No, but there are aerial photographs. I have had very good luck with some from my local Historical Society. They were surprisingly detailed.
Sanborn maps, on the other hand, aren't always that accurate when it comes to the track layout. I was lucky and found Santa Fe track diagram through the Santa Fe Historical Society.
Per
I read somewhere that Google is now offering their archived 1940s, 1950s,etc satellite images.
Remember that the first successful satellite launch did not occur until October 4, 1957. So there are no satellite images at all from the 1940s and precious few from the 1950s -- certainly none that would be useful to modelers.
I believe that the first good quality satellite images available to the public were those made in the 1970s by the Landsat satellites. I'm sure that intelligence agencies had access to good images long before the rest of us.
- Jeff
Old city plat books, or insurance books are good - lots of detail information for prototype structures, as well as clearances - Sanborn is good, too! Good hunting - hey - what areas are you looking for?
I'm not sure if they cover the whole country, but the University of New Hampshire archives a lot of OLD USGS maps, some even from the late 1800's, but I believe they're mostly New England, and maybe some of New York. They're at:
http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/nhtopos.htm
Hope this helps!
Eric
rtprimus please, dont link me to live map or google anymore. I have gotten 6 PM saying use this. Those are not what I am looking for and I contacted the town's historical society, they have yet to reply back to me and that was almost 5 weeks ago, and contact them once each week sence, no reply yet.
please, dont link me to live map or google anymore. I have gotten 6 PM saying use this. Those are not what I am looking for and I contacted the town's historical society, they have yet to reply back to me and that was almost 5 weeks ago, and contact them once each week sence, no reply yet.
I would suggest you contact the Recorders, Auditors, and Engineers records in the county where you require mapping coverage. Counties are required by statute to maintain conveyance records (deeds, plats, etc) which are public records, and most will make them available for a minimal reproduction cost. The Auditor may have the least accurate mapping, as they are mainly concerned with assessment of property taxes, but many county Auditors have an active GIS program, and have gotten on board with the need for accurate base mapping as a requirement for an accurate GIS. Recorders offices are mainly responsible for maintaining the written deed record of conveyance of real property, but in many instances will require a property survey be conducted before they will approve a new conveyance. There will likely ba a survey plat attached to, or referenced in these deed records. Typically the County Engineer will be responsible for maintaining survey records. He will have survey plats going back many years (I have found plats dated in the 1830s), but keep in mind that in most counties there is no requirement that surveyors file all of their plats. They tend to file their records as a courtesy though. County records may also contain a railroad's Right-of-Way plats for lines that pass through that county. There is no garantee of this however. Good luck with your search.
Howdy out in VA,
You could try the USGS sites they have a pretty good selection of the maps on line. The other thing you could do, is find a friend in either the USGS, or state DOT or DNR. They nice thing about that is they would probably be able to get you the maps you want for free, or the cost of the CD's it takes to burn them.
Here are links to Sanborn Fire Insurance maps that I provided on an earlier thread. I can't imagine a better resource for the historian or the modelrailroader researching a prototype for their layout:
The city of Rutland, Vermont > Maps:
http://rutland.govoffice.com/index.asp
Frankfort, Kentucky:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Pub_List_No=5381.000%22%20LIMIT:RUMSEY~8~1&sort=Pub_Date,Pub_List_No_InitialSort
Alabama:
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/FireInsurance/1_County%20Index.html
Utah:
http://www.lib.utah.edu/portal/site/marriottlibrary/menuitem.350f2794f84fb3b29cf87354d1e916b9/?vgnextoid=9507da2ae25ea110VgnVCM1000001c9e619bRCRD&vgnextfmt=nomenu
South Carolina:
http://www.sc.edu/library/digital/collections/sanborn.html
Indianapolis:
http://indiamond6.ulib.iupui.edu/sanbornJP2/
Florida:
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?n=palmm&c=sanborn&m=hbtall
Everett, WA:
http://www.epls.org/nw/dig_sanborn.asp
The links above are open to the general publics viewing. Please add any links that you may have to this thread. There are scores of other towns that I would love to access, but I don't have the financial resources to pay for such an extravagence. Hope some of these help.
Thanks,
Road Fan
For free access to Sanborn maps, join the library of your local state university. You will get free access to maps. Also many universities have a "map room". I was able to take photos of these maps when researching roundhouses. Nice thing about Sanborn maps is there is often detail about railroad structures, like roundhouses included. For example , pumps, hoses, personal required to maintain insurance etc.
Bill D
model in O. the Western NY and Ontario Railroad
3cflviThats the article I am referring to.
Thats the article I am referring to.
