Aerial photos

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Well, on my way to my grandmothers house, I saw some industries that I thought woul be a possibility for modeling. I went and got some aerial photos from the web.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/109373438/240668594XccqPW This is a power plant that is serviced by rail. You can see the two tracks to the right as well as the unloading faciity. Also visible is the large pile of what I assume to be coal and all the conveyors that carry the said coal to its doom.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/109373438/240668700FFkoXF This is an aerial view of a gravel crushing facility. It shows some of the layout of the conveyors.

Just thought you all might like those.
Reed

2

Those are super pics. Are there other shots of different parts of the country available? How did you find the website?

3

Well, I know that most counties in NC have an online GIS database and most of those have maps of the county and aerial photography overlays. Just google “(name of your county) county GIS” but not in quotes. I actually have a bigger picture of the power plant that I will try to upload, though it may be too big. I will add the link to this post when it is done.
Reed

Wrong pic. I need to upload another.

4

Pretty much the whole country is available in black & white. Go to http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

You can toggle between a topo map and aerial view .

Here’s the rail yard in Plattsburgh, NY
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=18&X=3115&Y=24752&W=3&qs=|plattsburgh|ny|

(Hint: If you’re zoomed all the way in for the aerial view, you may have to zoom out one step to toggle to the topo.)

Great site. Have fun.

Wayne

5

Okay, here’s the big photo: http://community.webshots.com/photo/109373438/240794862uxkPpv Dial-up users WARNING: 1.27MB picture.
Reed

6

terraserver.microsoft.com is so cool
i can see my house from here