Prototype Town Photos - Muncie, Kansas

[kansaspacific1]

I have a photo of the UP station in Muncie, Kansas dated 1958, but am needing
photos of its surroundings for modeling purposes. Does anyone know of
a source for such photos. I'm not even sure of the exact location of the station
as it has been gone for a long time. ANY info anyone has re dates, etc would
be welcome.

Any sources of info re Edwardsville and Bonner Springs along this same line
would be welcome as well. What I have to date came mainly from Howard Killam collection at Spencer Library at KU.

[jrbarney]

Kansaspacific1,
I don't know anything about Muncie, KS, but have a few suggestions. First I would determine if there is a local Chamber of Commerce. Failing that I would see if there is a town engineer/zoning board, and an historical society for either Muncie or its county. Possibly the KU library will also have access to Sanborn insurance maps. Although they're not photos, the maps would tell you what the adjacent structures are/were. I would check the same sources for Edwardsville and Bonner Springs. Also, Arcadia/Tempus Publishing Inc., has a series of soft bound booklets on various municipalities that might include Muncie. If Sanborn maps aren't available, for the location of the station, try the historical USGS quadrangle maps available at Maptech:
http://historical/maptech.com/index.cfm
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Anonymous]

Your best bet is to try the UP Historial Society or the Kansas State Historical Society
As for Bonner Springs, some the structures still exist along K32. As for Edwardsville, I do believe those structures are long gone except for the cement plant.
Ch [}:)]

[orsonroy]

Go to your local library (main branch) and look for Sanborn maps. They'll tell you where the buildings and roads used to be. Then go to the local library of where you want to model and dig through the local resource room for photos. Dig through the local county museum, if one exists. While you're there, dig through local antique shops.

On the internet front, hit all the major databases for possible photos, especially the large Denver Public Library Western History Collection and the absolutely Ginormous Library of Congress site.

After that, keep searching Ebay, especially in the postcard section. I've collected some of my most useful proto images from old postcards.

Only after that, hit the various UP websites and forums. Lots of people have an interest in the UP, a few might have an interest in Kansas, even fewer will have an interest in the area you're interested in, and even fewer still will care what the town looked like. It's a matter of diminishing returns.

I've gone through the same process with my home layout, and have done all these steps, generally concurrently. Researching a proto area is a lot of fun and pretty rewarding, but don't expect to find everything all at once. I've been digging into the history of my chosen line for five years now, and STILL don't have everything I need!