Seven articles between 1989 and 2008 on using validation maps as a research source:
http://index.mrmag.com/tm.exe?opt=S&cmdtext=valuation&MAG=ANY
I've read the three latest (2005 issue of Model Railroad Planning - designing a layout of Harrisburg RR station from ICC validation maps, and the two part article series in Model Railroad Craftsman on using the National Archives as a research source.
This is one of many sources - but as Dave H pointed out - to do research you need to spend time and effort looking at various sources - in most cases there is no single golden web page where someone else has done all the research for you already.
rtprimusThe Maps would be looking for would be older. Say, 1940s to 1960s or so.. What I am realy trying to find is maps that show were railroad tracks were and what areas around them looked like.
The topo maps in Terraserver will show where railroads are and if there is an abandoned railroad they will show "former railroad grade" or "old railroad grade".
Generally there is no silver bullet. You will have to spend a lot of time tracking down maps, etc. It will take a lot of quality time with Google searching for images and maps for the town, state, area, railroads, industries etc. in the area you are interested. Also search for aerial photographs. Be creative and search around the edges. I have found a lot of very good information researching my railroad by researching nearby railroads .
There are services that sell copies of old maps, but they are usually paid sites that let you order hardcopies of old topo or Sanborn maps.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
I have a link to a site that had RR maps that looked like road maps. I can't find it at home, but I think I still have it at work. County courthouses may have some VAL maps, several around me do, if that is what you are after. They are probably in the Tax Mapping department or Recorder of Deeds, they might not even know what the maps are. These maps are very valuable to us surveyors, especially with the mergers and railroads closing as time goes on. I think I can copy, from work, a PDF file of a couple VAL maps if you aren't sure what they are and send them.
I seem to remember that someone did an article about using the National Archives as a research source, is that by anychance what you were thinking of?
Chris M
if you go to the library and they have a genelogy section. try that because sometimes they will have old maps of diffrent counties and city. Or go to the main branch of a library they may be able to get something for you.
http://maps.live.com/
Try this link.
I suggest you contact a town's historical society. Not all towns have such a thing, but many small towns do. If there isn't one in that town you are trying to model, find a town nearby. They may know of a local historian in that area. Some of these historical societies may have Sanborn Insurance maps. Not all of them are willing to get back to you though. Also, dont forget the many RR historical societies. I also have tried searching with Google for specific web sites that might have such info. As an example I was able to find some junction details for PRR area I am trying to model. Also, there was an excellent article in "How to Build Realistic Layouts 4" --- check out pages 21 and 22 for an excellent list of links for research. The article "Model Building Based on Prototype Research" is really good.
My favorite place for naps is in the hammock in the back yard. But let's face it. Sometimes it's a little too cool, maybe a little too hot. In those cases, I'll set my sights on the couch in the den.
That's a great place to take a ....
... oh... Maps... Yeah, for that I go to Maps Live! I especially like the Birds Eye feature.
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
rtprimus ok, I did add all the information on this I was hoping to add when I first posted. The Maps would be looking for would be older. Say, 1940s to 1960s or so.. What I am realy trying to find is maps that show were railroad tracks were and what areas around them looked like.
ok, I did add all the information on this I was hoping to add when I first posted. The Maps would be looking for would be older. Say, 1940s to 1960s or so.. What I am realy trying to find is maps that show were railroad tracks were and what areas around them looked like.
I read somewhere that Google is now offering their archived 1940s, 1950s,etc satellite images. I haven't tried it yet, but these would be just what we modelers have been hoping for.
If any of you have tried it, lets hear how you did it.
You might want to try http://www.flashearth.com With it you can switch between several map/aerial photo sources. Depending on the location, a different source may have a better image.
I prefer maps.live.com to Google maps, in general. They have more resolutions available (at least in areas I'm interested in), plus the "bird's eye view" is really useful for studying track arrangements (if a bird's eye is present)
dehusman For current or near current maps, I like microsoft.terraserver.com. Lets you toggle between USGS topo maps and B&W aerial photos. Try Google or Mapquest for current aerial photos. For detailed maps of large urban areas check for "Sanborn maps". They are fire insurance maps and some libraries have them, they go back into the late 1800's. Occaisionally they can be accessed via the internet for free or there are sites with paid subscriptions to them.
For current or near current maps, I like microsoft.terraserver.com.
Lets you toggle between USGS topo maps and B&W aerial photos. Try Google or Mapquest for current aerial photos.
For detailed maps of large urban areas check for "Sanborn maps". They are fire insurance maps and some libraries have them, they go back into the late 1800's. Occaisionally they can be accessed via the internet for free or there are sites with paid subscriptions to them.
I cant remember if I saw in here on the forum or in one of Model railroaders books on a issue one month. I was a link to a website that you can look for maps of any part of the US you are looking for.
I have looked at it, but it was late that night and I was half asleep. any ideas?