The ultimate track plan...

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

…is available on Google Earth. :slight_smile: Just downloaded this again and it really is amazing. Been digging through LA for industrial track.

Man, last time I really looked around for railroad-related stuff was back in 2000 and I’m amazed by how much is online now. UP lists all of its connected short lines and most of them have sites with a great deal of detail on their routes, motive power, etc. Very cool stuff - and I suppose it shows my n00bishness to be excited by the quantity of good info available these days.

M

2

Microsoft has a service like that. I’ve done some virtual railfanning with it. (can’t remember the name of the software??) My computer wasn’t fast enough to run the Google product.

3

Just found that you can click on transportation->rail under layers and it will highlight routes for you. Very nice.

M

4

It is just too bad we can’t look back in time to when there were not only lots of tracks but very interesting tracks.

5

When a yard was a yard, and there were turntables, and smoke belching behemoths? And men were …

Google Earth …TimeTravel Edition. I guess some of our layouts try to do it…

6

Thats what my layout is going to attempt. I got hooked on old railroad stories and railroad magazines so now anything past 1918 doesnt seem so cool lol.

Will have to check out this google program thanks for the heads up.

7

TZ:

We can. Many old city maps can be found that show track locations in all their convoluted splendor. Check your local library. Old topographic maps are sometimes good for this, too.

Archives can be very useful things. Locally, there was once a maze of industrial tracks that few viewers would ever accept as a realistic track plan if it was used on a model railroad. One particular spur made almost a 270 degree bend to go into a plant.