Mid-Atlantic Train Finding Tools

queries
region status	train location/status table	interactive dynamic map
rail line	traffic graph	route map	details
place	find		lineup
train schedule	find	route map	details or chart

FAQ Sources and Credits

Mid-Atlantic Train Finding Tools

the existence of published train schedule information makes it possible to predict where trains are at any given time. to do this we've combined schedule and geospatial information from a variety of sources into a regional database. the query tools on this page are designed to facilitate access to this information, and to present it in ways we hope you will find interesting and useful.

to check the reliability of this information in predicting actual train operations see our Regional Train Performance page.

we're always curious to know what you might think of these tools:

are they interesting?
are they useful?
can you suggest any improvements?

please drop a line to webmaster@pacerfarm.org.

Regional Tools

these queries are intended to give a broad-scale picture of the rail network. the geographic scope is loosely defined as anything in Maryland, its neighbouring states or the District of Columbia for which both geospatial and schedule information is available.

this query returns a table with the location and status of scheduled train movements:

Train Location/Status Table (Where They Are) enter time hour -or- hour:minute -or- hour:minute:second day operator sort by

this query returns the same information, presented in the form of a simple map:

Interactive Dynamic Map enter time hour -or- hour:minute -or- hour:minute:second day operator map show incorporated municipalities

hints: once the map is displayed,

point at any train's icon for a brief identification, or
click it to display the train's schedule.

Line-Specific Tools

these queries return information about the scheduled train movements on a particular rail line, and about the lines themselves.

this query generates a Time/Location (string line) diagram for scheduled train movements on any rail line, plotting the milepost location of trains against a 24-hour day:

Traffic Graph (Time/Location (string line) Diagram) select line show single track vs. multiple track segments day include "as needed" trains operator

hints:

when a rail line has multiple trains operating at any time, safe operating practices constrain them to meet or pass only at locations where more than one track is available. use the check box to specify whether to highlight multiple-track segments in your diagram.
certain trains operate on as "as needed" basis -- they have a schedule but do not run on any particular days. use the check box to specify whether to include them in your diagram.

this query returns a map tracing the route of a rail line:

Route Map select line show incorporated municipalities

hint:

if the rail line you select falls within the limits of a detail map, this query will use the corresponding detail map rather than the base map for the entire region.

any rail line is an ordered series of locations. this query returns a table showing the places by which any line is defined, including junction points with other lines:

Line Details select line

hint:

in the table returned by this query, to locate any place on a map click the icon.

Place-Specific Tools

these queries help you find places along the rail lines and to display associated scheduled train movements.

this query will help you determine along which lines a place might be found, and the associated milepost location:

Place Locator operator place name state

hints:

specifying the owning railroad or state will help narrow the results.
in the table returned by this query, to locate any place on a map click the icon.

this query returns a table listing a lineup of train movements scheduled to pass any location.

Lineup (When They Pass) select line enter milepost day include "as needed" trains include unscheduled trains operator sort by

hints:

to use this query, you need to know the line and milepost of the location for which the information is to be generated (see queries above to obtain this information).
certain trains operate on as "as needed" basis -- they have a schedule but do not run on any particular days. use the check box to specify whether to include them in your lineup.
in addition to scheduled trains operated only "as needed", others (primarily unit trains) have a route but no defined operating times. not all such trains need be operated on an irregular basis -- some represent scheduled movements whose details we have not yet been able to obtain for inclusion in our database.
to include them in your query results, select the 'include unscheduled trains' option (but don't expect to see pass time or velocity).
once the table is displayed, click any train's symbol to display its schedule details or click the icon to trace its route on a map.
if you specify 'sort by' 'time' and if your query returns more than one scheduled movement, the lineup table is followed by a simple bar chart showing scheduled movements per hour throughout the day.

Train-Specific Tools

these queries allow you to find and obtain details on train schedules.

use this query to find train schedules.

Find Schedules operator direction origin destination description include unscheduled trains

hints:

search terms are ANDed together. the more of them you specify, the tighter your results.
once the table is displayed, click any train's symbol to display its schedule details or click the icon to trace its route on a map.
in addition to trains having a schedule but operated only "as needed", others (primarily unit trains) have a route but no defined operating times. not all such trains need be operated on an irregular basis -- some represent scheduled movements whose details we have not yet been able to obtain for inclusion in our database.
to include them in your query results, select the 'include unscheduled trains' option.

if you already know a train's symbol, this query returns a map tracing its route.

