An absolutely awesome old maps website! Old Maps Online dot org!

J

JCitron

Trainzing since 12-2003
https://www.oldmapsonline.org/

This is website is absolutely amazing. I spent well over 3 hours browsing various old maps, some dating back to the 1850s and 1860s of places around my area and then I poked around Wales and other places. For some maps you need to agree to a statement about maps being scanned by a third-party, but other than that they're fine.

Way cool and I hope these are useful.
 
:D Evening John,

I have needed something like this for Eons thank you so much for Sharing, I'm always curious about how things looked long ago, as well where some pieces of old RR Tracks were at one time too.....Much appreciated John.

For the new Forum members that have joined us recently this is yet another example of how important and valuable the Forum and it's Members benefit us........;)
 
Thanks for the link John.
Don't think I'll be doing much in surveyor this morning :)

I am a mapfan, I have kept every map that I have bought since learning to drive in the 1960s.
No such thing as satnav back then, you needed a glovebox full of maps and a road atlas on the passenger seat or in a door pocket!
I had a great geography teacher in high school and he had the UK maps by Ordnance Survey overlapped and pasted on to the classroom wall and varnished over.
Hows this for high school map nerdiness...
I made a list of all the A class roads in the Uk and then set about listing where they started and where they ended and all major settlements where they passed through (for geography project).

My kids were always amazed when we went for a day out, I never needed a map to find my way.

Nowadays my geography fix comes from Google, but as from today, that might change :)
 
clam1952 said:
For UK you can't beat the National Library of Scotland, covers the UK as well as Scotland. https://maps.nls.uk/site-map.html

Example, it's zoomable https://maps.nls.uk/geo/records/#zo....9458&layers=25inch&b=7&point=52.9957,-3.9244
Click to expand...

Thanks, Malc. These are great too. I love the viewer with these. I did some poking around, and looked for the namesake city where I live, Haverhill, and then searched for other local towns. Boxford, for example, is nearby and appears on this 1888 map to be just as rural as Boxford is here today and not to far from Haverhill either. Comparing the modern photo of Haverhill today to the 1888 ordinance maps sadly shows the railway long gone and barely a trace other than a very straight line of trees through pastures.
 
blueodessey said:
:D Evening John,

I have needed something like this for Eons thank you so much for Sharing, I'm always curious about how things looked long ago, as well where some pieces of old RR Tracks were at one time too.....Much appreciated John.

For the new Forum members that have joined us recently this is yet another example of how important and valuable the Forum and it's Members benefit us........;)
Click to expand...


The same here. It's great for researching what was there and to get ideas for track layouts even if they're not exact. For me it's getting rail yards laid out properly and seeing where certain things are supposed to be, versus where I think they should be, is really helpful here.

In some ways it's depressing seeing what used to be, but that's progress as we say...

A another great source of historic US orthographic photos and maps is Historic Aerials - www.historicaerials.com You click on the Viewer and then type in your area. You can then choose from various topo-maps, photos, and compare the two and even overlay them.




euromodeller said:
Thanks for the link John.
Don't think I'll be doing much in surveyor this morning :)

I am a mapfan, I have kept every map that I have bought since learning to drive in the 1960s.
No such thing as satnav back then, you needed a glovebox full of maps and a road atlas on the passenger seat or in a door pocket!
I had a great geography teacher in high school and he had the UK maps by Ordnance Survey overlapped and pasted on to the classroom wall and varnished over.
Hows this for high school map nerdiness...
I made a list of all the A class roads in the Uk and then set about listing where they started and where they ended and all major settlements where they passed through (for geography project).

My kids were always amazed when we went for a day out, I never needed a map to find my way.

Nowadays my geography fix comes from Google, but as from today, that might change :)
Click to expand...

I too have always been a map fan as well. We used to have an extensive collection of the old National Geographic atlases. They somehow disappeared over the years, but they were great for exploring. I never use a GPS, a satnav as you say, either. From reading actual maps over the years, I've gained an excellent sense of direction, and I still collect paper maps when I can. When I was young, I used to make up maps on my own on paper. Talk about being a nerd! :) After seeing topographic maps with the small squares and blocks representing buildings, I started putting those in as well. Unfortunately like a lot of things from my past, they got tossed during a move. Today I too spend a good amount of time on Google Earth, Bing, and now here.
 
I love maps, my first job as an Apprentice Mine Surveyor involved a lot of surveying and map making both below and above ground, however after 3 1/2 years, as the writing was on the wall for the Colliery I was based at, it closed a few months after I left, I wouldn't have had a job for too long, I packed it in and joined the Royal Navy instead! No flipping coal dust!
 
Thanks John for that added Historical Link

Thanks John for this Gem you provided us,

"A another great source of historic US orthographic photos and maps is Historic Aerials - www.historicaerials.com"

You wouldn't believe this one, and some folks probably laugh at me,

But when my parents passed, they left some large MAP Books from the Late 90's Similar to this one

Large Scale Road Atlas (Rand Mcnally

Looks like they cost about 10-15dollars back in the day, now it's 45-60$.

Yes there old, but they work just fine for our needs....And I always keep an Auto Club State and Los Angeles maps in the Car, just in case, and we do use them to see details, much easier to read and see the area than Cell Phone or Car 5inch Screen could ever be....LOL

:o I think they are larger than 8 1/2 by 11, at the moment I can't think of the size (The most trusted and best-selling U.S. atlas on the market, the 2020 Rand McNally Road Atlas ... Paperback; 144 pages; Dimensions: 10.875" x 15.375" ...) just found it and I think that is the size I have.....LOL

They are Travel maps for the whole continental US and show all the distances mileage wise between Cities in each state. And lots of other useful information to glean from...... We used them with my youngest grand daughter, who at first put up her nose, then we had her find out where we were on the Roads, she loved it, as it made her learn how important maps are, especially if you lose signal on GPS in mountainous or other open rural areas........It was the best teaching tool ever for her,,,,,And the best summer, driving 4500 miles round trip to Illinois to see our Navy in laws who just retired a 2 yrs ago from 20 some year careers......

And by the way, don't get me going on in the NAME OF PROGRESS thing, I see things done in construction and otherwise that just boggle the mind.......Kills me why they do some of things they do, and don't handle the infrastructure that they really should be on top of, Kind of like deferred maintenance on some of the Railroads, and you know how that has worked out.......

Bitter sweet for sure......Let me think here before I run off, ah yes, the original 350 mile Red/White Cars Railroad Pacific Electric in So California......I need to shut my mouth before I get myself in more trouble.......:hehe:

Best
 
clam1952 said:
I love maps, my first job as an Apprentice Mine Surveyor involved a lot of surveying and map making both below and above ground, however after 3 1/2 years, as the writing was on the wall for the Colliery I was based at, it closed a few months after I left, I wouldn't have had a job for too long, I packed it in and joined the Royal Navy instead! No flipping coal dust!
Click to expand...

Joined the Navy and got lost in 7 Oceans did ya.....

Hey just playing here, congrats on your accomplishments, my in-laws put in their 20+ yrs, just retired to Illinois a couple of yrs ago, and said they really enjoyed time in the service, because they got to see a lot of the world in those 20 yrs.......That wouldnt have happened in private life...

Glad you made it back to us clam..........And thank you for the service to our Countries.....With all my respect sir........
 
John you've done it again, what a great find! As I draw near completing my L&A route I will be in search of a new project and this site is perfect. Thank you, sir.

Dave
 
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