Q: Do you know if any publications, or any web pages, blogs, or any Internet resource that maintains a U.S. map that shows frequency of train service? — Frank Norris, Santa Fe, N.M.
A: Simply put, no such resource exists as railroads hold traffic data as proprietary. The best way to learn about railroad operations, aside from reading Trains Magazine, is to network with your fellow train watchers. And spending time trackside will, of course, give you information to share back with the group. Another option is to listen to live radio scanner feeds online, which can give a feel for a given railroad’s operations before visiting it trackside. — Brian Schmidt
There “Definitely” is a resource that exists that shows traffic data!!!
Copy and paste and click https://fragis.fra.dot.gov/gisfrasafety/ FRA-Safety Map.
Be patient, the map will take a short time to download.
There are several ways to get to the exact location that has a rail crossing where you want to check frequency of rail traffic. You can enlarge the map to your location or put your location in the upper right hand corner.
Enlarge the map enough where you see yellow dots and blue dots. Yellow dots are crossings. Blue dots are bridge crossings.
Click a yellow dot. A pop up gives some data but scroll down to INV_Link More Info. Click that and U. S. DOT CROSSING INVENTORY FORM (pdf) comes up. Part II towards the bottom gives number of trains that pass the crossing day and night and 24 hours. The upper part of the form tells the railroad and secondary railroads that use tracks at that location.
Hopefully, other readers can give better instructions than I have.
I am disappointed that Train Magazine experts did not mention information available for free to the public on the FRA-Safety Map existance!