Using historic OS maps to trace disused railways and tramways

[tractionman]

hi folks,

 

I posted yesterday about a new online rail map (see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74592-online-rail-map-of-uk-and-ireland/). Some of the content for this is based upon National Library of Scotland web-mapping.

 

So I have taken a closer look at the National Library of Scotland web-mapping that is also freely available (http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/). It is a great resource for researching lost lines for it allows viewers to overlay historic large-scale OS maps (eg 1:25,000 First Series) onto modern Google satellite images.

 

To do this you need to select "Great Britain" in the top left menu (ie within "Choose an historic overlay"), then select "OS 1:25,000 1937-61". Coverage is for the entire country at this scale except for the Highlands.

 

There are also smaller-scale historic OS maps to choose from (ie 1 inch to 1 mile) but the 1:25,000s are the best for railway archaeology, not just because of the larger scale but because so many more remains of earlier lines (eg tramroads) were visible still in the mid-20th century, eg see

 

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=50.49072&lon=-4.08867&layers=B000000000FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

 

This link should bring up Yelverton and an "Old Tramway" on the 1:25k map. To locate this in relation to modern aerial imagery (Google satellite) of the same location you simply use the 'slider bar' at the top of the map window, having selected "Modern Google Satellite" in the top-right drop down menu list (other options are available). The slider bar changes the transparency of the map image, enabling users to 'see through' it to the aerial images.

 

So it is now easy to look at the lines on historic maps and overlay these onto modern mapping/aerial imagery; brilliant for doing fieldwork on old lines, or walking former trackbeds, even when the lines look as if they have completely disappeared from the landscape.

 

Hope this is of some help/interest. Well done to National Library of Scotland for providing such a fantastic free resource.

 

all the best,

 

Keith

[Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71]

Hi Keith,

 

...the Cassini 1919 series are excellent for a similar reason.

 

Dave

[tractionman]

hi Dave,

 

Yes, the earlier OS 1" to 1 mile maps of the 1800s are really handy - the NLS site has OS 1-inch maps included for the period around 1900, but only for Scotland. Still, for folks interested in Scoland's railways that's a bonus! In fact, the range of georeferenced historic maps available for Scotland on the NLS site is fantastic.

 

cheers,

 

Keith

[Alastair-I]

It's an ok tool for some areas, but East Anglia seems to be a mess of badly tiled maps at the moment.

 

The Yelverton example illustrates another problem, you can't specify which map is shown - so you have the tramway alignment but not RAF Harrowbeer which shows up as very clear parch marks on the Google aerial.  Unless there's an option I've missed?

 

I quote like using the Old Maps website, even if you don't buy a print you can have their 1:2,500 map open in one window and Google Earth in another.  It's handy for transcribing old lines onto your own GE dataset.  If I could get Google Maps and Getamap talking to each other, that would be perfect for fieldwork.

[PatB]

Given a known reference point or two it can also be quite fun to pick out the remains of lines on Google Earth or similar.  Sometimes there doesn't even need to be a reference point.  There have been numerous occasions when I've been looking at something else and found my eye drawn to a smoothly curving line of trees or a field boundary that seems oddly placed and thought 'That's a former railway line that is'.

[tractionman]

hi,

 

Yes, sometimes the tiling does not load that cleanly I've found, though maybe it's worse for some areas than others. Sometimes it's necessary to reload.

 

To get to see the remains of the old airfield at Harrowbeer, use the slider bar at the top and then the 1:25k will gradually disappear and the Google imagery will appear - some WWII airfields are not shown on the 1:25k First Series because many of these sheets were based on pre-WWII 6-inch sheets. These maps are better for railway archaeology than airfield archaeology. For the latter I would use the later 1" OS maps of the 1960s or 1970s. Whether an airfield is shown will depend on when the 1:25k sheet was revised - as well as any OS censoring of military sites on its maps. 

 

The real advantage of using the overlaid maps compared to looking at historic maps 'side by side' is that you can see more clearly how mapped features relate to each other from different periods.

 

I have used Old Maps Online - http://www.oldmapsonline.org/ - and it's also very good. It uses the NLS 1:25000 First Series sheets as part of its content.

 

all the best,

 

Keith

[Joseph_Pestell]

When it comes to military installations, some have never been shown on OS maps.

[Alastair-I]

When it comes to military installations, some have never been shown on OS maps.

 

But most closed airfields do, at some point.  And where they change the local road layout, that is depicted.

 

My point was, you have no control of the map era, compared to other online mapping tools.  You have to hope and pray that the map layer depicted covers the years you're interested in.  It was sheer coincidence that the link originally given had an extremely obvious former airfield, within 100 yards of the tramway in question, that wasn't included on the available map layer.  It could just as easily have been any other feature that may have pre- or post-dated the map layer.

 

The NLS tool is an ok starting point for map research, but probably won't answer all the questions you may be posing.

 

Locally, I'm spoilt by the control that historic-maps.norfolk.gov.uk provides over the visible layers.  I'm just waiting on additional layers to be added.  This is a good model for how a mapping resource could work.

[28XX]

I have mentioned this before, but a reminder is always useful.

 

 http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/

 

 

This may have a better map for your specific area of interest.

[martin_wynne]

Another good site for comparison of maps and aerial photos is: http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm

[Robuk1981]

There appears to be another spur coming off the Lochee line I never knew existed nice. I knew about the branch going down to the goods yard and factory as they just started building over the filled in cutting. And the factory siding there was still in place couple of years ago. See photo in the guess where thread.

[tractionman]

Having just taken another look at the NLS maps, I see they're busy extending their online coverage of the OS 25" to one mile sheets, already having put online many sheets for the southern counties of England, as well as all counties in Scotland:

 

http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch-england-and-wales/counties.html

 

http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch-2nd-and-later/county_index.html

 

This is a fantastic map series for railway modellers and historians alike, as the 25" scale is sufficiently large to show individual lines and associated infrastructure.

 

And it's all viewable for free!

 

cheers,

 

Keith

[BG John]

Some amazing stuff there, like the single sided broad gauge Reading Station. A bit too big to model though!

[Edthefolkie]

Hi Keith and others,

I've known about the National Library of Scotland's efforts for some time - I think it was you, Keith, who pointed them out - but had a serious look the other day. A very old friend has been trying to get some shots of the few remains of the Midland Railway Basford-Bennerley line, so I did a quick image search and realised that the NLS 25" maps now cover much of the East Midlands - so I've passed this resource on to him. As he is a fan of EVERYTHING Scottish, even the Caledonian Railway 956 class, I think he'll approve. 

 

The Nottingham/Derby area once had a nearly unbelievable number of railways - not just the MR, GNR and GCR, but what the OS maps call "Mineral Railway". Barber, Walker and Co. and Thomas North, amongst others, had extensive networks which moved coal from various pits like Moorgreen, Babbington, Newcastle (etc etc etc!) both locally and to junctions on, mainly, the GN and the MR.

 

Stanton and Bennerley Ironworks had their own systems, as of course did the various ironstone quarries over to the east. The 25" map of the Bennerley ironworks/viaduct area has confirmed what my mate claimed - that there was a single track line which went up at a very steep gradient from the ironworks level right up to the level of the GNR line at the opposite end of its viaduct. As my friend pointed out, it would have been "interesting" to take even one or two wagons up or down that gradient.

 

As there really hasn't been a proper reference work about the area's railways (no, I am NOT volunteering      ), resources like the NLS, in conjunction with Google Earth etc, are very useful and interesting!