|
Rochelle Railroad Park
The Rochelle Railroad Park is a city park located in Rochelle, Illinois where railfans can safely view and photograph trains. Location The park is in the eastern quadrant of the diamond crossing between the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) and BNSF Railway (BNSF) mainlines between Chicago and points west. The two mainlines cross on the southwest side of Rochelle. The UP (formerly Chicago and North Western Railway) Geneva Subdivision travels through the crossing from the southwest to northeast, from Chicago towards Clinton, Iowa, and Omaha. The UP's Global III yard is about 1 mile northeast of the diamond. The BNSF (formerly Burlington Northern Railroad and before that, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad) Aurora Subdivision travels the northwest to southeast corners, from Aurora Illinois to Savannah, Illinois and to the twin cities of Minneapolis-St Paul. This double mainline, four-track, diamond, known as NX Crossing, is at milepost 83.7 on the BNSF, and at 75.3 on the UP ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality. The design, operation, and maintenance is usually done by government agencies, typically on the local level, but may occasionally be contracted out to a park conservancy, "friends of" group, or private sector company. Common features of municipal parks include playgrounds, gardens, hiking, running and fitness trails or paths, bridle paths, sports fields and courts, public restrooms, boat ramps, and/or picnic facilities, depending on the budget and natural features available. Park advocates claim that having parks near urban residents, including within a 10-minute walk, provide multiple benefits. History A park is an area of open space provided for recreational use, usually owned and maintained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switching Locomotive
A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not intended for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains in order for another locomotive to take over. They do this in classification yards (Great Britain: ''marshalling yards''). Switchers may also make short transfer runs and even be the only motive power on branch lines and switching and terminal railroads. The term can also be used to describe the workers operating these engines or engaged in directing shunting operations. Switching locomotives may be purpose-built engines, but may also be downgraded main-line engines, or simply main-line engines assigned to switching. Switchers can also be used on short excursion train rides. The typical switcher is optimised for its job, being relatively low-powered but with a high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parks In Illinois
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. National parks and country parks are green spaces used for recreation in the countryside. State parks and provincial parks are administered by sub-national government states and agencies. Parks may consist of grassy areas, rocks, soil and trees, but may also contain buildings and other artifacts such as monuments, fountains or playground structures. Many parks have fields for playing sports such as baseball and football, and paved areas for games such as basketball. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities. Some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables and barbecue grills. The largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grade Crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion. Other names include railway level crossing, railway crossing (chiefly international), grade crossing or railroad crossing (chiefly American), road through railroad, criss-cross, train crossing, and RXR (abbreviated). There are more than 100,000 level crossings in Europe and more than 200,000 in North America. History The history of level crossings depends on the location, but often early level crossings had a flagman in a nearby booth who would, on the approach of a train, wave a red flag or lantern to stop all traffic and clear the tracks. Gated crossings became commonplace in many areas, as they protected the railway fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defect Detector
A defect detector is a device used on railroads to detect axle and signal problems in passing trains. The detectors are normally integrated into the tracks and often include sensors to detect several different kinds of problems that could occur. Defect detectors were one of the inventions which enabled American railroads to eliminate the caboose at the rear of the train, as well as various station agents placed along active routes to detect unsafe conditions. The use of defect detectors has since spread overseas to other railroad systems. History Before the advent of automated detectors, on-board train crew and track-side workers used to visually inspect trains for defects e.g. " hotboxes" (overheating bearings) would smoke or glow red. By the 1940s, automatic defect detectors included infrared sensors for hotboxes, wires outlining the clearance envelope to detect high and wide loads, and "brittle bars" – frangible bars mounted between the rails – to detect dragging equip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virtual Railfan
Virtual may refer to: * Virtual (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse * Virtual channel, a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel (or range of frequencies) on which the signal travels * Virtual function, a programming function or method whose behaviour can be overridden within an inheriting class by a function with the same signature * Virtual machine, the virtualization of a computer system * Virtual meeting, or web conferencing * Virtual memory, a memory management technique that abstracts the memory address space in a computer * Virtual particle, a type of short-lived particle of indeterminate mass * Virtual reality (virtuality), computer programs with an interface that gives the user the impression that they are physically inside a simulated space * Virtual world, a computer-based simulated environment populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the world, participate in its activities and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EarthCam
