FreightLocate Demo Service now available

[GB]

All this talk of guaranteed money back if a company goes bust is nonsense. As already said, when fotopic (not Flickr) went bust only a small amount of people manged to get a refund and that was under PayPals own system for which there are certain terms and conditions. When the Christmas hamper company went bust a few years ago most people lost their money and when the various holiday companies went down those that didn't pay by credit card and thus had protection lost their money.

 

[46100ROYALSCOT]

All this talk of guaranteed money back if a company goes bust is nonsense. As already said, when fotopic (not Flickr) went bust only a small amount of people manged to get a refund and that was under PayPals own system for which there are certain terms and conditions. When the Christmas hamper company went bust a few years ago most people lost their money and when the various holiday companies went down those that didn't pay by credit card and thus had protection lost their money.

Thanks GB I did mean fotopic NOT Flickr, sorry about that

John

 

[Freightmaster]

They are different products for different markets, used together they potentially bring a far greater benefit to people who are on a limited time or need to travel long distances to reach a particular location...

Well said!

I actually agree that FreightLocate is far better than Freightmaster when
it comes to 'one off' moves such as test trains, stock moves, railtours, etc,
because Freightmaster doesn't list such trains to begin with!

However, when it comes to 'everyday' freight movements, Freightmaster
is far more accurate because I continually check my timetables for unused/
dead/spare paths, and remove as many as possible so the Freightmaster
timetables reflect what actually runs.

Obviously this is a 'painting the Forth Bridge' type process,
as trains are continually starting/stopping/changing days,
but I pride myself that the Freightmaster timetables contain
less than 10% non-runners on average, while FreightLocate
timetables, because they are blindly generated from TPS files,
contain more than 50% non-runners in many parts of the country,
based on my experience with the 'demo' version of FreightLocate.


Now for enthusiasts who have a good working knowledge of freight
services to begin with, and/or are only interested in specific trains,
this may not be a problem, but for the casual enthusiast who just
wants to know what trains pass Water Orton/Carlisle/Didcot/Doncaster,
Freightmaster offers a far more 'user friendly' experience.


So in conclusion, even though I am obviously biased, I still think
that there is a market for both services, and whether one is better
than the other depends purely on how you intend to make use of the
information...


MARK

 

[Aldaniti]

It's been suggested to me this morning that Freightmaster is offering 'incentives' should we say to those prepared to go onto forums and ridicule Freightlocate. Is there any truth in this?

 

[Freightmaster]

It's been suggested to me this morning that Freightmaster is offering 'incentives' should we say to those prepared to go onto forums and ridicule Freightlocate. Is there any truth in this?

For clarification, until this thread was resurrected a few days ago,
I have not made any negative comments about FreightLocate
(publically or otherwise) since it was launched back in April,
and even back then, the few comments I made to people were
because of my initial distrust/suspicion of such an apparently
dubious setup, which I think is entirely reasonable.

As I have said before (and in my previous post), I am not against
FreightLocate in its present form as it does not directly compete
with Freightmaster and in the six months it has been going, it has
not adversely affected my turnover (that I am aware of, anyway).


If I was a cynical person, I would say that some people are
actually disapointed/frustrated that I am not getting as worried
about FreightLocate as they would like?

If that's true, I apologise for being so easy-going!


MARK

 

[Aldaniti]

That's as may be Freightmaster - but with all due respect you haven't answered the question. What you have done is be very careful with your choice of words.

 

[GB]

As far as I am concerned his choice of words have answered the question and as a FMi subscriber I can state that there are no running threads about Freight locate and nor have I been asked to ridicule them.

Perhaps you would like to say where or who told you these rumours?

 

[Aldaniti]

If your happy with the answer thats fine. I have no axe to grind - I used to be a Freightmaster subscriber but am now with Freightlocate. I don't have a clue who is behind Freightlocate but the service to date has been reliable - just as Freightmaster was. What I don't care for much is some of the petty but sometimes vicious comments that have been made about Freightlocate in recent months - and now they've been started again by someone whose notorious reputation in the enthusiast world for starting arguments is well known. If and when a conclusive answer is given to my original question I'll quite happily give further details.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I think as you made the allegation, it's up to you to give all the details you know, rather than waiting for the person you've accused. Remember, you have to prove that you are right!

 

[Aldaniti]

I haven't made any allegations against anyone - please read my post carefully. Something has come to my attention and I am simply asking whether it is true or not, hence the question.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I haven't made any allegations against anyone - please read my post carefully. Something has come to my attention and I am simply asking whether it is true or not, hence the question.

Why don't you give us the 'further details' now?

 

[Aldaniti]

Surely it isn't that difficult to understand? I have given the broadest outline of a suggestion -if Freightmaster says that this is not the case then I will believe him and that will be the end of the matter. In which case, why post the details first?

Better still, perhaps all the bitching should end and we all wish both organisations well?

 

[Freightmaster]

If and when a conclusive answer is given to my original question I'll quite happily give further details.

PM sent!

MARK

 

[465fan]

Well said!

I actually agree that FreightLocate is far better than Freightmaster when
it comes to 'one off' moves such as test trains, stock moves, railtours, etc,
because Freightmaster doesn't list such trains to begin with!

