No internet connection is required to use the app to collect spotting pictures and/or maintain the spotting data. An internet connection is required to purchase any locomotive catalogs.

The app uses railroad locomotive engine numbers cross-referenced to model type from The Diesel Shop to identify the locomotive photographed by the “spotter”; these are contained in various “catalogs”. The app itself comes without any catalogs, but the Apple In-App Purchasing function enables users to download - for a small fee - catalogs of various US railroads.

The initial catalog provides data for US Class I railroads, major passenger lines, and selected regional and short-line railroads. The second catalog release is planned to include additional US passenger, regional, and short line railroads. Limited International railroads listed by The Diesel Shop is planned to be provided in a subsequent catalog release.

Regular Mode        Full Screen Mode

The initial screen displays a Camera View Finder, a scrollable list of the railroads in the app's data base, and a table showing all the locomotives spotted in the past, sorted by railroad and engine number. Note that the size of the list can be toggled by clicking on the app name at the top of the screen. When the list is in "Full screen Mode", a "map" icon appears. Clicking on it will display a map showing where all the "spottings" occured. Clicking on the "Gear" icon will allow the user to manually modify/change/update the app's database. Clicking on an image's thumbnail will show the full image. Clicking on the RR name/number allows you to replace the image with an image in the devices' image library. Clicking on the ">" will show more detail about the "sighting."

Clicking on the Camera View Finder allows you to snap a picture using the device's built-in high resolution, zoomable camera. Clicking on the "Use" button brings up the screen on the right. Clicking on the Railroad name allows you to enter the Unit/Engine # for the locomotive.

1         2   3         4

Other screens show (1) a full screen locomotive list sorted by railroad (2) a map showing where a locomotive was spotted (3) a map showing where all the locomotives for a selected RR were spotted (4) a data base maintenance screen. Additional screens show emails with the locomotive data, it’s picture and the location. Note: - clicking on any of the map "pins" will allow you to display additional data - the "search" field in (4) allows for searching the Data field for the text string you enter.

Using the In-App Purchasing Function to buy catalogs of railroad locomotive information is inexpensive and dramatically simplifies obtaining locomotive information. Note that once a specific catalog has been purchased, it can be downloaded an unlimited number of times, as long as you use the same apple ID. The In-App Purchasing screen will show catalogs available for downloading. Catalogs can be downloaded multiple times without additional cost and can be "Restored" if your device has a problem after the catalog(s) have been initially downloaded (and paid for). Clicking on "info" will display details about the catalog, i.e. what railroads are included and the number of locomotives for that railroad. Selecting a catalog to download will download and install the data files for a small fee from the Apple App Store. The user can choose not to download anything simply by clicking on the "Back" button. The in-app purchasing feature is accessed immediately after app initiation (if the option is set in the app preferences or by clicking on the in-app purchase icon on the main screen, i.e.

• Version

Shows the version currently installed. This parameter is read-only

• Attribution

The character string entered here is shown on the bottom of the picture sent via email.
Note: the © character is NOT available on the standard device keyboard, so if you delete it, you may not be able to get it back.

• Check for Catalogs

a switch setting that determines if the app checks for downloadable catalogs when the app is started. Default setting is ON.

• email

This is the default email address that is used when the app notifies someone of a sighting. Default setting is blank.

Details
Taking a Picture (“Spotting”)
The app uses the device’s high-resolution camera with built-in zoom to capture the image of the locomotive. Simply clicking on the Camera View Finder brings up the camera. Clicking on the camera's “Capture” button saves the image.

If the user clicks on the "Use" button, the picture is then available in the app. The user then clicks on the name of the railroad which owns the locomotive, at which point the user can enter the engine number. If the entered number is not in the specified railroad data base, an error alert is displayed. Clicking on the “Save” button enters the image and the locomotive information into the app's history record

Identifying the Locomotive Model
Locomotives are identified by number, and the combination of railroad name and locomotive number is used to look up the model of the engine in the app's database. If the locomotive number does not exist within the app, the user can either ignore the picture or save it without any details. The details, if any, from the database are merged with the picture, the time and the location of the spotting, and saved in the history record within the app. .

Capturing the Location
The app uses the device's GPS feature to record the coordinates where the spotting occurred (the User must allow the app to access the GPS location data). The GPS location is maintained in the history record and is provided as an embedded image in the picture sent when "Notifying Others of The Spotting" (see below).

Notifying Others of the Spotting (via email)

Screenshot of sample email

The initial screen shows a list of all engines in the history record. Clicking the ">" for a specific engine will display the image, a map showing the location where the engine was spotted, and the details associated with that locomotive. Clicking on the "Email" button will display a ready-to-send email formatted with all of the above information. Clicking on the "Send" button will transmit the email to the address(es) specified in the app's preferences (settings -> aTrainTracker -> preferences -> email address).

Maintaining the Spotting Data

The data maintenance function enables a user to display and/or edit individual records within a railroad’s data base as well as adding or deleting a railroad from the app's data base. This function is the most complex in the app and requires detailed knowledge of the specific data bases and their formats within the app. However, using the app's In-app purchasing function (to provide catalog(s)) will eliminate the need for most of the maintenance features The first line or record of a railroad's data file contains the names of the categories or columns. The columns are separated by a specific character called a delimiter. For example, each railroad data base contains the locomotive number (or a range of numbers) in the first column. Beyond that, the additional data fields are different for each railroad. Furthermore, the delimiter or separator can be different for each railroad. Users desiring to create and maintain their own data base should know that a wrong entry can render the app unusable. You have been warned!

