I am designing a new HO model railroad and was born and raised in Cambridge, Ohio. My paternal great grandfather was an engineer on the Pennsylvania RR. There also used to be a junction there with the B&O. I’d like to update that junction as if the two roads survived until today as NS and CSX. I remember as a child several of the business and general layout of the stations, etc. but thought having a Sanborn map of the area from the 1950s would be great. How does one find these?
Thanks!
Bill
" thought having a Sanborn map of the area from the 1950s would be great. How does one find these?"
Bill: Try your local library. In Kansas City Missouri, the KC library has Sanborn maps for Missouri and Kansas on the internet if you have a library card.
Beyond the local library, a nearby college or university library may have copies available.
Chuck
I’ve found mine at the local public library. They were online to card holders and can be downloaded at rather high resoutions. The ones at my library are rather hard to use as the maps are not cataloged for easy viewing. You have to go by date first and then find the index pages from the original maps. After that, you have to sort of randomly search until you find a map that is sort of where you want. Then you go from page to page using the map numbers on a page to find the next adjoining page. Time consuming, but very useful. In my case, I was able to see how a rail line evolved from the 1880’s up to 1950.
Ohio Sanborn Maps are available on-line to Ohio residents.
Go to http://www.oplin.org/databases/. Look for Sanborn Maps. You will need a card number to gain access.
Contact me at chichi41@comcast.net if you need any help.
Great help! Thanks!
Bill
I have a different path for you. There is a Yahoo group called PennsyWest that has some real experts regarding the PRR lines west. They also have pictures of a lot of the towers, track diagrams and local information and history. Don’t know if your needs are covered but it wouldn’t hurt to join and find out.