However, when it comes to 'everyday' freight movements, Freightmaster
is far more accurate because I continually check my timetables for unused/
dead/spare paths, and remove as many as possible so the Freightmaster
timetables reflect what actually runs.

Obviously this is a 'painting the Forth Bridge' type process,
as trains are continually starting/stopping/changing days,
but I pride myself that the Freightmaster timetables contain
less than 10% non-runners on average, while FreightLocate
timetables, because they are blindly generated from TPS files,
contain more than 50% non-runners in many parts of the country,
based on my experience with the 'demo' version of FreightLocate.


Now for enthusiasts who have a good working knowledge of freight
services to begin with, and/or are only interested in specific trains,
this may not be a problem, but for the casual enthusiast who just
wants to know what trains pass Water Orton/Carlisle/Didcot/Doncaster,
Freightmaster offers a far more 'user friendly' experience.


So in conclusion, even though I am obviously biased, I still think
that there is a market for both services, and whether one is better
than the other depends purely on how you intend to make use of the
information...


MARK

Basically, FreightLocate is better as it provides the absolute passing times. Today, I looked at FM for 4L75 at Stratford, and it gave 15:45 as its supposedly well seen passing time. Went through at 15:36. Chasm of difference there. Also, the way it covers its back with "Q" for near everything - Freightlocate gives all of the listings for what is in the WTT - for example, 6S94 only appears on Wednesdays.

Don't like Freightmaster very much, never really did, but when FL came along, that's when we all switched

 

[GB]

Freightlocate gives all of the listings for what is in the WTT

There are many spare, duplicate or not used paths in the WTT which FMi filters to show what is actually booked to run. FL does not filter them so when you do a line up at a particular station you get a whole lot of useless information.

 

[NSEFAN]

Don't like Freightmaster very much, never really did, but when FL came along, that's when we all switched

Speak for yourself! I'm quite happy with freightmaster.

 

[Darandio]

Today, I looked at FM for 4L75 at Stratford, and it gave 15:45 as its supposedly well seen passing time. Went through at 15:36.

Chasm of difference?

As freight can quite often work to a completely different timetable to what is booked, whether it be through passenger delays or other problems. Hell, they can even be early! But whose fault is that? Freightmasters?

 

[The Planner]

To find a freight running to its WTT schedule right time is like rocking horse poo, 6 minutes early is nothing, if a signaller can get a margin they will often keep them running. Ive often seen freights up to 3 hours early in TRUST.

 

[Snapper]

Indeed. That's why Freightmaster is so useful. As a timetable it draws on when trains actually run, not when the timetable says it should. I suspect many of us can think of certain services that rarely run in the path they're allocated.

 

[Freightmaster]

Today, I looked at FM for 4L75 at Stratford, and it gave 15:45 as its supposedly well seen passing time. Went through at 15:36. Chasm of difference there.

This *is* a joke, isn't it???? hock:

Anyone who thinks that Freightmaster (or FreightLocate for that matter)
is hopelessly inaccurate because a train runs a shocking 9 minutes earlier
than listed at a particular timing point doesn't appreciate that most freight
trains are unpredicable in their day to day timekeeping, to put it mildly!

Also, the way it covers its back with "Q" for near everything - Freightlocate gives all of the listings for what is in the WTT - for example, 6S94 only appears on Wednesdays.

I've no idea what that means - 6S94 is (correctly!) shown as [WO-Q] in my
timetables too.

Certainly, there are errors and inconsistancies in the Freightmaster timetables,
but I do everything in my power to ensure than they are kept to an absolute minimum.

Don't like Freightmaster very much, never really did

It's a free country!

Clearly, some people prefer quantity of info (FreightLocate) and others prefer quality (Freightmaster).
I understand and respect that, and so perhaps should others...


MARK

 

[theblackwatch]

Don't like Freightmaster very much, never really did, but when FL came along, that's when we all switched

All? You mean some huge number of people have jumped ship from one to another? Or is all actually 3 or 4 subscribers?

 

[bluenoxid]

All? You mean some huge number of people have jumped ship from one to another? Or is all actually 3 or 4 subscribers?

Me, myself, I. That's 3 so that's a crowd

 

[mumrar]

Oh look, enthusiasts in bitching about rival things like competing football fans shocker!

If you like something, good for you, if you don't that's your choice. Nobody on here has asked which is best, but many seem to style their posts as such. Grow up.

 

[6S83]

Oh look, enthusiasts in bitching about rival things like competing football fans shocker!

If you like something, good for you, if you don't that's your choice. Nobody on here has asked which is best, but many seem to style their posts as such. Grow up.

Indeed, but it does beg the question as to why 'Snapper' suddenly decided to bump this long dead thread.... is he pals with Freightmaster perchance? There's bound to be some sort of undisclosed interest as that's how Snapper seems to operate.

 

[nedchester]

Indeed, but it does beg the question as to why 'Snapper' suddenly decided to bump this long dead thread.... is he pals with Freightmaster perchance? There's bound to be some sort of undisclosed interest as that's how Snapper seems to operate.

Freightmaster offer free breakfasts? Wow, you learn something every day.....