Follow London Trains in 3D

ride.nexttrain.london73 pointsby mgranados29 comments

Discussion summary

A 3D London train visualization uses 2D paths over buildings, with some comments on realism and source models. Users express interest and curiosity about features and models.

What the discussion says

The train paths are drawn on a 2D layer, not matching 3D positions.
Some users want more realistic underground effects.
Questions about the model source and controls are raised.

“The train paths are drawn on a 2D layer above the buildings.”
— gowld

“I'm curious what the 3D model source is.”
— philipwhiuk

Comments

Hacker News

The train paths are drawn on a 2D layer above the buildings, not at z-index that matches the proper 3-D position. So the paths appear to weave around and over the tops of buildings.

by gowld

I meant to make it feel like the tube ones felt "underground" by some metres i'll have a look thanks

by mgranados

I'm curious what the 3D model source is - the Gherkin is kinda weird.

by philipwhiuk

OpenStreetMap - seems to be done with concentric circles, e.g. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1365317072 and a dome on top

There is a good wiki page on this: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Simple_3D_Buildings

by 0l

The planes were a surprise

by jrrv

hehe thanks!

by mgranados

model rough but amazing. i cant do this

by Leewen

How do I drive the train? Arrow keys not working :(

by Falimonda

It's just following api data for now. That'd be a real cool feature for backlog!

by mgranados

A bit buggy in term of tiles jonctions

by adecoster

This is incredibly cool. I had it open on my desktop for most of the day.

by ohjeez

Having just taken the Elisabeth Line to LHR T5 and sitting here, this was fun. Thanks.

Edit: Is there a Repo to look at and learn from this?

by sdoering

<3 thanks!! i'll clean it and share here sometime soon

by mgranados

This is really cool!

Quick suggestion: When not tracking a train, the mouse wheel should zoom into / out from where the cursor is pointing, rather than the center of the window.

by kentonv

thanks! that's a great suggestion will implement

by mgranados

There seems to be some parallax issues between your trip layer and your 3D Tiles layer, but nice usage of deck.gl.

by hokkos

thank you! i'll have a look

by mgranados

Is it not that certain train lines are somewhat deep underground? The Piccadilly line swims with respect to the ground in the centre of town, when it is below ground. Further out where lines are at the surface the routes stick to the ground correctly.

by taylorius

Very nice, but the map seems to be in the wrong position vs. the trains/3d elements.

by fredley

It would appear you are missing the High Barnet branch of the Northern line.

by dmazin

And the Reading branch of the Elizabeth line

by uukelele

Interesting but quite buggy. Example: mouse dragging seems trapped in a fairly small area.

by TheOtherHobbes

Ah yeah i tried anchoring to the train with a threshold for panning around i'll try smoothing it. thanks for trying it!

by mgranados

I'd love to see a view with all/many trains. In London I was constantly wondering what the criss-cross of underground lines looked like.

by darknavi

I saw a project like that here in hn recently for all uk trains even. it'd be pretty cool to extend this to support that, busy stations might be visually confusing, thanks for suggestions

by mgranados

This is a fun idea and interesting implementation. I know there's only so much an api can give you, but I'd love to see anything that gives more information or visuals of the surroundings.

by Pigo

This is frustratingly close to amazing. Obviously you went through all the trouble of pulling all the data from all the trains and displaying them in 3d, but then lock our view on to just one train or one station while all that interesting information zips around in the periphery. The view port needs to be more free form...less on rails.

by IIAOPSW

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Hacker News
The train paths are drawn on a 2D layer above the buildings, not at z-index that matches the proper 3-D position. So the paths appear to weave around and over the tops of buildings.
by gowld
I meant to make it feel like the tube ones felt "underground" by some metres i'll have a look thanks
by mgranados
I'm curious what the 3D model source is - the Gherkin is kinda weird.
by philipwhiuk
OpenStreetMap - seems to be done with concentric circles, e.g. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1365317072 and a dome on top
There is a good wiki page on this: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Simple_3D_Buildings
by 0l
The planes were a surprise
by jrrv
hehe thanks!
by mgranados
model rough but amazing. i cant do this
by Leewen
How do I drive the train? Arrow keys not working :(
by Falimonda
It's just following api data for now. That'd be a real cool feature for backlog!
by mgranados
A bit buggy in term of tiles jonctions
by adecoster
This is incredibly cool. I had it open on my desktop for most of the day.
by ohjeez
Having just taken the Elisabeth Line to LHR T5 and sitting here, this was fun. Thanks.
Edit: Is there a Repo to look at and learn from this?
by sdoering
<3 thanks!! i'll clean it and share here sometime soon
by mgranados
This is really cool!
Quick suggestion: When not tracking a train, the mouse wheel should zoom into / out from where the cursor is pointing, rather than the center of the window.
by kentonv
thanks! that's a great suggestion will implement
by mgranados
There seems to be some parallax issues between your trip layer and your 3D Tiles layer, but nice usage of deck.gl.
by hokkos
thank you! i'll have a look
by mgranados
Is it not that certain train lines are somewhat deep underground? The Piccadilly line swims with respect to the ground in the centre of town, when it is below ground. Further out where lines are at the surface the routes stick to the ground correctly.
by taylorius
Very nice, but the map seems to be in the wrong position vs. the trains/3d elements.
by fredley
It would appear you are missing the High Barnet branch of the Northern line.
by dmazin
And the Reading branch of the Elizabeth line
by uukelele
Interesting but quite buggy. Example: mouse dragging seems trapped in a fairly small area.
by TheOtherHobbes
Ah yeah i tried anchoring to the train with a threshold for panning around i'll try smoothing it. thanks for trying it!
by mgranados
I'd love to see a view with all/many trains. In London I was constantly wondering what the criss-cross of underground lines looked like.
by darknavi
I saw a project like that here in hn recently for all uk trains even. it'd be pretty cool to extend this to support that, busy stations might be visually confusing, thanks for suggestions
by mgranados
This is a fun idea and interesting implementation. I know there's only so much an api can give you, but I'd love to see anything that gives more information or visuals of the surroundings.
by Pigo
This is frustratingly close to amazing. Obviously you went through all the trouble of pulling all the data from all the trains and displaying them in 3d, but then lock our view on to just one train or one station while all that interesting information zips around in the periphery. The view port needs to be more free form...less on rails.
by IIAOPSW