Simplest way of importing historic track plans

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pauljscott2003
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Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by pauljscott2003 »

Hi everyone,

Thought I would have a go at creating a simple layout using scale historic track plans of my local area. I'm not concerned at DEM just yet, as I want to have a go at importing a scale track plan (from historic plans, not from track plan books), and to get used to layers, track laying etc.

I was having a look at www.old-maps.co.uk and was impressed with being able to zoom right in and see what the track plan was actually like, compared to today. I was hoping to use basemapz with some screen grabs but am unsure on the scale once I have zoomed in enough to see the track junctions enough as it is not shown.

Has anyone used this site before for track plans? Or is there an alternative available which might do the job (not modern day track plans).

Many thanks for any help offered.
clam1952
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by clam1952 »

Yes however with Transdem. flat boards just don't cut it for realism for me.
Lot of oldversion maps here, covers most of the UK if not all https://maps.nls.uk/index.html
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cyberdonblue
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by cyberdonblue »

As Malc says, flat boards just don't inspire. I think you would probably find TransDEM very inspiring - and if an idiot like me can use it then anyone can. It's definitely worth every penny you pay for it and your route comes to life the minute you lay your first rails.

Cheers

Dave
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by uktrainzfan »

pauljscott may not want to invest money and time in Transdem just yet.
About 2 years ago ModelerMJ released a freeware package called Basemapz. Although it is aimed more at model railway track plans, it could be adapted, I think, for any map or section of map provided the scale is known.
There is a multi page thread about Basemapz on the N3V forum which can be found via the search facility.
pauljscott2003
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by pauljscott2003 »

uktrainzfan wrote:pauljscott may not want to invest money and time in Transdem just yet.
About 2 years ago ModelerMJ released a freeware package called Basemapz. Although it is aimed more at model railway track plans, it could be adapted, I think, for any map or section of map provided the scale is known.
There is a multi page thread about Basemapz on the N3V forum which can be found via the search facility.
Hi,

Thanks for the responses. I've used Basemapz years ago on TRS2004, and would like to use it with screen grabs from www.old-maps.co.uk, I just don't know the scale of the maps when I zoom in enough to see the track layouts.
One day I might venture into TransDem.

Thank you
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Nexusdj
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by Nexusdj »

Oldmaps : On the left hand side in the map year listing you need to select a map at a scale of 1:1,250 to see the track detail .
Note that not all locations are covered in that size for the era that you might want .


This is the Crewe station map listed as 1980-1987 but it shows the original pre 1985 remodelling track layout :
https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/371060 ... /13/100765

The border surrounding each map segment is 500 x 500 metres . Some maps are also split up into smaller 100 x 100 metre squares.
High visibility pixels must be worn when on or about the line !!
pauljscott2003
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by pauljscott2003 »

Many thanks Dave, and everyone else, really appreciate the info.

I'll have a go at grabbing some maps of the trackplan of my chosen area at 1:1,250 scale from Old Maps and see how I go on.

Cheers
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klambert
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by klambert »

I will admit TransDEM is a bit of a task for me, I did workout how to get the topography, but I have since forgotten it.
Also the Google Earth views on the UTM tiles are a right pain, as I seem to have to take images of every tile in Google Earth I can't workout a better way.
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Great Bolshy Yarblockos!
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Dean_Forest
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Re: Simplest way of importing historic track plans

Post by Dean_Forest »

Once you have memorised the keyboard shortcuts then you can do it quite quickly.
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