Route Map enter symbol show incorporated municipalities

hints:

if you don't already know the train's symbol, use the find schedules query above and generate a map by clicking the icon in the resulting table (by default, municipalities are suppressed from route maps generated from schedule queries -- to include them, obtain the train symbol and generate your map from this query).
if the route of the train you select falls within the limits of a detail map, this query will use the corresponding detail map rather than the base map for the entire region.

if you already know a train's symbol, these queries return its schedule information, including computed junction pass times and a simple performance profile giving end-to-end and segment velocities and dwell times (within the current geographic coverage area) presented in tabular form or as a simple bar chart:

Schedule Details enter symbol

Schedule Chart enter symbol select bar type

hints:

in the tables returned by these queries, to locate any place or trace a route on a map click the icon.
in the display generated by the 'schedule chart' query, for segment details point the mouse to any bar.
CSX train symbols consist of a single letter followed by three digits, e.g., D765 or Q414.
CSX notation is also used for Amtrak, MARC, New Jersey Transit and VRE train symbols: the letter P followed by a three- or four-digit number, e.g., P030 or P878.
Norfolk Southern train symbols are generally three-character codes consisting most commonly of three digits or of two digits and a letter, e.g., 211 or 38Z.
SEPTA train symbols are four digits, e.g., 0219 or 7294.

FAQ

Sometimes a train symbol is followed by a number in parentheses. What does it mean?

when a train's schedule passes midnight, it becomes the previous day's train (and it needs to be considered separately from the following day's train with the same symbol). a train with (-1) following the symbol is yesterday's train; one with (-2) started out the day before yesterday, und so weiter.

Whey is there no information for (specific train) or (particular line)?

these tools display only lines for which geospatial information and at least one schedule is available.

we always welcome any authenticated schedule information within the region, particularly for the short lines (e.g., ESHR, M&D, MMID, SBV or W&W). if you are in a position to share this information, or can direct us to a source, please advise us at webmaster@pacerfarm.org.

Why do some lines seem to have junctions with themselves?

this occurs where there's a discontinuity in mileposts (referred to also as a "milepost equation").
for instance, Point of Rocks MD is milepost 64.7 (west from Baltimore on the CSX Old Main Line subdivision) but also milepost 42.8 (west from Union Station in Washington DC on the CSX Metropolitan Subdivision). the line runs west from there as the Metropolitan Subdivision, but with its mileposts numbered from Baltimore. it's just a conceptual simplification to treat the milepost discontinuity as a junction with another line which happens to have the same name.
for an amusing example, see a segment of the Norfolk Southern Blue Ridge District with discontinuity-induced junctions with itself on each end.

What about train movements that aren't scheduled?

they abound, but in the absence of a way to deal with them we have no choice but to exclude them. extra movements include most unit trains (in this area, primarily coal and grain) as well as helpers, second sections of regular trains, detours, work trains ... the list goes on and on. on some lines these movements constitute a majority of the traffic.

some trains operate on an "as needed" basis -- they have a schedule but do not necessarily operate on any particular day. we're gradually enhancing the query tools above with options for filtering such movements.

What is the origin of the string line diagrams?

string line charts have been used for constructing railway schedules since the 1880s, and the same basic methods are still in use today.

one might expect to see more online references to the practice, but after querying several search engines the only resources that turned up (other than this page) were Systra Consulting's Rail Sim software and a press release cached at Google mentioning string line charts as an output option of ALK's Line Capacity Analysis System (LCAS) software.

those interested in the subject might wish to check out these treeware resources:

James J. Hill is said to have used a string line device to personally determine schedules for his Great Northern Railway. if we recall his biography correctly, push pins and coloured strings were used in a heuristic optimization method.

Marshall Kirkman's The Science of the Railways vol IV - Train Service (1894, ed. 1904) discusses the use of a string line to construct schedules in Chapter VII (pp. 71-79) and shows one in Appendix A (p. 507) with the following caption:

Appendix A - Time Table Chart

The sheet or diagram illustrated below is a chart used in making the schedule of trains, in determining their time, speed, meeting and passing points, and other particulars of the service. When a chart has been perfected the matter is copied off to the time table and printed for the use of train men and others."

Kirkman's diagram is clearly lifted (without attribution, and with slight alterations) from one that appears in The American Railway: Its Construction, Development, Management, and Appliances (c. 1889, reprinted c. 1988 by Bramhall House ISBN 0-517-225859) in the section on Railway Management, attributed to General E. P. Alexander (yes, the CSA officer who ordered Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, but written later, when he served as President of the Central of Georgia) on p. 161 as part of a discussion (pp. 160-162) mentioning the applicability of string line diagrams as a real-time aid in setting run times and meet/pass points for extra movements.

it is quite likely that both works lifted the diagram from some earlier source.
Edward R. Tufte's The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (1983, ed. 1990 ISBN 0-961-39210X) shows a string line diagram of the rail line from Paris to Lyon on p. 31, citing E. J. Marey La M�thode Graphique (Paris, 1885) and attributing the method to French engineer Ibry. Tufte critiques the method from a visual design perspective but thought enough of it to reproduce the image on the cover of his book.

