About RailSpotting

RailSpotting shows where trains are, live, at the rail crossings near you. It is built by its supporting members: people, clubs and businesses near the tracks who host small radio receivers. Every receiver adds a few more miles of railroad to the map.

• 3receivers on the map
• 1online now
• 75crossings watched
• 117trains identified this week

What you can see

• The live map: crossings light up as trains approach, with how fresh and how strong the signal is, whether the train is moving or stopped, and the defect detectors that just reported a train. Its Crossings list runs along each line by milepost, with live camera feeds where there are some.
• Trains: trains identified by their end-of-train device, with each place they were heard and details people have added: locomotives, car counts, photos and videos.
• History: how busy each crossing and line has been, by hour and by day.
• Alerts: with the map open, a notice from your browser when a train comes near a crossing you choose.
• YouTube Live: some regions' maps as a live video, for a TV or a second screen.

How it works

Railroads talk by radio, and their equipment does too. A receiver listens to those channels and reports what it hears; RailSpotting puts the reports from every receiver together.

1. A supporting member's receiver listens. It is a Raspberry Pi or small PC with an inexpensive software radio (an RTL-SDR dongle) or a scanner, or an Android phone with a dongle plugged in. It hears three things:
   • the end-of-train device on the last car, which reports its unit number (we show only a code that changes with each trip, never the number) and whether the train is moving;
   • the railroad's voice channels, used by crews and dispatchers;
   • defect detectors beside the track, which announce each passing train.
2. It sends what it heard, not the audio. Each report says which channel was busy, when and how strongly, plus what it decoded. Every report is signed by the receiver, so nobody can send reports in its name.
3. RailSpotting works out where the train is. It combines reports from nearby receivers with the federal crossing database and the railroads' detector lists, and updates the map within seconds.
4. People add what radio can't hear. Rail fans who see a train can add the locomotive numbers, a car count or a link to their photos and videos.

Not for safety. What RailSpotting shows is an estimate from radio signals. It can be late, wrong or missing. Always obey crossing signals and gates, and never go onto the tracks.

Railfanning with the Android app

The Android app turns a phone into a receiver you can take trackside. Plug an RTL-SDR dongle into the phone with a USB OTG cable, sign in with Google, and it listens wherever you go.

• Hear trains before you see them. The phone decodes end-of-train devices itself: the unit number, whether the train is moving or stopped, and more, as the train approaches.
• Listen to the railroad. Switch to road channels to hear crew and dispatcher calls nearby as they happen.
• Know what is around you. The app shows the live map, alerts you to trains heard near you, and works in the car with Android Auto.
• Put the trains you chase on the map. Every train your phone hears is shared with everyone, including on lines no fixed receiver covers yet. Your phone shows on the map only while the app is online, as an area near where it last heard a train, never your live position.
• Add what you see. Open the train on RailSpotting and add its locomotives, car count, or a link to your photos or video.

Stay off railroad property, and never handle your phone while driving: let Android Auto and the alerts do the work.

Watch on YouTube Live

Some regions also run around the clock as a live video on RailSpotting's YouTube channel, @railspotting: the region's map, zoomed in on its tracks, with crossings lighting up as trains approach, the defect detectors, the receivers' areas, the latest trains and a clock. Put it on a TV, a club or shop screen, or a second monitor, without keeping a browser open.

• The same live map, made for watching. RailSpotting draws the video itself from the map's live data, and it follows the map within a few seconds; YouTube adds its own delay, usually 10 to 30 seconds. There is no sound.
• Light on data. The picture changes only where something happens, so a stream needs about 100 kbps, a small fraction of ordinary video, and plays well on slow connections.
• Nothing more than the map shows. A stream shows only what the public map already shows for that region: receivers' areas, never their exact places, and never phones.
• Find it on the map. While a region is live, the map shows Watch live on YouTube when you look at that region.

Live now: Greenville SC

Watching on YouTube is subject to YouTube's own terms and Google's privacy policy. See live video streams in our privacy policy.

Privacy comes first

• A receiver's exact location is never published. The map shows an area at least 100 meters across (about 400 meters for a phone) that holds it, at an offset only RailSpotting knows.
• A phone appears only while it is online, near where it last heard a train, and never in the map's history.
• No audio is ever recorded or kept. See the privacy policy for the details.

Become a supporting member

The map only covers the railroad that its supporting members' receivers can hear, and there are plenty of gaps. If you live, work or travel near the tracks, you can fill one by hosting a receiver.

Businesses are welcome too: a shop, restaurant, hotel, museum, farm or office near the line can host a receiver, and it appears on the map under the name you give it. Add a business profile to your account to show your business's address, hours, website and logo on your public profile.

Getting started

1. Set up the software from one of the guides above. Both are free and open source.
2. Link it to your account. Sign in with Google, then on My receivers, enter the code your receiver shows. The Android app links itself when you sign in.
3. Set where it is on its page, and choose how large an area the public map shows around it.
4. Apply to go live. A new receiver starts private while it proves it is hearing trains. Once it has, apply from its page; an admin reviews it, usually within a few days, and it joins the public map.

Other ways to help

• Add what you see. Open a train and add its locomotives, car count or a link to your photos or video. Notes are public and show your name.
• Report problems. Use the Report link on anything that looks wrong, or email privacy@railspotting.com.
• Build on it. The receivers are open source: see the receiver and Android guides.

RailSpotting is a free, non-commercial project. It is not connected with or endorsed by any railroad or government agency. Crossing data comes from the Federal Railroad Administration and maps from OpenStreetMap contributors. See the terms of use.