Model railroaders have long relied on historic maps for information about track arrangements, trackside industries, and building footprints. With the continual growth of the internet, finding these railroad maps online is becoming easier all the time. Here are some helpful sources for finding both current and historic railroad maps online. Sanborn Fire Insurance maps Sanborn […]
The image above is a NYC train map. For the 2020 special issue, Railroad Maps 2, Trains Senior Editor David Lassen embarked on an ambitious project: Map New York City railroads. The map above shows New York City subway lines, and routes and major several passenger railroads. These include Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, PATH, […]
A Union Pacific Railroad map is a valuable resource. The maps often show the route of the first Transcontinental Railroad or a modern version of the railroad. (CLICK ON THE MAP FOR A LARGER VERSION) This Union Pacific Railroad map features the UP as it appeared in 2013 and as illustrated by Trains‘ retired illustrator […]
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Here’s a rare chance to look at a Trains map before it appears in the magazine. This foldout map was originally scheduled to appear in the July issue, in time for the Baltimore & Ohio’s 190th anniversary, but as occasionally happens, outside forces intervened (in this case, short hospital stays for both the mapmaker and […]
Review the final routes of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus blue and red trains, and plot your journey to see them one more time. […]
It was an act of sheer audacity that made Baltimore the cradle of American railroading. Baltimore’s topography of hills broken by short, steep valleys was exactly wrong for a canal, and the city’s outlet to the west, the National Road, was expensive and slow. So city leaders proposed a railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio, to […]
Learn about Norfolk Southern’s gateway to Chicago – and some of its neighbors – in this exciting map! Find out how trains funnel around Lake Michigan to reach the Railroad Capital of North America. […]
Toledo, Ohio, has long been a center of industry. Nicknamed the “Glass City” for its prominence in glassmaking, the city is also home to the iconic Jeep brand and a busy Great Lakes port. Toledo Terminal Railroad used its circular route to connect the city’s industrial base with national and world markets. One can still […]
Seventy-five years ago on Nov. 25, 1939, Electro-Motive Corp.’s FT demonstrator diesel locomotive No. 103 left its birthplace at the company’s La Grange, Ill., plant. Nobody, not even its builders, knew what the new creation could do. True, the 17-year-old Electro-Motive had been a pioneer in diesel propulsion for railroad use, having built a successful […]
As part of America’s bicentennial celebration, the American Freedom Train spent 21 months touring the country, displaying 500 artifacts of the nation’s history — ranging from George Washington’s copy of the Constitution to a moon rock — to more than 7 million visitors in 48 states. That journey, celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016, was […]
Learn about BNSF Railway’s amazing main lines between Chicago and Galesburg, Ill., with our three-page foldout map! See today’s track arrangement, find what abandoned lines one ran in the area, and understand the rich history of railroading in Northern Illinois. […]
