Folkston Webcam - LIVE FEED open viewing

2

22alpha

.................
As some of you may know we operate a live webcam on one of CSX's hottest train watching spots in the Southeast. Located at the A602.3 sits our webcam on the rooftop of Whistlin Dixie located on Main St. in downtown Folkston, GA. During peak levels Folkston can see as many as 80 movements per day. Some of the more popular trains you may know of also run this route. The Tropicana Juice train passes in the early evenings 5 days a week, as well as Amtrak's Autotrain. For the past year we have had a $20 per year subscription charge which helped to offset the monthly costs associated with maintaining a reliable stream. Earlier this year we upgraded to a full HD setup at tremendous cost. This upgrade actually caused a downgrade in performance as we have the highest available internet connection that is available to us, and it's nowhere near enough bandwidth to display the cam properly. What we are doing now is running it free to the public to allow more people to see the potential this cam has to offer. With a sponsor or advertiser who can cover the $300 monthly cost it would take to provide a connection that will display the cam as it was intended. It has the capability to broadcast in FULL HD with audio. The state we are in now, the camera is only broadcasting at a fraction of the quality it was intended to do. If you know anyone or you are a potential advertiser or sponsor yourself, please don't hesitate to contact us right away. Please enjoy the live feed, and please consider donating to offset the monthly costs.

http://virtualrailfan.com

Many thanks!

Mike
 
Dear Mike,

Damn I wish I could cover the whole $300 a month cost as I have been really enjoying the webcam. As it is, I have retired and am on a [very] limited budget, plus am having to help my mother who I had to place in a nursing home (yes, folks, I'm giving you my sob story...). There are so few really good train webcams on the internet that if there is anyone out there who can help, I am urging you to do so. Surely there are some "rich" trainzers out there, eh?

I support Mike and the others who have so selfishly devoted their time and own expenses to bring us this really good webcam. Thanks guys.

Dave Snow
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Very cool, I sat here for a good 20 minutes waiting for a train, then just has I moved the mouse over the red X to close the window, the gates lit up. So I sat and waited, then the tree on the right side of the crossing started to light up, so I assumed that it was coming from the left side of the screen, then out of nowhere, an autorack train flew by from the right side of the screen, then, just after the locomotives passed, an amtrak train came flying by from the other direction :Y: Pleased with this I am!


5 minute later edit:

As soon as I decided that I probably wouldn't see another train and began to move my mouse towards the X, the gates went down again! Then, out of the blue, some idiot pulls up to the gates, and then runs them, only to be stopped by the red light on the other side and have to wait even longer. Still cool though! 3 trains in a period of about 10 minutes
 
Last edited:
I saw a very short freight train 30 seconds ago! This is great! Also, what is the voice that appears from time to time?
 
Yeah we have a decent setup going on up there. We have invested thousands of dollars to get to the point we are today. Things are about to change for the cam as well. I have found a partial sponsor to provide the bandwidth that we need, so in about 45 days there will be a HUGE improvement to the cam. We will be able to broadcast in full 1080 HD with sound! This means the picture will improve 100% and there will be no more jerky motion and sudden starts and stops. A few weeks ago Justin and I traveled to Folkston to add a microphone so that we are able to hear the horns as well as see the trains. Let's not forget about the live scanner feed that is also in the process of being upgraded. This will alert you to train activity in that area. The cam is located where the Nahunta and Jessup subdivisions come together, it's what some call the Florida Funnel. Most traffic coming into or out of the State of Florida will pass by this cam. You will often see the CSX OCS, Tropicana Juice Train, Amtrak's Auto Train, as well as Military moves, coal, intermodal, manifests, and more! To the left of the cam about 5 miles south is the Georgia/Florida border.

45 more days and this experience will be a truly amazing one, it's as close as you can get to being there without being there. If only we had a way to incorporate the smell of diesel fumes..... ;) Soon.

Mike
 
22alpha said:
Yeah we have a decent setup going on up there. We have invested thousands of dollars to get to the point we are today. Things are about to change for the cam as well. I have found a partial sponsor to provide the bandwidth that we need, so in about 45 days there will be a HUGE improvement to the cam. We will be able to broadcast in full 1080 HD with sound! This means the picture will improve 100% and there will be no more jerky motion and sudden starts and stops. A few weeks ago Justin and I traveled to Folkston to add a microphone so that we are able to hear the horns as well as see the trains. Let's not forget about the live scanner feed that is also in the process of being upgraded. This will alert you to train activity in that area. The cam is located where the Nahunta and Jessup subdivisions come together, it's what some call the Florida Funnel. Most traffic coming into or out of the State of Florida will pass by this cam. You will often see the CSX OCS, Tropicana Juice Train, Amtrak's Auto Train, as well as Military moves, coal, intermodal, manifests, and more! To the left of the cam about 5 miles south is the Georgia/Florida border.

45 more days and this experience will be a truly amazing one, it's as close as you can get to being there without being there. If only we had a way to incorporate the smell of diesel fumes..... ;) Soon.

Mike
Click to expand...

Marking off the days on my CSX Calendar, Mike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait! BTW, congratulations!

Dave
`
 
This sounds like an impressive setup. Glad you've found a sponsor!

You guys always contribute so much the community. Thanks for all you do!
 
Might I recommend adding a small track plan showing the local areas where the trains call on approach to the crossing? I here them calling every now and then, but sence I'm way up here in Maryland, I have no clue where they are at, or which way is which, the only one I can identify is when the call Folkston then I know exactly where they are at lol.

Great news about the upgrade, I can't wait for sound, then I might be able to hear the gates going down so I don't have to constantly check back and forth to see if anything is happening

Second Later Edit:

Stack train :) with a single juice car on the end of it, looked kinda out of place


Oh look, another train EDIT:

Ballast train? Bunch of hoppers that say Herzog on the side of them. I have seen 3 or 4 of those at a station here on the north east corridor before
 
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captainkman said:
I saw it too! Why do the gates go down and up without a train? Watch, and you will see what I mean.
Click to expand...

I saw the gates too, they did that earlier a few times, who knows? (probably a glitch or something in the setup) The defect detector just called out a 24 axle train. wonder what it is

train edit:

Thank you Folkston Funnel, you have blessed me with over 10 trains today without making me leave my seat, including the mostly empty stack train that just went by! off to bed with me now
 
Last edited:
Anyone else see the circus train go by the other day? I jumped on for a quick peak without knowing it was coming and then out of the blue comes the Barnum and Baily circus cars
 
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