After visiting this site I took my train-crazed four-year-old (nephew, son, grandson) down to milepost (whatever) on the (whichever) line at (whenever - hour, minute, second) but no train appeared. What happened?

we're sorry. your experience provided a good object lesson in distinguishing between precision and accuracy. see also "disclaimers", below.

The schedule is interesting, but does it get any better: is real-time information available?

railroads, unlike other modes of transportation, do not incorporate GPS-type locators into their operations control systems. railcars and locomotives do carry equipment identification tags which trigger wayside readers, but in its raw form this information may or may not correlate to train symbols, service plans or schedules. railroads share shipment tracing information (by waybill or freight car/trailer/container) with shippers and consignees, but its availability to the general public varies from carrier to carrier. in the case of CSX the data provided appears to come from crew origin and destination reports rather than from the tag readers; we presume this to be a least-effort way to capture train symbols. Norfolk Southern's trace data clearly comes from the equipment tag readers, with a latency that seems to run anywhere between a couple of hours and a few minutes.

when trace information is aggregated over time, the results can be interesting -- see our Regional Train Performance page.

Does NS local HA13 really manage to be in two places at once?

no.
it just looks that way because it has a different schedule on different days of the week, and queries that specify "all possible days" or "all weekdays" will return both variants. this can be solved with day-specific queries (e.g., "Monday", "Tuesday", etc.).

Why is so much of this page in lower case?

well, actually, the whole site's that way. it's just an idiosyncracy. and no, we're not related to e. e. cummings (at least not of which we are aware).

Disclaimers

this information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. your mileage may vary. some settling may occur.

these schedules are repackaged and presented strictly for our own amusement, and for yours.

Sources and Credits

the information returned by the queries on this page is the result of farm hand compilation and analysis of published timetables and of schedule and geospatial information from other sources including current and historical employee timetables (the term is somewhat of a misnomer in that these documents don't contain schedule information -- but they do contain the mileposts and place names used to define rail line segments), track charts and roadway or ZTS maps. for passenger carriers (Amtrak and the commuter and excursion railroads) the schedule information shown here was obtained from their published timetables. freight railroads generally do not publish schedule information, but some of the service plan information upon which their operations are based is available on the public internet and from other sources.

in going past the limits of the material in our personal collection for the acquisition and cross-checking of data, we have found the following to be of great assistance:

Zak Agresto's Trains of the Eastern Seaboard site, for railroad employee timetables.
the Black and Blue Railroad News page, for some freight schedules.
Allen Brougham's invaluable Bull Sheet site, for CSX freight schedules.
correspondence with Mr. Andy Charlesworth, for NBER operations information.
the Conrail Technical Society, for freight symbols and some schedules.
the Eastern Rail News site, for railroad employee timetables and some schedules.
fly and gd graphics routines © 1995-1997 by The University of Melbourne and the Quest Protein Database Center, Cold Spring Harbor Labs, used herein with permission.
Scott Harris' Delmarva Railfan Guide page for railroad employee timetables and NS local schedules.
correspondence with Mr. Jeff Knorek, for railroad employee timetable information. his extensive research into coal train movement patterns provided the initial inspiration behind this feature.
correspondence with Mr. J. Alex Lang, for sorting out connections and junctions.
J. Alex Lang's Eastern Pennsylvania Rail Page, for railroad employee timetables.
correspondence with Mr. Alex (Lexcie) Lu, who helped with beta testing the route maps.
the Mainline's guide to rail lines in the Washington DC area.
correspondence with Mr. Henry Mikus, for data from which the first NS schedules were derived.
Steven L Miller's CSX Transportation Timetables site, featuring an extensive online collection of CSX employee timetables.
correspondence with Mr. James Nowotarski, who kindly shared employee timetable data for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
Gerald Oliveto's Railroads of New Jersey page.
Matt Reese's Northern West Virginia's Railroads page, with its excellent coverage of railroads along the Monongahela River.
correspondence with Mr. Randolph Resor, for enlightenment on obscure junctions and connecting trackage and many helpful suggestions throughout the development of this feature.
correspondence with Mr. Greg Thompson, who has provided many helpful insights as this feature has evolved.
the U.S. Geological Survey, for cartographic data used to build map backgrounds. additional cartographic information came from the 1990 Cartographic Boundary Files Web Site of the U.S. Census Bureau's Geography Division.
Shaun Whitman's Central Jersey Rails page.
correspondence with Mr. Kevin Wilson of Front Royal VA, for NS local and coal train routing.
Paul Wilson's Central Virginia Rail Fan Page for railroad employee timetables (the site appears to have gone static around July 1999, but is is still a highly useful reference).

for further information on railroading in the region and elsewhere, visit Christopher Muller's railserve.com site, with its searchable index of over 4,000 rail-related links and Bob Harbison's railroaddata.com links page, containing over 3,000 links (both sites feature listings pointing to this page).

any errors are, of course, our own.

the author of the analysis and presentation of this information is available for hire or rent. click here for our webmaster's resume.

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