Trains are a great way to get around. You just have to make sure you’re across the schedule if you intend to get where you’re going in a timely manner. Train departure boards exist for that very purpose. As a train fan, [Jon] always wanted such a thing, so decided to build one for himself.
The build started, as so many do, with a Raspberry Pi 4, with [Jon] deciding on the 1GB model. Hooked up to either an Adafruit RGB Matrix Bonnet, or an Electrodragon 3-port RGB Matrix board, it’s then possible to get the Pi running three to four HUB75E LED matrixes. Each matrix consists of 128 x 64 pixels, so stacking up a bunch of them can make a nicely-sized departure board that’s easily readable. [Jon] was sure to hook up a nice, juicy 5-amp 5-volt power supply to ensure there wouldn’t be any surprise brownouts under normal usage conditions. From there, it’s simply a matter of having the Pi query the Rail Data Marketplace in order to get the relevant schedule data to display on the board.
If you want to get information on your local rail services at a glance, or just want to impress your fellow foamers at your next railfan gathering, a build like this is a great way to go. We’ve seen similar builds before, too. Video after the break.
This is superb! Going to have to make a few of these. 👍
Fabulous!
Let me know how you get on!
What does being ‘across the schedule’ mean? I’m guessing this is a British English phrase that indicates that someone is closely monitoring a timeline. Not certain though, if I read that sentence in my native English dialect it makes no sense.
well, your native English dialect probably isn’t then. That’s normal usage ie https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-190805
And the similarity in the names we use here is a coincidence… must be how popular 42 is…
Ah but train departure boards are so much better in the original Klingon.
Doesn’t make sense to me either (native UK English speaker). I think the “you’re across the schedule” means that “you’re on top of the timetable”?
“…make sure you’re across the schedule…”?
Huh. First time hearing that, after 63 years.
“on top of” is standard conversational English, but “across” is not.
I made something similar too:
https://github.com/cdtomkins/PiTrains
IMHO, usual thing with families with little and not so little kids. Train Departure schedule is usually in someone’s head at all times, the one who takes the duties of Station Master, so to speak.
Wish I’ve thought about something similar decades back; our train departure schedule is usually a calendar on a wall where we’d all write down dates/times/clues/names and a small dry erase board next to it.