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Overview |
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Version 2 |
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FractalNet |
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PSD (Second Life) |
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Marble Challenge |
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ASCIIroids |
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Gravity Bubbles |
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EcoSim |
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Cosmic Dust |
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LandMesh |
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Imagencrypter |
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TrainMapper |
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Foxy Detector |
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MacDiff |
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Matrix Attack |
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Solar Swarm |
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Tools |
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TrainMapper
The application uses live train status information which is publicly available on the internet. For each train, it analyses the latest departure and arrival data, and then calculates the approximate geographical position, which is then plotted on the map. If a train is reported to be delayed or cancelled, the map is updated accordingly. I’ve made two different versions of TrainMapper. Version 1 (completed in January 2009) is a web application, while version 2 (completed in February 2009) is a Java application. I was inspired to create TrainMapper after seeing Matthew Somerville’s “Vaguely live map of trains in the United Kingdom”. This is a time-lapse video of TrainMapper v1, recorded on Wednesday 14th January 2009. A 24-hour clock is displayed in the top-left corner, and the video runs about 242 times faster than real-time. I highly recommend you watch this video in fullscreen mode, to enable you to read the station names on the map.
I wrote TrainMapper v1 in about 470 lines of JavaScript and 350 lines of PHP, and it uses XHR/AJAX to automatically obtain the latest train data from the webserver every few seconds. The map shows two train lines in the south-west of London, running between Guildford and London Waterloo. Only trains which stop at Esher (on the South Western Main Line) and Hinchley Wood (on the New Guildford Line) are displayed. When a train is reported to be delayed, you’ll see it “jump” forwards or backwards as its position is recalculated. Unfortunately, no live train status information is available after midnight, so all the trains disappear from TrainMapper at that time (even though trains are still running until about 2am). The video was created using an AppleScript which took periodic PNG screenshots of TrainMapper running in Safari (click here for the actual script used). These screenshots were then converted into a movie using the following MEncoder command:
mencoder "mf://*.png" -mf fps=25 -o trainmapper.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=2000:mbd=2 -vf crop=1280:720:0:45 -oac mp3lame -lameopts cbr:br=128:aq=2:mode=1 -audiofile music.wav
This is a time-lapse video of TrainMapper v2, recorded on Thursday 19th February 2009. A 24-hour clock is displayed in the top-left corner, and the video runs about 125 times faster than real-time. I highly recommend you watch this video in fullscreen mode, to enable you to read the station names on the map.
I wrote TrainMapper v2 in about 3,000 lines of Java. It contains a database of all 189 stations which can be reached by direct trains from London Waterloo, and it displays all trains which arrive at and depart from Waterloo. In the time-lapse video above, a total of 756 trains arrive, and 758 trains depart.  This is the map of the South West Trains lines from London Waterloo, used by TrainMapper v2. Click to view the full-size version.
Version 2 contains several improvements compared to version 1, including:
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Contact me – Page last updated on 7th February 2010 – Website hosted by 5quidhost (highly recommended!) |  |
