Catching up after a month of traveling. To add to Eric’s comments regarding sources of maps:
The ICC Valuation reports also included maps. Those provided by the railroads as well as maps created by the ICC. And the ICC field notes were mile by mile. The National Archives in College Park Md is the place to go and find them.
Most states have the Valuation maps on file, somewhere. Finding them is the trick.
I’ve had surprising luck finding early railroad maps in county offices, ie Tax Assessor or County Engineer, or anyone who oversees the ROW property and taxing thereof. Start at the county courthouse. It helps to have a friendly employee in the office as the maps are often buried in old basement vaults or off site storage areas. But there are usual there as the law requires they be kept on file. I’ve even had the engineer’s office make copies for me or allow me to photograph parts of the maps.
Sanborn maps are good for larger communities, most small and rural communities were never mapped. Sanborn maps are not always good for railroad property or tracks. The focus was on buildings that might need fire insurance. Most railroads were self-insured, so they were typically glossed over or ignored by the Sanborn map makers.
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> On Behalf Of Bott, Eric H.
Sent: Friday, September 9, 2022 11:39 AM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] BURLINGTON IN LA GRANGE, ILL
Leo, Tom:
Leo’s correct that the “alignment maps” would be your best resource, Tom. These are more formally known as “Valuation Maps”, being done by railroads for property tax purposes, and were generally audited for accuracy by the taxing authorities having jurisdiction (often local, county, and state level) over the railroad’s various properties. Because the railroads paid real property taxes levied based on these drawings, they kept them up to date through re-alignments and especially through abandonments (most of which were undertaken to reduce the railroads’ tax obligations.)
Val Maps typically show the surveyed centerline of the track, the land around the track owned by the railroad, any buildings, bridges, and other property improvements owned by the railroad, water features, and often some adjacent cultural features such as streets, and sometimes buildings owned by customers served by the railroad. The standards for these drawings are survey grade, highly suited to depict the size, footprint, and orientation of included buildings. Typical scale is 1” = 100’, with each map covering roughly a mile of line. Elevations and contour lines are typically not provided. The “station values”, i.e. "chains” of 100’ length, plus residual feet, from the survey origin point of each line are provided, as well as “match markings” that show the previous and next Map along the route. I have attached a New Haven (actually a predecessor road, the Central New England Ry) Val Map as an example. This example is located in Poughkeepsie, NY, at the Eastern landing of the Poughkeepsie Bridge over the Hudson River, dated 30 June 1918. Note that this is one of over 400 Val Maps the NH maintained for its taxing authorities in four states—obviously a gargantuan task to generate in the first place, and then to maintain in perpetuity. Val Maps for track running through the boonies are far less interesting than Val Maps for track running through towns and cities, or in areas with a lot of sidings or a significant interchange.
One can often find Val Maps on eBay, though it’s rare that you can find a specific map that you might want. Buying them individually is very expensive, though they are pretty, as those available are typically blue-line reproductions of the railroad’s vellum master sets. One seller offers CDs of digitized map collections; each CD addresses one or more railroad fairly comprehensively; I have bought his products for several Eastern roads, and have been favorably impressed. This is several orders of magnitude less costly than trying to comprehensively collect individual maps. The caveat is that the maps on a given CD may not all be from the same survey time frame. And this is Leo’s critical point: in order to get what Tom wants, he needs the appropriate Val Map dated between the time the alignment he wants was established, and the time it was altered, by the railroad.
Beware that all blue-line reproductions darken rapidly in direct sunlight.
Best,
-Eric
Sent from Mail for Windows
An older station or track alignment map would show these spurs. I just checked and mine are too new. I’ve seen one from the 30s that showed these spurs. I just checked members only side of BRHS site and the alignment charts there are too new.
I have been trying to find a map aerial view or picture of the north side of the Q main line between La Grange Rc.
and Stone Ave. I am looking for the sidings going to Lord Lumber and the one going to the meat warehouse crossing the Hillgrove Ave and the Street Car track. I can't believe as a railfan I don't have my own picture.
Tom Hammer
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