Old Pa. maps with RR (& trolley) lines

Copied from the Fallen Flags Lehigh Valley section of this Group:

choess wrote:old PennDOT highway maps
http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bur ... CountyMaps

Very nice Jim.

Extremely informative.

Those maps are made of 100% pure elemental "WIN"!

Thanks ever so much for clueing us in to the existence of that outstanding cartographic resource. Review of several of the maps shows that Pennsylvania was once the king of in-state railroad mileage. Simply wonderful for those folks like me who, due to time or mobility constraints, have to do most of their railfanning via computer.

These should be rather authoritative, since the data was probably provided by people who worked in the field, as opposed to commercial maps that may have relied on the stock promoters' prophesies. Of course, in later years, there may have been less incentive to remove representations of old tracks than to add new ones, especially if the rail or bridge remained in the highway property after abandonment.
Detail in cities, town, and especially boroughs is sparse, that has something to do with a Pennsylvania political feud long ago.

Well, not 100% win. It would be better if they were 1) georeferenced, 2) tiled, and 3) available via a slippy map that lets you compare now to then. But I ask for the moon at this point.

JimBoylan wrote:...
Detail in cities, town, and especially boroughs is sparse, that has something to do with a Pennsylvania political feud long ago.

What was this about?

RussNelson wrote:But I ask for the moon at this point.

And the stars as well, hmmm?

I agree that the enhancements you're pining for would make the whole even more amazing. But you're gonna grow old and grey while waiting for some third party to jazz the data up to those specifications. Possible, but incredibly unlikely within any forseeable time-frame. [-sigh-]

joshuahouse wrote:

JimBoylan wrote:...
Detail in cities, town, and especially boroughs is sparse, that has something to do with a Pennsylvania political feud long ago.

What was this about?

I, too, am mystified by this reference. Mr. Boylan, would you expand on that point, if you please?

Franklin Gowen wrote:I agree that the enhancements you're pining for would make the whole even more amazing. But you're gonna grow old and grey while waiting for some third party to jazz the data up to those specifications. Possible, but incredibly unlikely within any forseeable time-frame.

Well, but don't forget that (railfans) Chris Marshall scanned the northeast historic USGS topo maps, and Richard Utter georeferenced them. Their work, done as individuals, enabled my map interface: http://rutlandtrail.org/mapview?theme=Historic , also done as an individual. So yes, individuals can do big things.

Many years ago, boroughs (and maybe cities and towns) wanted more control and responsibility over the roads within their boundaries, even the state highways. Possibly this was so they could control the political patronage. Of course, they also wound up being stuck with more of the expenses, and the State didn't go to much trouble to map within boroughs! There are no villages and only one town in Pennsylvania, most of the area in the counties is in townships, and their detail shows on these maps.