EarthCam, Inc., based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States, provides webcam content, technology and services. Founded in 1996, EarthCam.com is a network of scenic webcams offering a complete searchable database of views of places around the world. As the company grew, EarthCam expanded beyond building its network of tourism cameras and extended its reach into other industries by developing and delivering technology for many applications in verticals including construction, transportation, and surveillance. Expanding beyond the pages of its main site, EarthCam.com, EarthCam's network of websites has grown to include WebCamStore.com, EarthCamMobile.com, and most notably EarthCam.net, a site for businesses and organizations to purchase webcams and EarthCam's proprietary software to manage their camera networks. Mobile applications for accessing EarthCam's live webcams and for clients to control their private cameras are available for Apple Inc. or Android (operating sys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trains Magazine
''Trains'' is a monthly magazine about trains and railroads aimed at railroad enthusiasts and railroad industry employees. The magazine primarily covers railroad happenings in the United States and Canada, but has some articles on railroading elsewhere. It is among the 11 magazines published by Kalmbach Media, based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It was founded as ''Trains'' in 1940 by publisher Al C. Kalmbach and editorial director Linn Westcott. From October 1951 to March 1954, the magazine was named ''Trains and Travel''. Jim Wrinn, a former reporter and editor at the '' Charlotte Observer'', served as editor from 2004 until his death in 2022. Carl A. Swanson succeeded him. Editors * Al C. Kalmbach, 1940–1948 * Willard V. Anderson, 1948–1953 * David P. Morgan, 1953–1987 * J. David Ingles, 1987–1992 * Kevin P. Keefe, 1992–2000, 2004, 2022 (interim) * Mark W. Hemphill Mark William Hemphill was the editor of ''Trains'' magazine from September, 2000, until July, 2004. Prior ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in videotelephony, livestreaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral devices, and are commonly connected to a device using USB or wireless protocols. Webcams have been used on the Internet as early as 1993, and the first widespread commercial one became available in 1994. Early webcam usage on the Internet was primarily limited to stationary shots streamed to web sites. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, instant messaging clients added support for webcams, increasing their popularity in video conferencing. Computer manufacturers also started integrating webcams into laptop hardware. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shortage of webcams due to the increased number of people working from home. History Early development (early 1990s) First developed in 1991, a webcam was pointed at the Trojan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Train Control System
An Advanced Train Control System (ATCS) is a system of railway/railroad equipment designed to ensure safety by monitoring locomotive and train locations, providing analysis and reporting, automating track warrants, detecting blind spot and similar orders. ATCS specifications are published by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), and are designed to document the stated requirements of railway/railroad operational and technical professionals concerning ATCS hardware and software.Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC (2005)"Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices. Section K: Railway Electronics." The basic principle behind ATCS is to provide a cost efficient, safe, modular, train control system with an open architecture. The primary goals of the system are to provide for * compatibility of systems across railroads. This helps to ensure seamless operation. For example, locomotives from one railroad will be able to communicate, via data radio, with dispatch ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks in the world, used globally in home and small office networks to link desktop and laptop computers, tablet computers, smartphones, smart TVs, printers, and smart speakers together and to a wireless router to connect them to the Internet, and in wireless access points in public places like coffee shops, hotels, libraries and airports to provide visitors with Internet access for their mobile devices. ''Wi-Fi'' is a trademark of the non-profit Wi-Fi Alliance, which restricts the use of the term ''Wi-Fi Certified'' to products that successfully complete interoperability certification testing. the Wi-Fi Alliance consisted of more than 800 companies from around the world. over 3.05 billion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scanner (radio)
A scanner (also referred to as a radio scanner) is a radio receiver that can automatically tune, or ''scan'', two or more discrete frequencies, stopping when it finds a signal on one of them and then continuing to scan other frequencies when the initial transmission ceases. The term ''scanner'' generally refers to a communications receiver that is primarily intended for monitoring VHF and UHF landmobile radio systems, as opposed to, for instance, a receiver used to monitor international shortwave transmissions. More often than not, these scanners can also tune to different types of modulation as well ( AM, FM, WFM, etc.). Early scanners were slow, bulky, and expensive. Today, modern microprocessors have enabled scanners to store thousands of channels and monitor hundreds of channels per second. Recent models can follow trunked radio systems and decode APCO-P25 digital transmissions. Both hand held and desktop models are available. Scanners are often used to monitor police, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Webcam")
