Keeping track of locos and multiple units

[Photohunter71]

I hope I have posted this topic in the right section.

I'm both a huge aviation and loco fan, however for aircraft there are wevsuFlightradar42, Planeplotter and Planefinder where you can watch real time flight progress and track flights from start to finish.

I wish there was an app or something I could download for tracking freight etc, now ADS-B for locos etc. Would be a boon for us all.

 

[jopsuk]

The thing is that in some areas the data really doesn't exist. Where it does exist, it exists in several different formats, each with a different level of precision- for example, the ERTMS Level 2 system in Wales requires the system to know the exact speed and location* of each train in the system. Other systems only know what signalling section the train is in- and on RETB on single lines, those can be very long sections!

 

[starrymarkb]

I hope I have posted this topic in the right section.
I'm both a huge aviation and loco fan,however for aircraft there are Flightradar42,Planeplotter and Planefinder where you can watch real time flight progress and track flights from start to finish.I wish there was an app or something I could download tracking freight etc,now ADS-B for locos etc would be a boon for us all.

The aircraft ones work because Aircraft fitted with a Mode-S Transponder broadcast their location (found using radio fixes, some now use GPS as well) and this can be received by a any Mode-S receiver (whether at an ATC station, another aircraft for collision avoidance or an amateur spotter with a laptop).

Trains are tracked using the infrastructure and wired connections, so there isn't an overspill for amateurs to pick up.

IIRC ETCS Level 2 also uses the infrastructure to track the trains. But commands are sent over GSM-R. Level 3 has the train reporting it's position, but that would be over a secure GSM-R link. Unlike aircraft* all trains are under signaller control so there isn't a need to broadcast positions on an open frequency in the clear.

*A large part of UK airspace is uncontrolled. Aircraft do not have to talk to ATC and ATC can only issue advisory instructions. This includes the approaches to Exeter, Newcastle, Aberdeen and many other smaller or isolated** airports.

** As in isolated from other airports, Groups of airports in close proximity tend to have controlled airspace around them eg Bristol/Cardiff, Manchester/Liverpool, Glasgow/Edinburgh, Bournemouth/Southampton

 

[Tim R-T-C]

How dull would spotting be if you could locate every loco in the country at the touch of a button?

 

[Photohunter71]

On the contrary! FR24 has made my enjoyment of aviation all the more interesting,I would find it to be the case if a similar application were used for Loco's etc.

 

[tsr]

How dull would spotting be if you could locate every loco in the country at the touch of a button?

How dull would riding a train be if you could access timetables at the touch of a button? Oh, wait...

 

[Tim R-T-C]

How dull would riding a train be if you could access timetables at the touch of a button? Oh, wait...

Not quite the same - I imagine there are very few people out there whose hobby is to just randomly get on a train wanting to make a connection that might or might not exist and might require a three hour wait.

However, gricing would become a rather meaningless hobby if you could find out in the morning exactly where any loco of interest was at any time.

 

[455driver]

I know the TOCs lose units sometimes, I have had pager messages on the lines of "will the guard working on unit 450123 please contact control and inform us what service you are working" or "if any guards see unit 450123 please tell control where it is".

Not very often but it does happen, usually during disruption when units are turned around quick and stepped up.

 

[tsr]

I know the TOCs lose units sometimes, I have had pager messages on the lines of "will the guard working on unit 450123 please contact control and inform us what service you are working" or "if any guards see unit 450123 please tell control where it is".

Not very often but it does happen, usually during disruption when units are turned around quick and stepped up.

I wonder if the following call has ever been issued: "Would any person who sees 373019 please inform control, as this unit is believed to have unauthorisedly fled across the border."

 

[87015]

Not quite the same - I imagine there are very few people out there whose hobby is to just randomly get on a train wanting to make a connection that might or might not exist and might require a three hour wait.

However, gricing would become a rather meaningless hobby if you could find out in the morning exactly where any loco of interest was at any time.

Can't remember the last time I had a UK engine 'drop' that I didn't know about at least a day or so in advance though. I'd agree it takes a degree of interest away, not the same peering into the distance looking for the lights on approach when you knew three weeks before but then it saves fruitless festers for hours as well...

Suppose if i went for a Chiltern leap it could be any of the five silver ones, but its hardly waiting for S47 to arrive hoping its a seven and not a skoda...

 

[Crossover]

I know the TOCs lose units sometimes, I have had pager messages on the lines of "will the guard working on unit 450123 please contact control and inform us what service you are working" or "if any guards see unit 450123 please tell control where it is".

Not very often but it does happen, usually during disruption when units are turned around quick and stepped up.

I can't remember the exact story as it is from nearly a year ago, but in a day of disruption on the ECML last Feb, having eventually got to Leeds after the GC I was on was cancelled at Grantham and a further two EC hops finally got us to Leeds, I was talking to the guard on the TPE I took from Leeds.

We were chatting about disruption and about one of the EC services getting "lost" in the system (probably due to diverting off the mainline) and he was telling me of back in earlier days of a loco (something like a Deltic) going missing on (IIRC) the S&C, due to breaking down. No-one knew where it was, but someone had the idea to call round some of the enthusiasts and it was quickly established that it was somewhere between two nearby locations (two bridges I think) based on one group seeing it, and the group further along the line having not!

 

[12CSVT]

However, gricing would become a rather meaningless hobby if you could find out in the morning exactly where any loco of interest was at any time.

It might appeal to the photters, for example if they wanted to be in the right place at the right time for a pair of DRS 37s on a test train, Colas 56 on scrap metal or 20s on an 'S' stock move.

 

[455driver]

Back when I were a lad there were so many trains running around we just went out and there was always something along, nowadays you could go out and not see anything for hours so it makes sense to know beforehand what is running.