06-24-2010, 08:49 PM
Gary S. said, "... Maybe look at some maps of the Gulf coast south of Houston for some interesting names and locations to extend the line to."
Oh, yeah! Some of those large format railroad atlases are a treasure trove of info! I have two, one from 1928 and one "current" ... well it was current in 1976. I used them both to initially lay out the LS&W's route across upstate Pennsylvania. I have recently refine not so much the route, but the terrain, using Google maps. In fact, the Branch "terminal town" of Weissport was never on my original plan, but because of what I discovered about actual topography and the meanderings of the Lehigh River, it became the branch's terminus and an engine facility was added because I realized I could manipulate my living space to accomodate a section of layout with a turntable, roundhouse and all the necessary accoutrements. All I would have to do is figure out how to get from the wall where Weissport is to be out to what is essentially the center of the room. Well ... if you had a model railroad in your living room, and it had a turntable and roundhouse, wouldn't you want it to be sort of a "centerpiece?"
And all because of a couple railroad atlases and a Google map! Ain't research fun?!!!
You betcha ... me, to!
Oh, yeah! Some of those large format railroad atlases are a treasure trove of info! I have two, one from 1928 and one "current" ... well it was current in 1976. I used them both to initially lay out the LS&W's route across upstate Pennsylvania. I have recently refine not so much the route, but the terrain, using Google maps. In fact, the Branch "terminal town" of Weissport was never on my original plan, but because of what I discovered about actual topography and the meanderings of the Lehigh River, it became the branch's terminus and an engine facility was added because I realized I could manipulate my living space to accomodate a section of layout with a turntable, roundhouse and all the necessary accoutrements. All I would have to do is figure out how to get from the wall where Weissport is to be out to what is essentially the center of the room. Well ... if you had a model railroad in your living room, and it had a turntable and roundhouse, wouldn't you want it to be sort of a "centerpiece?"
And all because of a couple railroad atlases and a Google map! Ain't research fun?!!!
You betcha ... me, to!
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & WesternÂ
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
Lehigh Susquehanna & WesternÂ
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln