Something to Do on Cold Winter Days.
Serious rail fans already know about this site, of course, but for more casual rail fans, it can add a great deal to your understanding of Amtrak’s operations. Fair warning: it can occupy however much of your spare time as you will allow.
This map will tell you where every Amtrak train is at the moment you open the page, how fast it’s moving and if it’s running on time.
Each train is identified by its official number. For instance, the westbound Southwest Chief will appear as number 3. If the number is in a small green square, it means the train is running on time; yellow means it’s running late, red means very late and black means there’s a serious problem of some kind.
Furthermore, when you move your cursor and click on the number of a specific train, a pop-up will . . .
1. identify that specific train by name and tell you . . .
2. the train’s ultimate destination.
3. hits speed at that moment,
4. If the train is running on time, or . . .
5. . . . if the train is not on time, it will tell you how late it was at its most recent stop.
There’s additional information, depending how far into the weeds you might wish to go.
If you haven’t found it already, you’ll have a lot of fun with this site.
Almost as interesting, however, will be the inevitable realization that, all things considered, Amtrak seems to be doing a credible job of keeping the trains going in spite of some awful weather conditions.
