Large Scale Central

Help: Looking for Historical Information and Sites

Prototypes
#1

Hello old friends.

It’s been quite a while, but I can finally return to my trains after five years living in Rhode Island and having no space for them. I am now back in Massachusetts and one of my first railroad tasks has been updating my website. Which has evolved into adding a section about railroad history in New England.

I would greatly appreciate anyone who may be able to help me with this endeavor. I am looking for information, resources, locations, artifacts, anything at all that relates to the near-200 year history of trains in New England. If anyone has anything to share, I would love to hear about it!

One specific thing I am looking for is places where there are abandoned tracks, stock, etc that I could explore and photograph. (There is a spot in Northampton, MA where a small section of track has been left to age, which I explored a while back.)

If it helps, please feel free to check out what I have so far on my website. My two big projects right now are 1) a map of railroad-related things to do and explore in NE and 2) a “family tree” of all the railroads that ever existed here.

Thank you & I look forward to talking to you all again,
John W.

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#2

I thought the first thing you would do was setup a small layout :kissing_heart:
Have you looked into the B&M historical society?

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#3

Ha! We moved to a new apartment, so, still not much space. But, finally we will be able to have the Forney going 'round the tree this December. I’ve been working on some things to prepare.

I did not know of the B&M Historical Society. So, thanks, Sean!

#4

This guy has a great list of stations and railways in New England.

https://www.nashuacitystation.org

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#5

Oh yeah! Thanks for the reminder, Bob. I stumbled on that site a few days ago but then I lost it.

#6

John,
I got nothing that I can help you with. I myself love historical research and quite honestly you already have some of the answers you seek on your website with the historic maps link.
I have found that the old maps don’t lie and are quite accurate if you can decipher them.
http://www.historic-northampton.org/members_only/maps/1884.html

#7

John, mapping-wise, USGS has all their historical topo maps available online.

You have to click “Download” to start.

For example, I just clicked on a random spot near Biddeford ME, enabled an 1893 map on the right pane, clicked “Show”, and saw this.

image
image1799×886 187 KB

One can travel through time and space endlessly with this tool…!

#8

That looks amazing! Thanks, Cliff!

#9

John, a few additional thoughts.

Rooster (aka David Russel) is VERY VERY good with historical research. If you can pin down an area (topic, place, time) of interest, he can suggest tools and sites, and if he has the opportunity, give some examples.

If you have a certain town / city of interest, the Library of Congress has huge resources on photos, “birdseye view” and perspective renderings, maps, etc.

For specific cities, the Sandborn Fire Insurance maps have very detailed info on buildings, streets, RR tracks, etc., for given years.

There are many historical societies, some based on railroads, some on towns / cities. All these have their own collections, a fraction of which are online. A few email enquiries may lead you to a fun road trip vacation to examine certain holdings.

Then, of course, there are textual records such as scanned letters and newspapers, but I’d think you’ll have your hands full, for awhile, with the graphic documents available. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Cliff

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#10

You would benefit from going to the “ Big E “ train show in Jan/Feb lots of history groups are present

#11

Oh, I am looking forward to it! I haven’t been since 2018 and it’s long overdue.
Actually, pretty sure I saw you there in 2018 but you disappeared before I could come say hello.

#12

:wink:
I missed lt this year…maybe I can go next year