mkt

Hello Shellback hows the equator?

Google is Your best Friend when you want to find information. I typed Texas Railroads and hit enter it came up with 9,640,000 results for Texas Railroads.

Including the following URL click on it below and you'll find a break down listing of common freight carries, Private freight carriers and Passenger carriers then below that is a HUGE listing of every Defunct Railroad that ever existed in Texas from the first day track was laid until the day each RR closed all in alphabetical order.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Texas_railroads

You should find every thing you need. Just remember to use Google to find anything Railroad that your looking for.

Equator is doing fine

Last time I was there, '98, King Neptune and I threw back a few and swapped sea stories. 

I've been using Google a lot and have found some basic info, but now I'm looking for more specifics and that's where in lies the problem. Maybe I need to use a diferent search engine? Any ideas of another good one?

I've been to the KATY and the T&P historical society pages and they have helped a lot. But they hold more of the current stuff and very little details from back in the 1930's.

Search Engine Use

Google is going to be your best bet, unless there's a railroad specific search engine I'm not aware of. The problem with any search engine, is knowing what keywords were used on the page you are trying to find. Google is very good at taking the keywords you use for the search, and finding keywords that are similar.

I don't know what keywords you have been using, but most people make the mistake of using very broad keywords, like "Texas Railroad". Instead use keywords like "katy railroad" or "railroad maps of" and include the town and the year. 

The more specific you are in your search terms, the better your chances of finding exactly what you're looking for (assuming it's on the Net). I try to start with laser-focused, very specific keywords, then if I don't get anything, I'll broaden the terms until I do get something useful.

Thanks Ken

Thanks Ken. That's basically what I have been doing, using both Texas RR and specific KATY, MKT, T&P, Texas & Pacific. I've also been looking at the twons too, Fort Worth, denton, Denision, Big Springs, sweetwater, Midland, Odessa. But I'm still having some issues trying to find the older stuff from these places. 

My big problem right now is I've been using the UT Austin site for access to sanborn maps which have helped a lot in figuring out my layout with buildings in relationship to the tracks. The problem I am running into is the 1880-1927 maps I can get access to, but since I changed to the 1935 era, I can't seem to get access to the 1927-1970 maps which are available. Just wondering if anyone out there knows of a link that I haven't found yet.

A few links you might want to look at.

http://www.redriverrailmuseum.org/

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqm08

http://dallas.about.com/od/familyactivities/fr/AmerRRMuseum.htm

You might look for other museums in Texas that might have information that you are looking for.

Den

Crusty

The hardest thing about model railroading is trying to build a prototype. Model Railroading is cheep and simple when you build a generic railroad and use just the names and generic structures. As soon as you start building a Model and start collecting Prototype information the price does nothing but shoot through the ceiling when you try to get the real detailed information on specific areas or road name right-a-ways.

Like you I decided to build a Railroad that had plenty of generic information on that RR. In my case it's the "Rio Grand Southern" Narrow Gauge RR. I found quit a bit of information on line but details were just not the details I was looking for. I ended up searching for Books and magazines that had much better geographic and prototypical information and ended up spending in excess of $2300.00 for detailed drawings of all the structures on the Railroad as well as geographic surveys of the area the RGS ran through the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It took hundreds of people thousands of hours to compile all the information I needed and wanted to build my RGS.

There is just so much Free stuff on the net and then you have to start shelling out money to get the really detailed information your looking for.

Now you don't need to go as far as I have on collecting all the details as I did as I wanted to know everything that was ever published about the RGS.

There is a good source for Old out of print Books and Magazines as well as newer volumes with much of the same information and they can all be found at the following URL:

http://www.railpub.com/

Now I'm not saying Railpub will have what your looking for but he does have Thousands of books and magazines on Railroading and Model railroading as well as other hobbies and industries and it is another source where you may find a book that has what you need.

If you have never used the Railpub web site then click on the URL above and once the page opens up go to the lighter green line just below the main Darker Green RAILPUB header at the top of the page and you'll see in the light green area the listings are as follows :

HTML Catalog -- PDF Catalog - -Book Reviews - -Contact Us -- Order -- Links -- About Us -- Home

Click on PDF Catalog and a drop down will appear with the top two lines being Railroad Magazines and Railroad Books and you just need to click on one of these at a time to have a PDF appear with thousands of  magazines and books listed in alphabetical order. You will just need to find a title of the railroad you want to know about to get a brief description about the information enclosed about the railroad in question. In order to get the real information you will have to buy the Book or Magazine but hopefully you will find what your looking for.

I hope this helps you.

Dan

Thanks

Thanks Den, I've already got the first two links booked marked and have been there several times. The last one is new to me so I'll take a read.

Dan, I hear what you are saying. Fortunatly for me, I'm not going that far into being historically correct, at least that's not the plan. I've been using the sanborn mpas that I found to more or less show me which buildings/bussiness were near the track and how they went thru town so that I can pick and choose what i want on my layout. The problem is the maps I found on line only go up to 1924 or so and do not even show the town if Odessa which I want on my layout. (I've got family in the Midland/Odessa area).

There are Sanborn maps from 1927-1970, it's just I can't seem to get to them on line. Also, how much changed in a town between 1924 and 1936? A lot I'm sure. I know T&P built a new passenger station in Fort Worth in 1931, but the maps I have do not show it. So what else has changed that would be on these other maps? I guess that is my main focus right now that I am seeking help for is how can I gain access to these newer Sanborn maps? I'll keep trying. I'm going to try the local library here and see if they may have access as some of teh Texas libraries do, but I'm out in Calif. Maybe I need to get my Mom or sister to go to the local Library in Texas and get me a account I can use on line?

USGS Topographical Maps

Crusty,

I have a 1955 USGS Topographical map of Fort Worth.  I know it's not the right era, but it does have a more track detail than the average topo map.

Cely

E mail

Cely, can you Email it to me?

blown63chevy@hotmail.com