Hi all, yet another question. I know that I can get some basic overhead shots from google earth, but how can I get a bit more detailed route map for a portion of a line I want to model? I want to model The Strasburg RR (gee, big surprise, huh?) main station and the yard. I know what it looks like from ground level, but I want to get an overhead shot. Short of going up there in a hot air balloon and taking the pictures myself (that might be fun!), does anyone else know how to obtain aerial / overhead shots of rail lines? Nut
Yea! WWW.USGS.gov. sells maps of just about everything, I have several of Western Maryland R.R. Do a Google for map sales. Order the cataloge so you can get the right grid sections and map book. Historical socities would have maps and call up the Strasburg you never know they may already have one. Hope that helps out. Lee "Still Training After All These Years"
A perennial problem for prototype modelers, especially for those trying to model now-abandoned trackage. Unfortunately USGS maps are often not that helpful. Sometimes you get lucky. The best source for a route map is the railroad itself. They all published or publish route maps and section information for internal use. Sometimes you can get a simple map by contacting the railroad (I'm thinking shortline here not CSX!). Othertimes older maps are available on ebay. With now-defunct roads there may be an historical society that publishes such info or has it online. If you haven't done so I'd start by checking with the Straburg itself. Maybe they can point you in the right direction if they don't have anything for sale. A good map can be invaluable and photos of prototype structures are also needed. It's taken me years of looking and some money to acquire some of the modeling info I have needed. Some I would have liked to have was simply too expensive. I hope you can more quickly get your hands on what you would like to have.
I would try that railroad's historical society. There's bound to be one somewhere. Apart from that, you might check out the Steam Powered Video Atlas for that area. I have the one for the Pacific Northwest. It's really quite good for locating, in my case, a lot of these little logging railroads that were here and there. You can frequently find them in book searches (may be out of print, so check abebooks and alibris) as SPV Railroad Atlas of North America - (insert group of states here). They were put out by a British publisher. Go figure. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) you most likely will not find one source that will cover it all. You'll end up consulting, say, a railroad atlas, some historical society stuff, a USGS map, some old guy at a cafe somewhere who used to work for them, etc. The research is a big part of the fun in my opinion. Adam
Do you mean detail like this topographic map? (Be patient, this doesn't load too quickly into a Trainboard thread... or else go directly to www.terraserverusa.com and plug in Strasburg Pennsylvania.) http://www.terraserverusa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=11&Z=18&X=1002&Y=11065&W=1&qs=%7cStrasburg%7cPennsylvania%7c Or are you looking for better detail than can be obtained from the Google.com satellite view of Strasburg at its greatest magnification? The link below is to the city and you can pan and magnify the satellite view to look at the particular buildings. If you want less grainy pics than this, I'm afraid you'll have to rent that hot air balloon! LOL http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Stras...osoft:en-US&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl Have you had a chance to get to a public library or university library in the area? Sometimes they will have Sanborn Fire Insurance maps that show details of buildings from the 1900s until about the mid-1950s. You can print out the maps that show the buildings all along the RR's right of way. Modern construction will have replaced many structures, but you can see where the original structures (and rails) were. Ask the librarian to direct you to the vertical files and look up the Strasburg RR (or any of its predecessors. These files often will contain newspaper clippings or photos that don't get into a book but which are still very informative. Is there a Strasburg newspaper? Their "morgue" may have old pictures. I was able to find some pics of the Peoria and Pekin Union RR in the morgue of a (small) neighboring town's newspaper, but both the (larger) Peoria paper and Pekin paper turned down my request to rifle through their files. In the 1970s, I went directly to the P&PU's headquarters in East Peoria and asked for any system maps or information they could provide me. Someone had me wait 15 minutes and a guy came out and gave me a 9x22 inch system map showing all the RR connections and switches throughout the 20 miles of the system. He talked with me for about 15 minutes about the connecting RRs and engine roster, and then referred me to the transportation section of the Peoria library where I found the Centennial Annual Report for the P&PU. Perhaps someone at the Strasburg RR headquarters would be equally generous to you. In the 1980s, I was able to obtain some valuation maps from the Chicago & Illinois Midland Ry showing their tracks and the Corn Products Plant where they connected with the P&PU Ry in the south end of Pekin, which I was modeling. Even after 9/11, I think you might still be able to obtain valuation maps from the Strasburg RR because businesses and developers need the detailed information in them when they buy and develop land next to a railroad. The East Peoria City Hall has decorated their foyer with 3 or 4 very large aerial photos of the city and several views of the P&PU's main yard, which was located behind the downtown area of the city. Maybe the city government has some pics of what you'd like.
Sometimes you can get lucky with a state's DOT map. For a RR like Strasburg that carries passengers, it can be shown. Some states do a good jop of showing Amtrak routes. You could also try to see if the DOT has a bureau of railroads that can help you. Another potential source is in the state library system. Very often, it can be part of a state school library. Some records are available online, or you get to visit the library.
