Railway Museum Site Maps

PJS · **Posted:** Wed Dec 02, 2009 1:33 pm

I have been researching and drawng site maps of railway museums in the U.S. and Canada, all drawn to the same scale for comparison purposes. Twenty-three are complete and posted as individual JPEG files on my Flicker page as a set at this address:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/polybalt/sets/72157622920799988/

Corrections, additions, and suggestions are welcome.

Ted Miles · **Posted:** Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:04 pm

Peter,

I recall sending you something for your project a couple of years ago.

it does look great to see everything, including our new car barn, laid out so nicely.

Ted Miles

Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

Is there some way the maps can be scaled up? The lettering for various features is very difficult to read when the maps display on my computer. (or is it time to buy a laptop to HDTV data cable and see them on the big-screen?) Would printing them out help? That said, the mapmaking is a worthy project, giving us a chance to see the layout of museums we might visit.

PJS · **Posted:** Wed Dec 02, 2009 7:04 pm

Quote:

Is there some way the maps can be scaled up? The lettering for various features is very difficult to read when the maps display on my computer.

You should see a button with a + sign marked "all sizes". Pressing that should give you full size. They were drawn as 8.5x11 and if printed on letter paper with a border they should print full size as well.

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Thu Dec 03, 2009 12:45 am

Wow, I am very, very impressed! I'm helping with planning another museum and it really helps to see so cleanly laid out, what other museums have done.

I have a couple minor suggestions though. First, some museums number their buildings, i.e. carhouse 1, car house 7 etc. It's hard when carhouse 7 is button #14, better to make it #7.

Second on the Western Railway Museum, some errata. Car house 3 is electrified, as is the north shop lead. The two buildings you marked at the north end - the left one is the bunkhouse, and the right one is the old bookstore. The end of electrification is off - note Shiloh Road and Birds Landing Road; right now the electrification ends just south of Shiloh Road, and the catenary messenger is hung to Birds Landing Road, and it is energized. You marked us as 2/3 of the way there; if that reflects how far along the project is, then you're right :) And lastly, the demonstration railroad is only the loop and the bit alongside the main. The main is simply the Sacramento Northern mainline.

Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

Found the "all sizes" spot, clicked on it, voila! Thanks for the direction. As my dad used to say, "Count the day lost when you don't learn something."

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Mon Dec 07, 2009 2:30 pm

By the way, discussions at dinner among the WRM shop crew went roughly like this: "For several museums I know, this is the best map I have ever seen."

We were also intrigued to know how you made them.

PJS · **Posted:** Mon Dec 07, 2009 11:10 pm

Quote:

We were also intrigued to know how you made them.

The basic dimensional information comes from an aerial photo available from one of several sources on line. The photo is used as the background for the map, which is drawn with Corel Draw, a vector drawing program. I find that one or more site visits is essential and take lots of pictures of details while I am visiting.

One of the hardest parts is keeping up with changes at those museums that are rapidly developing their facilities, such as WRM.

Thanks for the comments

PJS · **Posted:** Mon Dec 05, 2011 5:57 pm

I continue developing site (campus) maps, all to the same scale, for railroad museums. I am now up to 33 maps showing 37 organizations. They are all available as a single PDF file, one map to a page, here:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2I7Nv ... ViOWY0MDU3

I would appreciate your comments and corrections.

You are welcome to copy any or all of them for non-commercial purposes

wesp · **Posted:** Mon Dec 05, 2011 6:03 pm

Pete,

Great work. On the NCTM Map you can mark MD 200 as open. As of two weeks ago it is no longer under construction.

Wesley

Al Stangenberger · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:59 pm **Posts:** 650

robertmacdowell wrote:

Second on the Western Railway Museum, some errata. Car house 3 is electrified, as is the north shop lead. The two buildings you marked at the north end - the left one is the bunkhouse, and the right one is the old bookstore.

If the notes in parentheses are meant to indicate original use, the "Old Bookstore" (#15) was not built originally as a general store. It was built as the bus barn for the bus which carried Sacramento Northern passengers from Rio Vista Junction to Rio Vista and Isleton.
I don't think it ever was a general store, although it was a gas station for a while, and a house of ill repute during World War II.

NYC5475 · **Joined:** Tue Oct 04, 2011 5:25 pm **Posts:** 10

These are a great idea!

Randolph R. Ruiz · **Posted:** Mon Dec 05, 2011 9:05 pm

Great work. How about the California State Railroad Museum and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, but with both showing the indoor track arrangement? I know, Google does not help.

Thanks

ebtmikado · **Joined:** Fri Nov 07, 2008 11:01 am **Posts:** 55

Great job, Pete. Thanks.

Lee

RCD · **Posted:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 12:22 am

It seems while you got a lot of new england you didn't do any museums in Massachusetts.