I am looking for a map of North America that shows all the major rail lines for the Class I’s. I heard the Rand McNally had such a map, but on their website all I see are atlas books of different regions of North America. Anyone no where I might find a large wall map?
[#welcome] to the forums, JoeA. Your best bet would be to browse through the latest edition of Trains magazine- there’s always at least a couple of ads in there for large wall maps of all the US RRs. You might also try a search on this forum for railroad maps, as I remember this topic coming up before, however the search function has been noted to not do so very well…
There are electronic maps here-
http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/2006/
Welcome to the forum Joe. If you join rrpicturearchives.net you can access a map that shows traffic density.
I haven’t heard much about Rand McNally publishing anything to do with railroads (since they discontinued their “Handy Railroad Atlas”–which wasn’t all that great any more anyway).
However, you can find a laminated wall map of the U.S. for $39.95 at
It’s offered by Simmons-Boardman, who also publish Railway Age.
I prefer my set of SPV railroad atlases (which is yet to be completed!).
I would think that when it comes to railroads, one would want to stay away from Rand McNally. They only show tracks on their most detailed maps. They bought out Thomas Brothers Maps (a regional company) a few years ago. They butchered those maps. Maps that used to show the tracks no longer do.
Speaking of SPV, are they still developing them one-by-one? Have any of the older editions been updated? I absolutely love my GLW edition, though it had several errors that I have since picked out – plus some of the names have changed since it was published!
I have a '40’s vintage world atlas (which is in reality an atlas of the United States with the rest of the world added). While it’s not suitable for specifically locating the tracks, it does have all of the mainlines and most branches, identified by RR. of course, the lists for most states ran to 20 or more railroads… Still, it has its uses.
The SPV maps are good, but lack highway references (always a plus if you’re chasing a line).
Put one together with the appropriate DeLorme and you have a resource.
Thanks for the help. The map is on its way.
Joe
I have several of those, which are very interesting. You can find them for a couple of dollars in thrift stores.
GLW and GLE were both updated in the past year or so. I was delighted to find that they added some very obscure former Chicago lines to the map, including the IHB/B&OCT from Franklin Park to Grayland, and the C&O’s Hammond Belt from Hammond to Calumet City.
The atlas for New York and Pennsylvania was also updated post-Conrail-breakup, but I have to find mine (I thought I had a spare when I gave one to a fellow Forum member).
SPV has done just about every section of the country, I think. You can still find ads for them in the magazines of that other publisher.
The Rand McNally maps were indeed a poor product. I had one from the 1980’s that I long ago gave away. Filled with errors. The KS map showed no ATSF trk from Larned to Jetmore–46 miles.This was a grain branch operated by Santa Fe until it was sold to Central KS RY in 1993. The line since has been abandoned.
Perhaps they are mind readers?
Gosh guys. I have several Rand McNally Handy railroad atlases from 1928 through 1982.Then the Atlas by Ladd Publications in 2003. What I like about them is the quick reference as we travel by motorcar around the country. The ATSF track mentioned is shown in all of them.
Bob