Legal Issues: The producers of the app and catalogs are not liable for any actions arising from inaccuracies, incompleteness, or other subject-matter related errors contained in the data. Our App's Privacy Policy is here

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

• How do you modify a railroad's data?

On main Screen Click on 'Gear' icon
Click on RR name.
Click on Data To modify
Enter new/modified Data.
When finished, click on 'BacK' Button (Don't forget '|' or':') to save the modifications.

• How do you delete a railroad?

On main Screen Click on 'Gear' icon
Click on a RR name.
Click on Del RR button at the bottom of the screen.

Be careful: deleting a RR will also delete all history records and images associated with the deleted RR.

• How do you add a railroad?

On main Screen Click on 'Gear' icon
Click on Add RR button
Enter RR name & click on Continue.
Click on Data entry field.
Enter RR column names separated by '|' character.
Click on Back Button
Click on 'Gear' icon
Click on new RR Name
Click in the Data Field
Enter RR data, i.e. Unit#, Mfg, Model#, Notes. (Don't forget "|" separator)
Repeat for each locomotive. When done, click on title to remove keyboard & then the 'Done' Button

• On the display screen, can you highlight the text for a specific spotting?

Select the location "pin" on the map you desire to see more details. Click on the ">" item on the annotation. The data associated with that sighting will be highlighted in the text window.

• How do you delete a sighting?

From the main screen, select the desired sighting and click on the ">". The following screen shows the picture, the location (on a map) and the engine's detail. Clicking on the "Delete" button will remove the sighting from the app's history file and the image file from the device.

• Can I access the app's files and/or images from my computer?

Connect the iPhone to your computer.
Start up iTunes.
Click on the Apps tab.
Scroll down to the list of Apps on the iPhone.
Click on the TrainTracker icon and the files associated with the app will appear.
Drag the files to a folder on the desktop to save the files to the computer.

• How do I turn In-App Purchasing on/off

Setting the In-App Purchase preference to ON (Settings-> {app name} -> In App Purchase) allows the app, upon startup, to query whether or not there are new or updated catalogs of data ready to down load. Setting the preference to OFF means that the In-App Purchase can only be accessed by clicking on the in-app icon on the main page.

Note: a RED color means the current catalog has been downloaded and a GREEN color means the the catalog is new or has been updated. clicking on the INFO button will provide more detail about the specific catalog.

• How much data is transferred in an In App purchase

An In App purchase transfers about 300kbytes.

• The app randomly crashes; is there anything I can do about it?

The app "crashes", i.e. quits and displays the "home" screen, either because the catalog data has become corrupted or, and this is the most likely reason, because of lack of available memory. The app will run, without a problem, on minimal, i.e. 16GB, devices, if no other apps are running in the background. It is best to delete all background apps prior to starting the app.

Background apps are removed as follows:
->double click the main/home button - all current background apps will appear along the bottom of the screen
->click and hold one of the background apps until they all start wiggling
->click the "-" charactor on each app's icon to remove it from memory
->when all apps are removed click on the main/home button
->start the tracker app

• Can I replace a sighting image?

You can replace a sighting image with any image in the device's photo library. From the main screen, click on the text of the image you wish to replace
Click on Photo Albums
Click on new image

Note that the new image will not have the GPS location of the sighting embedded.

• Can you provide any details of the catalogs?

The contents of the 1st catalog will be include 7 Class I's, 20 Passenger Lines, 1 Regional Railroad and 4 Leasing Companies detailing more than 30,000 engines. The Rail lines/companies included are as follows:

ACE with 6 engines ALASKA with 57 engines AMT with 51 engines AMTRAK with 524 engines BNSF with 7661 engines CALTRAIN with 33 CEFX with 56 engines Coaster with 6 engines CP with 1643 engines CSX with 4406 engines CTDOT with 30 engines GMTX with 161 engines GO with 75 engines HCLX with 85 engines KCS with 530 engines LLPX with 134 engines MARC with 64 engines MBTA with 125 engines

CN with 5378 engines MCS with 3 engines METRA with 153 engines METROLINK with 60 engines MNCR with 1667 engines NCDOT with 9 engines NICD with 69 engines NS with 4368 engines SDRX with 13 engines SEPTA with 15 engines TRCX with 16 engines TREX with 45 engines UP with 8183 engines UTAX with 18 engines VIA with 123 engines WCEX with 6 engines

For further detail, the ALASKA file contains the following:
Road No.:Model:Notes
31-32:Power Cab:HEP units built from Amtrak F40PH units
1551-1554:MP15DC:Units were sold.
2001-2008:GP38-2:
3001-3008:GP40-2:
3009-3011:GP40-2HEP:May be upgraded to 40-3 models
3012-3015:GP40-2:
4001-4016:SD70MAC:
4317-4328:SD70MAC:

• How do you determine the number of engines in a Railroad's database?

The database is scanned for the engine/road number field. If that field has a range of numbers, that range is calculated. If the field doesn't have a range, then the count is "1".
All of the "ranges" are added up and the resulting number is defined as the number of engines for the railroad.

Note: the engines noted as "removed" or "deleted" are not counted.

• The email image is sometimes rotated. Is there anything I can do??

The short answer is other than changing email processors, i.e. gmail, hotmail, etc., there is little you can do. The long answer is that some email processors do not use the "orientation" of the picture. This is an ongoing discussion here.

• Is there a way to contact app Support directly?

Send us an email here