Down & Dirty Tricks for Finding Station Plans

[kylebig4]

I know it is a "needle in the hay stack" kind of thing, but I am looking for the drawing for the CCC&StL train station in Wabash Indiana. It was the divison headquarters until 1925. I have been to the Wabash Historical Museum and Society and have contacted the New York Central Historical Society and have had no luck . Could the court house in Wabash have the plans and how do I find who the arcitect was? These are just some ideas I thought might help me. I have also been going through the old newspaper records for any clues that might help, but nothing good yet.
Since I have been searching; it got me thinking that other people must have or had the same problems...so what are some tricks and tactics that you have tried that have worked. What stories do have about how you finally found that drawing.

[orsonroy]

You want to model Wabash? Wow; that's one heck of a project!

Anyway, I'm in a similar situation. I want to model the P&PU's union station in Peoria ( the Big Four and P&E used it, among others), but it's been gone since 1960. Your first step should be to look at the Sanborn maps of the area. Since railroads used different insurance schemes than most of the country, there's very little data on the actual buildings themselves, besides a general footprint dimension. But, the Sanborns will give you the exact coordinates of the structure, and from there you can head over to the local or county courthouse and start digging through the tax rolls for the property. If all the records are still there, you should be able to find the dimensions and makeup of the building for accurate assessment, probably the architectural firm that built it, and if you're REALLY lucky, a set of the approved building plans.

If you can't find this data, you're on your own to draw up a set of plans. Start collecting as many high-quality prints of the structure as you can, and start scaling them. Don't forget that the USGS and US Army overflew almost every square inch of the lower 48 in 1940; you'll probably find a decent overhead shot of the station in those sequences.

[pcarrell]

Does this help?

http://www.maptech.com/onlinemaps/index.cfm?CFID=12389666&CFTOKEN=47884763

[leighant]

Have you tried visiting the Library of Congress at www.loc.gov. Click on "American Memory" and then follow the index...architecturals, views, etc. Lots of stuff.

[kylebig4]

Ah, yes the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, they are a wonderful resource. I am modeling the shops and station area. The Insurance maps show the shop building, but for some reasom left off the station area and some surrounding buildings. Just my luck. The maps show me 2/3 of what I want to model and leaves the rest up to me to find.
The tax rolls for the property at the courthouse is an excellent idea. I will have to look into that. Also I am aware of the aerial shots of the country and have not assets them yet. The Indiana State Archives has them on file.
The Library of Congress at www.loc.gov. I have checked and nothing.
One resource, as far as pictures, has been M.D. McCarter photo collection. If you haven't checked his web site out you should.
Thanks for the ideas.