This website displays train locations on the bit of line between Reading and Basingstoke - The idea bring that you can get an idea of when the Bramley level crossing will be closed
There are alternatives - Open Train Times maps are really good but this particular area is spread over three maps and it's not great on a mobile device. Real Time Trains is another good one, they provide detailed timetable information for passing trains. The catch here is freight is rather variable in time and doesn't always run
The data for this (and pretty much any other site showing rail network info) comes from Network Rail's Open data feeds.
Train information is derived from actual train position as reported by network rail - not timetable data. The data is delivered in batches which gives upto a 6 second delay in updates. Level crossing status is not available in the Basingstoke feeds - this website makes the assumption that if either signal allowing trains to pass the crossing is green that the crossing must be closed. Practically this means the crossing is not shown down on this website until up to around 26 seconds after the barriers close. When a train passes a signal, it automatically turns red - this means that with long slow freight trains the barriers may be shown open on this page several seconds before they open in real life. I have considered alternative more accurate methods but I have nothing reliable to share as yet - please contact me if you think you can help or want to discuss.
This system does not currently predict anything - the help page may assist you in learning how to read the display to allow you to predict barrier operation.
bug reports, feature requests, offers of help are all welcome, please contact me
Technical stuff: The Network Rail data feed STOMP server is accessed by a perl script I wrote that runs as a service on a Linux server - occasionally the NR service goes down - I can't help that but my interface should reconnect when things get going again. This script pushes relevant data to an MQTT server - trimming the data to Basingstoke and Reading areas and decoding the signal and points info to make it easier to use. The webserver delivers you an image rendered using SVG, Javascript in your browser connects to a Web Socket interface to that MQTT server (read only) it parses the data and updates the map as required.
trains.auld.me.uk is avaialble on http (for performance) or https (for security), take your pick.