Cancellation map - what it's showing

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Was it my imagination or was the sea on the cancellation map blue earlier today?

You may have seen something like this:



I briefly changed the map underlay to see what it would look like.   The old map is ... yeah ... old and there are new things we can do.

My brief test reminded me that the locations shown on the current map are not quite to scale.   So that meant that Paddington moved to somewhere in the East End, Cardiff to Portsmouth trains turned into Flatholm to Hayling Island services, and that short runs such as Slough to Windsor would shrink into invisibility at the scale we use.   I am not totally turned off the idea of moving towards geographic coverage (thoughts from others are welcome) but it needs a bit more thought and probably an exercise of revising all potential train termini.

[bobm]

Yes I picked that up when I zoomed in.  Certainly a thought for the future.

It reminded me of the first time I ever saw a colour television.  Went to a friend's house and saw Michael Fish doing the weather forecast the with sea blue and the land green.  Amazing what you take for granted now.

[grahame]

I briefly changed the map underlay to see what it would look like.   The old map is ... yeah ... old and there are new things we can do.

I spent most of yesterday updating key elements my old "wellho.net" work site on the new server - there's lots of software there written in the days of PHP 4 and MySQL 3.23 - already updated to PHP 5 but now a further leap to PHP7.   And I am taking the opportunity not just to convert but also to take advantage of developments where it's easy to do.   That means that the cancellation map that I generate on that site has had substantial changes under the bonnet though only a couple of those changes will effect what's displayed.

Discrepancies between the Dft and JourneyCheck naming of Statiions (Is it St.Ives or St Ives, Exeter St.David's or Exeter St Davids) will lead to the occasional wild vector over the next few days - which I will jump in and fix.   Bringing these wild vectors back in area, they will no longer take passengers to the Fastnet Rock, but rather to The Scillies!

[bobm]

Just a question about terminology.   The 08:00 from Paddington to Plymouth is shown as a short run.  It has been diverted via Hullavington because of a broken rail at North Somerset Junction and so missing Chippenham and Bath Spa.  To my mind that is an alteration rather than a short run.   A short run to me would be if the service was stopping short - ie Exeter St Davids.  Or am I trying to over complicate the simple message we are trying to convey?

[grahame]

Just a question about terminology.   The 08:00 from Paddington to Plymouth is shown as a short run.  It has being diverted via Hullavington because of a broken rail at North Somerset Junction and so missing Chippenham and Bath Spa.  To my mind that is an alteration rather than a short run.   A short run to me would be if the service was stopping short - ie Exeter St Davids.  Or am I trying to over complicate the simple message we are trying to convey?

Definition: I have used the term "short run" for trains which are running, but not serving all the stations they were timetables to call at. If you're able to come up with a better headline word for that, it could be easily enough changed. Was "Alteration" your proposal?

It would be possible (give me a few hours on a day of plenty of sample train changes) I suspect to pick out just those that include "started from" or "terminated at" in their descriptions, labelling them as "short run"s and taking the remaining trains within the current group as "skipping stops".   Also a need to be aware of trains that fall into both new groups ... the Plymouth to Paddington train that gets diverted away from Pewsey and Newbury due to yet another freight train failure ... ends up being diverted along the single line via Melksham (why, or why, is that still single?) then terminated at Reading because of the congestion delays it suffered.

Inputs welcome ... at present, a short run from Brighton to Hove (missing out all stations to Great Malvern) shows up with just the same strength of message as a short run from Weymouth to Worcerster Shrub Hill that fails to finish the trip to Worcester Foregate Street.

[bobm]

Yes - perhaps Alteration might be a better heading.

As I say we could get into the trap of over complicating what is a useful quick visual guide.

To repeat your phrase Graham, what do others think?

[stuving]

As a label, one I've heard that might cover all those is "part route".

[grahame]

As a label, one I've heard that might cover all those is "part route".

Best so far ... since "alteration" could as a description could have suggested it included trains making EXTRA stops - for which we have a separate colour and label.

[grahame]

The map has been showing place names for a few days where the number of services reported has been less than 10.  I have amended that to showing place names if the number of place names for end points to be reported is less that 10. 

Today, there are 10 reformed trains between Reading and Basingstoke and under the first test algorithm, that meant all place names were left off to avoid clutter.   But there are now 7 place names being reported, even though there are some 15 trains being reported.   The fun of looking for the best compromise in algorithms ...

I am aware that at times, place names will run into each other even with just small numbers being reported.  The algorithm I've used is a fairly basic one, with the place name defaulting to being slightly above and to the right of the place,  with an exception that it's shifted to the left if the place name would otherwise have run off the right of the map.

For a short test - name switched from being in grey to being in black.   Thoughts / comments??

[bobm]

I think we all know the problems with algorithms!

Like the black font.

Is it possible to make the map clickable such that a larger image comes up?   On a phone you can zoom in but the facility would be useful on a PC.

[grahame]

I think we all know the problems with algorithms!

Like the black font.

Is it possible to make the map clickable such that a larger image comes up?   On a phone you can zoom in but the facility would be useful on a PC.

Clicking on the map now brings it up larger in a new window ... a temporary measure as I have other plans now that it is geographic based under the hood.  Font stays black. unless others shout louder in the opposite direction!

[grahame]

I think we all know the problems with algorithms!

Like the black font.

Is it possible to make the map clickable such that a larger image comes up?   On a phone you can zoom in but the facility would be useful on a PC.

This morning - a cancellation from St Budeaux Ferry Road, and that wasn't in the old basic map ...

I have switched (perhaps a bit premature) to the new code I have been writing / testing ...
* Click on the map and you should get a bigger version on a new page
* Click on THAT BIGGER MAP and you should get individual station details near to where you clicked
* Nearest station details gives you a summary of station facilities, links to current departure boards for that station and links to maps of the station area.

Below the larger map you'll find all sorts of controls you can play with - so if you want to even highlight all stations with ATMs^‡(resolve) you can do so.  You can also choose to display heritage lines and potential (re)opening campaigns on the map, and then click on them for links to lead you to more data too.  The idea of putting a map of those together came from "Reopen" where the author is working to an alphabetic listing - I thought a map would be a good idea and suggested it ... sounded from the response like it was not on his agenda.

[grahame]

Please let me know of any campaigns or heritage line in our area I have missed, or extra sites or threads I should refer to. 

I have chosen initially to draw the line and show only those heritage lines where the prime reason for the visit is the ride, and only those campaigns / new lines and services where a new station, new route, or massive service increase is the objective; extra platform aspirations (Chippenham, Westbury, Salisbury) are for the moment below the radar.

Should any member have the time and inclination to provide a major extra data set extension I would be delighted to give you format details and be very thankful.  Rest of Wales, and of England, might be useful.

[grahame]

Alteration: 21:15 from Plymouth.
Additional 21:15 Plymouth to Exeter St Davids due 22:19 will be started from Liskeard.
It will call additionally at Menheniot, St Germans and Saltash.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.

Interesting ... does not show on map as back from Liskeard, but an unusual style of text for our reverse engineering.  Is there usually a service calling at Menheniot that late of a Sunday evening?

[ellendune]

Terminal 5 needs to be added to the map. At the moment it assumes everyone going to T5 also has a train flight to somewhere WSW of Lands End cancelled as well!