need some information...please!

[Anonymous]

hello everyone, been a while since i've been here. im in the process of designing my first big, real layout and i need some help. is there a place on the web where i can look at proto type trackage plans, like the western maryland, or the c&o. ive seen pictures of real right of way track plans, but im not sure where i could find some at. any help or information is greatly appreciated. thanks!

[orsonroy]

"real" track plans are pretty rare online. People actually make money by selling track charts, so don't want to screw up their revenue stream by posting them for free. There are a few, but they'll take a lot of digging to find.

You can find free aerial maps of most of the USA on Terraserver. They're a good start, but a lot of detail will probably be too small to see.

A better choice are the Sanborn maps. They ARE online, but therte are two problems. First, they sometimes get track wrong, and so should only be used as ONE source of information. Two, you can only access them online if you're a library or research facility. Virtually every public and college library in the country has access to them, so a trip to one is probably in order.

You can also start joining one or more of the many Yahoo groups that deal with your target railroads. There are lots of people online who have what you're looking for, but you have to find them! I've found most of my maps by asking around until I found someone who had what I needed and who was willing to sell me copies.

[Anonymous]

Try looking at Terraserver.com. They have satellite photos of most areas of the US and Canada. Plug in the town your looking for and look at the photos for a 10,000 foot view. It's really something like 8 ft. per pixel at the free rate. In the olden days (a few years ago) you could get down to something like 6 inches per pixel for free, but that's gone away, I guess.

[macchoo2]

Try looking up Sandborn Ins. maps on the net. The only ones I could find were of Ca.,N.M., and Pa. May-be you'll have better luck than me. Gary

[jrbarney]

Stephen,
Do a Google search, or click on this:
http://search.earthlink.net/search?q=Sandborn+insurance+maps&area=earthlink-ws
You'll notice that most of the citations show that the maps are accessible in college and university libraries. Don't know what higher education institutions are near you, but try there.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543