# railroad maps



## Joel N. Weber II (Aug 9, 2008)

Do there exist any maps I could look at in a library and/or buy that would show all of the railroad rights of way that have ever existed in the US, with each section marked with which railroad owned it on which dates, how many actively maintained tracks it had on various dates to which FRA class (or equivalent information for pre-FRA times), what kind of signaling was present in various years, how wide it is, and how sharp the curves are and how steep the grade is? Also nice to have would be what has happened with it if abandoned (bike path?), and where there have been and are passenger stations with dates.


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## p&sr (Aug 9, 2008)

I've never seen a source with ALL of that information. But there IS RailRoad Map Software available, both affordable and convenient which gives much of that data.

http://www.railwaystation.com/products.html


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## WhoozOn1st (Aug 9, 2008)

Joel N. Weber II said:


> Do there exist any maps I could look at in a library and/or buy that would show all of the railroad rights of way that have ever existed in the US, with each section marked with which railroad owned it on which dates, how many actively maintained tracks it had on various dates to which FRA class (or equivalent information for pre-FRA times), what kind of signaling was present in various years, how wide it is, and how sharp the curves are and how steep the grade is? Also nice to have would be what has happened with it if abandoned (bike path?), and where there have been and are passenger stations with dates.


Joel, a database like that would be a hellacious undertaking. I volunteer YOU for the project.


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## Joel N. Weber II (Aug 10, 2008)

p&sr said:


> But there IS RailRoad Map Software available, both affordable


$35-$40 plus about $90 for a Windows license.


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## Green Maned Lion (Aug 10, 2008)

Windows license?


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## Joel N. Weber II (Aug 10, 2008)

Yes. That software doesn't run under, say, Linux or NetBSD or whatever. Unless maybe it turns out to run under WINE.


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## Joel N. Weber II (Aug 10, 2008)

WhoozOn1st said:


> Joel, a database like that would be a hellacious undertaking. I volunteer YOU for the project.


But compiling vast quantities of data like that seems to be the sort of thing that Green Maned Lion would enjoy more than I would.

And having raw data that could help us understand where trains might be able to go in the future somehow strikes me as more exciting than understanding exactly what happened to the Heritage fleet.


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## Green Maned Lion (Aug 11, 2008)

Joel N. Weber II said:


> Yes. That software doesn't run under, say, Linux or NetBSD or whatever. Unless maybe it turns out to run under WINE.


Most people, lets be fair, who use computers already own a windows license. Including it in the cost isn't fair. You might not. But heck, I own one and I'm mainly a Mac user. I still have windows installed (mostly for playing Train Simulator, but whatever.)



Joel N. Weber II said:


> WhoozOn1st said:
> 
> 
> > Joel, a database like that would be a hellacious undertaking. I volunteer YOU for the project.
> ...


To each their own, Joel. I enjoy history and technical stuff. Also, I enjoy looking at a top down view of rail cars and wondering why the women's room in some of them, when viewed from the top down, looks surprisingly similar in general shape to a camel toe. (and I'm not refering to ungulates, neither!) (Swear to god, if you want I'll send you a copy of the diagram!)

But seriously, my current massive data accumulation and processing project is taking almost all of my time, and it seems, more than all of my energy. I'm doing this project, though, mostly for my own interest. I'm creating a book from it mainly because, once I do all this work, it seems a pity not to a) distribute the results, and B) possibly get paid a bit for the effort. But after sitting around asking myself, "What happened to this kind of car?" "What different types of cars existed?" and "Where are they now?" I ended up deciding that if I wanted a comprehensive answer to that question, I needed to find it myself.

If you want a coherent set of information on something that interests you, especially when the subject is a bit obscure, sometimes you have to create that yourself, man.


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## George Harris (Aug 11, 2008)

The track condition information is probably beyond almost anything readily available. For the maps of where track are and used to be, surprised that no one has mentioned the Steam Powered Video maps. They produce them by regions of the country. I have found some inaccuracies, but for the most part they are relatively minor, at least in coverage of the areas I know. They are at www.spv.co.uk

There is a store that can be found on ebay called Railfan Depot that has track charts for several railroads. Some track charts will have line speeds on them and most have the rail section in track as of the date of the chart. Employee timetables can also give you a good bit of information on track speed, signals, siding locations, etc. Many of these of various vintages can also be found on ebay.

You will be out serious time and probably quite a bit of money as well to develop any sort of detailed information on anything approaching a nationwide basis.


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## Bill Haithcoat (Aug 11, 2008)

Green Maned Lion said:


> Joel N. Weber II said:
> 
> 
> > Yes. That software doesn't run under, say, Linux or NetBSD or whatever. Unless maybe it turns out to run under WINE.
> ...


I am not well versed on what a camel's toe looks like or why a womans restroom would be shaped like one. But do keep this in mind, in the older but sreamlined pre-Amtrak cars that the restrooms were often quite large, both men's and womens' and included a lounge/sitting/smoking room, with usually two wash basins in that area and closed off anexes for the toilets, usually two. They may have had baby changing stations even way back then--not sure--not an expert on women's rooms either.

If was quite possible to sit down and have conversations (wierd as it may sound) with total strangers in the lounge/smoking sofas in the restroom.

So, yes, this did mean a coach restroom could be roughly as big or bigger than some sleeping car rooms. These were quite the norm in lightweight streamlined cars from the late 40's forward. I cannot remember if heavyweight cars had nice restrooms like this or if they were smaller (like the windows and everything else).


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## Joel N. Weber II (Oct 26, 2008)

I very recently came across this Massachusetts rail map, which certainly doesn't have everything I asked for, but it does have some information that I hadn't previously come across on a freely available map.


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## JeffConn (Jan 2, 2009)

A somewhat related question:

I'm looking for a map (or maps) of Amtrak routes in Virginia and West Virginia that shows ALL the towns that each route passes through, not just the towns that have stations or scheduled stops.

Thanks in advance.


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## the_traveler (Jan 2, 2009)

How about a good road map that includes the rail lines? I've seen them. Then you would know what towns the rail lines pass thru.


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## Joel N. Weber II (Jan 2, 2009)

the_traveler said:


> How about a good road map that includes the rail lines? I've seen them. Then you would know what towns the rail lines pass thru.


Yes, I was pleasantly surprised last weekend to discover that the IL state map my parents had listed which railroad owns each set of tracks, along with an indication of which tracks are used for Amtrak service. Unfortunately, I neglected to note which brand it was.


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## George Harris (Jan 2, 2009)

Many of the state highway department issued road maps show railroads also. Some states also have on their DOT web site a railroad map for the state that has current company names. Usually abandoned lines are not shown. Sometimes the mothballed but not abandoned ones are. Take the information with a grain of salt. some of the ones I have seen contain errors.


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