I am looking for some maps that show trackage in Wheeling, Wv. Railroads involved were the Wheeling and Lake Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio. If anyone has something they can post here either map or a link I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

I am planning to freelance a layout based on the wheeling area in the future. My freelanced layout will require rewritting some history to make the place a bit more prosperous than it was and to make some changes to actual track layouts. I just want to see what was there and possibly what they served before the inept government and unions managed to run everything out of the area.

I am originally from there and like many former residents had to leave due to economic conditions. To put it into perspective the population was at one time nearly 80,000 people and now it is listed at 28,000. A dramatic difference indeed.

Focus points on the layout will be the area along the Ohio River from North Wheeling South to just South of Moundsville Wv. The railroad will represent a junction of several lines, B&O, Pennsy, Wheeling and Lake Erie, and Virginian. The later two lines will have merged and built a connecting link between the two former seperate lines and allow trackage rights to the Pennsy and the B&O through the area. Industries I am interested in are the steel mills in the area, Bloch brothers, stations and yard trackage. In addition to those areas I am also looking for any track diagrams or map images or photos from the east wheeling area where the B&O crossed the pennsy and then went to the large station that is now a community college. Time period for the layout will be late 50s with a secondary era choice of late 60s. I thought it would be nice to be able to go from the transition era to an all diesel era with only changes to rolling stock and locomotives being the main changes.

I am somewhat familiar with all of these places but have been gone from the area for nearly twenty years and my recollection has not improved with age. Sorry for the long winded post but I have found so much great info on these forums I thought I would see what could be discovered with help from a very large group of modelers.

Thanks a bunch