Western Railroad Discussion > Dunsmuir Audio

May have missed it but what happened to the audio on the Dunsmuir web-cam?

After the camera was down earlier this year and Todd moved it when it came back on-line there was audio. Now nothing...

Thanks, Tony R.

And speaking of the Dunsmuir cam...
(1) What's up with the backwards move at 11:55?
(2) And 48 seconds into the 11:08 video is a boxcar labeled "BIG BLUE". Didn't see the reporting marks clearly. Who is that?

I've started checking the D-cam more recently and I was wondering does the cam miss some trains or has traffic through Dunsmuir shrunk that much? Most day's it seem's like 3-4 trains is all I see on the cam in daylight. Thank's Bill

Griggs Wrote:
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> And speaking of the Dunsmuir cam...
> (1) What's up with the backwards move at 11:55?
> (2) And 48 seconds into the 11:08 video is a
> boxcar labeled "BIG BLUE". Didn't see the
> reporting marks clearly. Who is that?


CSXT

The audio portion has been missing since 9/16/12. According to the folks at TO, the folks up in Dunsmuir have been asked to fix the problem, but apparently they have decided not to. It has to be done in Dunsmuir.

Since I'm the TO member watching after the Dunsmuir Cam at the moment I can answer a few of the questions.

I should be able to fix the Audio in the morning, when we rebuilt the camera mount it looks like I shut it off. The main concern has been false triggering caused by wind gusts shaking the camera. The new mount seems to have helped that but we're entering the stormy winter season so it's difficult to predict how the new installation will work out.

About the same time as the camera mount rebuild, UPRR dug up a water pipe next to the depot and then replaced the rail, now the camera shakes... the whole building shakes, when a southbound train comes to a stop just off camera, apparently as the power rolls over one of the welds. There's a timer to reduce repetitive false triggering, so after the stop and crew change sometimes the head-end is missed by the camera, if it's a fast crew change and they move out of town quickly, the whole train is missed.

Today's 11:55 clip shows the previous train backing down the Canyon, this happens occasionally. The crew had noted power problems and were instructed to leave town to clear the town's four road crossings. After a number of attempts with the Help Desk they backed into the yard to reduce the number of cars or to add power. I had a series of chores and appointments so I lost track of the situation. If a person is really interested there is a RR Scannerfeed that provides Radio traffic.

In the past there had been a number of trains that had been coming through town around 17:00 hrs with the Z train having the priority. The Z seems to have slipped a little and has been showing up after 18:00 hrs, once again there is another timer on the Camera that shuts it off for the night, set to around 18:00 hrs.

The 24 hr train count does appear to be lower, there are fewer lumber trains and the UPRR also routes their traffic differently. I haven't done a 24 x 7 train count in quite a while, maybe somebody out there who has access to the crew info can provide a count.

As to the other question I'll just say there's more to the story. I'd like to think the Camera is worthwhile and I think it's pretty cool that we can see it on the Web.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/12 08:06 by TCnR.

Update on the Audio, a Depot Museum member and myself went through the D-Cam set-up this morning and don't see any reason for the lack of audio. I did adjust the sensor positions and lower the cycle time. I'll continue investigating.

TCnR Wrote:
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> Update on the Audio, a Depot Museum member and
> myself went through the D-Cam set-up this morning
> and don't see any reason for the lack of audio. I
> did adjust the sensor positions and lower the
> cycle time. I'll continue investigating.

I agree - It IS worthwhile. I look at both TO Cams, every day. It looks like we finally got to the right person to figure out the problem. Good luck!

Frank, in Tennesse

TCnR: Thank you for helping T/O maintain the camera. I think the camera's are one of the best features on T/O although Todd has indicated that they are one of the least used and hardest to deal with.

Personally I would like to see more camera's. One out in the Chatsworth California area (on the station building there) would be great. Would see Amtrak, Metrolink and UP Coast traffic along with the UP locals out of Gemco yard.

Tony R.