realtimetrains website

[30mog]

How reliable is the realtimetrains website? Been using it to catch a peek at passing freight trains. I get the impression so far that freight train paths are largely provisional. And quite often the train operator is able to say at the last minute that it is no longer required. And that the website doesn't always alert you to the fact. Though I have clicked on details and found a message that the operator has cancelled.

 

[Crossover]

RTT shows all paths that have been reserved. Some only run on demand etc
You need something like Freightmaster to know what is going to run

 

[tsr]

Firstly, I take it you are using Advanced mode (i.e. at the top of the screen, you have clicked this).

To put it simply, RealTimeTrains displays what it's given, including anonymised freight paths, but these may just be from the Working Timetable (WTT) and indicate when there is an opportunity for them to run. If you click on the train's "FRGT" anonymised headcode, you can see a column marked "Realtime" updated when the train runs. If there is no column, there are no figures in bold or a red cancellation box appears, the train is probably not running - or will run later, under a different headcode/path or on a different route, but this is trickier to work out (e.g. the train may divert and not report where it's expected to, so won't be shown). You will also see some text at the top which may say "Runs as required" - this means that on a certain proportion of the days when the path is shown, it may not operate.

(Very) Short Term Plan or (V)STP paths are sometimes the best bet in terms of actually running, as these may be added for one-off workings or rarer paths, but they can also have their applicable trains cancelled.

Tom, who built and runs the site, does post on here and will tell you more, no doubt, if he sees this thread. All credit to him and others of the same mindset for working with the various powers that be to allow freight and NR train paths to appear, even if the trains don't exist in real life!

RealTimeTrains is under no obligation to display every train as running or not running at the instant you require the data, though it is a useful tool when used with discretion. I don't mean this to sound rude - just advice to make sure you don't treat it as the be all and end all of freight timetabling!

For the more knowledgeable and technically-minded members, I do appreciate this post is a generalisation and rather basic in terminology.

 

[Goatboy]

I think you can tell if its running or not because if its not there will be no real time info beside the wtt info.

 

[Freightmaster]

I get the impression so far that freight train paths are largely provisional...

Understatement of the century!!!!!

You need something like Freightmaster to know what is going to run

Thanks for the recommendation - I should stress that I consider RTT to be
a fantastic innovation which brings a new dimension to the hobby (I use it
extensively myself to help tweak the FMonline timetables for accuracy),
but it isn't the 'holy grail' that some people seem to think, and it most
certainly not a replacement or substitute for a manually edited timetable
service such as Freightmaster, where I am able to use my personal
knowledge of railfreight traffic to add headcodes, train types, usual
motive power, etc, to each train, and most importantly, filter out the
many hundreds of 'non runners' which are contained in the WTT/VAR/STP
feeds.



I'd say that RTT is a superb tool for those who already have a thorough
knowledge of train movements on a particular section of line, but not so
useful for beginners who what to find out what runs where and when.



MARK

 

[Temple Meads]

I'd say that RTT is a superb tool for those who already have a thorough
knowledge of train movements on a particular section of line, but not so
useful for beginners who what to find out what runs where and when.

I agree with this statement, although I'm not sure that many "beginners" would particularly want to spend money on freight timetables (this isn't meant as a dig at you or your site Mark, I'm sure it's worth every penny )

For people not knowledgeable about an area, who wish to use RTT to scope out new locations, I suggest looking at the previous day at your chosen location (that seems to be as far back as you can go at the moment), such as this for Eastleigh: http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced?location=Eastleigh&date=26%2F04%2F2013&tocs=All&timespan=3&show_schedules=11&schedule_type=0&show_wtt=1&show_var=1&show_stp=1

That should give you an idea of what runs.