1930's Aerial Photograhs

[Dap]

I am modeling the Newton & Northwestern which became the Ft Dodge Des Moines & Southern. A friend created the terain for me using DEM. However, it is difficult to tell exacty where the tracks should go. Some of them were laid in 1906 and abandond in 1912.

I discoverred this website that has 1930's aerial photograhs of most of the counties in Iowa. they can be zoomed in to 1 pixel = 0.5 meter
Iowa Geographic Map Server

I found the road bed for that line that was abandoned in 1912!

This is a great resource for locating those early rail lines in Iowa.

 

[Tokkyu40]

That's pretty cool! It would be handy if there was a central location with links to every state.
May I ask what search term found this?

Claude

 

[Dap]

Claude,

I think I googled Iowa Maps.

By the way. I have almost all the track laid from Rockwell City to Newton. I am 2 miles shy of getting into Newton. There I have no maps or track plans. I am still looking for that information. What I need is a 1910 street map of Newton. I have one from 1901, but that was before the tracks were laid.

The aerial photos showed me the location of Goddard and the branch line to Colfax. We guessed at the location of this line and missed it. I had to add 2 squares to the map. I'm sure the topography is not accurate in those two squares, but I did have a map that helped me locate a creek in the right place.

I wonder if the City of Newton would have maps from that time period and if they would send me copies? Has anyone had any luck along these lines or am I the only one crazy enough to want to model a 100 yr old railroad as acurately as possible?

David

 

[Tokkyu40]

Right now, Iowa is under water and you probably can't get anything from them. When they dry out and can have visitors, you're best bet would be to actually go there on vacation and take pictures of the area, then physically go to the historical society and ask. Most of the historical societies are too small to dig through the files for stray internet requests.
It probably wouldn't hurt to ask, though.

Claude

 

[Dap]

Well, with the price of gas and all, I think I'll try the internet request.