Traintrackr – Live LED Maps

Hi everyone, Richard here, the creator of these traintrackr boards. It's great to see this on the front page!

I've been designing PCBs for years, and designed over 250 at last count.

We have a couple of products in the pipeline to come out this year, but I'd love to hear what you think we should build next.

Train Trackr is great, and the weather one is also good too.

If you are less into trains (heresy) but still want to look at unusual maps https://raildar.co.uk/map/KGX is your place to go. its a live junction schematic of any train junction in the UK.

The Chicago one could use a bit do a rework. The shape of the Loop is a very very distinctive, even iconic, but here it’s off — it’s squashed and fat, wider than it is tall, rather than narrower.

Obviously some compromises must be made for routing the traces but I’d consider the shape of the Loop to be the most essential element of the whole system.

Definitely very cool though!

The data behind these comes from the Darwin feed (National Rail's real-time data) which is surprisingly good once you get past the initial authentication setup. Network Rail also publishes movement data via their OpenData platform if you want to go deeper - actual track circuits and signalling block occupancy.

What I find interesting is how these physical displays handle the inevitable "ghost trains" in the feed - cancelled services that still show as running, or trains that briefly appear in the wrong location. The software problem is messier than the hardware.

I have one of these for Boston. It's awesome.

I want to find more art like this that updates in real-time, then I feel like I actually appreciate it in the long term. With regular static pictures on the wall I tune them out after they've been there a few months.

Shameless self promotion. I make these: https://www.stationdisplay.com/

The blog is a much more interesting read than the product site: https://blog.traintrackr.io

London underground looks awesome, but I can't imagine it having even the vaguest utility in terms of knowing when to leave the house.

I have the London board in my living room. It's one my favorite parts of the house. Can't recommend it enough.

ayyyyy great to see someone from my local hacking community on the front page!

Wish it included the overground!

I put the NYC one in the office. It’s a good conversation starter and mildly mesmerizing.

Wow this is presented exactly the same as the flight data led display. It is odd that the advertising method and the comments are similar to the previous.

Ohky