I had to guess.

Yep. That's doable. I'll look into it.

jb

That would be really cool!

 

[SANSR]

Not to be excessively anal about the terminology (then again, we Quality Assurance Managers do not know any other option), when you say 'operational' does that mean trains actually in motion? How about those that are at a service stop, and not physically moving? How about those passenger units that are sitting in the hole waiting for a clear main? Or am I just being overly analyitical about this? (Don't throw me under the Bustititon for the questions......I get so few chances to weigh in......LOL)

 

[John Bobinyec]

Not to be excessively anal about the terminology (then again, we Quality Assurance Managers do not know any other option), when you say 'operational' does that mean trains actually in motion? How about those that are at a service stop, and not physically moving? How about those passenger units that are sitting in the hole waiting for a clear main? Or am I just being overly analyitical about this? (Don't throw me under the Bustititon for the questions......I get so few chances to weigh in......LOL)

Well, the only thing that I will be able to come up with is the total number of trains displayed on the maps at a particular time. This includes the dreaded SDs, and trains which have long since gone to the "barn" but have not yet been reported as having arrived at their destination.

(Does anyone else think that the phrase "final destination" is redundant?)

jb

 

[Shanghai]

Perhaps you could consider train "en route." This would include all trains active regardless

of their immediate status, but en route to their destination.

 

[lo2e]

There's one kinda murky area when considering this idea:

A train may show up on the status map before it has departed its originating station. For example, I checked train 185 this morning, which showed up on the map about 10 minutes or so before it actually departed. So this is a little bit deceptive, since the train was not actually "en route" until 8:10, but a counter may have indicated it was en route before that time.

 

[jis]

As I recall, John had described the algorithm that he uses to place the train on the map a little before its departure time.I suspect that if train count trains in the database are counted that have their actual departure time from the origin in the past and actual arrival time at the destination yet to happen, or some such.

Of course there is no telling how many "Service Disrupted" trains are actually still in operation.

 

[John Bobinyec]

The total number of trains on the maps at a given time is now shown down by the date and time.

John Bobinyec

Amtrak Status Maps (statusmaps.net)

 

[jis]

John, When you add a train that is yet to depart on the map, how difficult would it be to add the scheduled departure time on its tag on the map?

 

[John Bobinyec]

John, When you add a train that is yet to depart on the map, how difficult would it be to add the scheduled departure time on its tag on the map?

Yeah - that's something I should have done a long time ago. I'll look into it.

jb

 

[John Bobinyec]

John, When you add a train that is yet to depart on the map, how difficult would it be to add the scheduled departure time on its tag on the map?

Done.

jb

 

[Ryan]

Thanks for all of the work John, some excellent stuff there.

Not to be excessively anal about the terminology (then again, we Quality Assurance Managers do not know any other option)

Not nearly as anal as us Requirements Engineers, I'll bet!

(No, I don't think that our respective wives would enjoy us trying to compare which one of us was more anal over the dinner table)

((for those of you that haven't picked up on it yet, SANSR is my father-in-law. He used to be a Trainorders guy, I'm slowly converting him over to the good side))

 

[jis]

John, When you add a train that is yet to depart on the map, how difficult would it be to add the scheduled departure time on its tag on the map?

Done.

jb

Thanks John!

 

[Guest]

(Does anyone else think that the phrase "final destination" is redundant?)

I would think that many trains' "final destination" would be in the junk yard out behind Beech Grove.

 

[Anderson]

On trains not having departed their origin station: Based on experience at NPN, the Regionals here often get backed into the station 10-20 minutes before departure time to ease boarding (especially since NPN has days where boardings for 66 or 94 can run up over 150. On those days, the train often ends up about 5-10 minutes late coming out (since you invariably get passengers boarding slowly because of the steps). So I think there's a fair question as to whether the train should be listed when it leaves its origin station or, if Amtrak allows it, when it pulls into the station to initiate boarding/opens up boarding.

 

[John Bobinyec]

So I think there's a fair question as to whether the train should be listed when it leaves its origin station or, if Amtrak allows it, when it pulls into the station to initiate boarding/opens up boarding.

I can't speak for Amtrak, obviously, but as far as the listing of the trains on Amtrak Status Maps - the trains are shown on the maps when they are "active". Trains are active from a time which is arbitrarily 7 minutes before their departure at their initial station, until they reach their destination. The 7 minutes gives the server time to run through a cycle and still have time to present the train on the map or in the Station Status Boards before the train's initial departure time - hopefully around 5 minutes before. The lead time has to be arbitrary, since Amtrak doesn't show when a train is boarding at its initial station - in its reservation system.

As far as Service Disruptions go, the train is still shown on the map - but in the "penalty box" - for the duration of its scheduled run.

Trains can be removed BEFORE they get to their destination if the train is least 12 hours overdue, and its status file hasn't changed for 8 hours (12 hours for Sunset Limited). - unless I remove them manually.

jb

EDITED Twice: To correct statement of when trains are removed from a map before they get to their destination.