I'm currently working on a piece of software that will allow users to trace things out on historic track profile charts and other maps. The software will then automatically take the data from tracing the charts and add it to a database. Once in the database, a script will go through a kml file of the path of the line drawn in Google Earth and will add every milepost, switch, signal, etc. to the Google Earth maps.
This is obviously going to be a big project, my collection of Boston & Maine charts is going to take me a while to trace, so this will have to be a combined effort. My plan is to make this chart tracing software run embedded in a web page so that it will run on pretty much any computer, and make it simple enough that anybody can get the hang of using it. All you have to do is upload a scan of a chart, trace out every milepost, track, siding, crossing, etc. and as you go it will automatically calculate the mileage and ask you for any other details.
Eventually my goal is to both create the most comprehensive railroad track atlas, as well as a mobile phone app that would help railfans identify any railroad line they happen to come across instantly. This December I'm taking a trip from Boston to Omaha via the Lake Shore Limited and the California Zephyr. and my return trip will be via the Zephyr then the Cardinal to DC and then back to Boston on the Northeast Regional. I've already begun plotting out every inch of this journey so that I'll know every spot to have my camera ready as well as to know if any other lines I see are active or not. This is my test, but eventually I'd like to have every line past or present active or abandoned, in a database with geographic coordinates.
Using this system in some of my tests I was able to trace out an abandoned branch line that was pulled in the 1930s, after uploading this to my Android phone (fairly simple process I could explain for anyone interested) I was able to find the line and walk it, as I walked, I would see on my map where every milepost was and in a few places I actually found the posts themselves, they had pulled most of them, but in some areas they fell off the embankment. There was also the foundations of stations and slabs for crossing tender shanties.
This data could also be really useful for modellers who want to build prototypical layouts, all the curve, elevation and grade data would be right there too, and a scale calculator probably wouldn't be too hard to make. The data can also easily be used in some railroad simulators.
So the reason I'm posting this is that I'm wondering if there's any interest in this? Just to set the record straight, this will be a free site, advertisements will support hosting fees, but since I would be relying on users to provide most of the information I really can't charge for that. Some people who sell copies of charts may find their business drying up, but everyone else will find the data for any line all in one place.
This is obviously going to be a big project, my collection of Boston & Maine charts is going to take me a while to trace, so this will have to be a combined effort. My plan is to make this chart tracing software run embedded in a web page so that it will run on pretty much any computer, and make it simple enough that anybody can get the hang of using it. All you have to do is upload a scan of a chart, trace out every milepost, track, siding, crossing, etc. and as you go it will automatically calculate the mileage and ask you for any other details.
Eventually my goal is to both create the most comprehensive railroad track atlas, as well as a mobile phone app that would help railfans identify any railroad line they happen to come across instantly. This December I'm taking a trip from Boston to Omaha via the Lake Shore Limited and the California Zephyr. and my return trip will be via the Zephyr then the Cardinal to DC and then back to Boston on the Northeast Regional. I've already begun plotting out every inch of this journey so that I'll know every spot to have my camera ready as well as to know if any other lines I see are active or not. This is my test, but eventually I'd like to have every line past or present active or abandoned, in a database with geographic coordinates.
Using this system in some of my tests I was able to trace out an abandoned branch line that was pulled in the 1930s, after uploading this to my Android phone (fairly simple process I could explain for anyone interested) I was able to find the line and walk it, as I walked, I would see on my map where every milepost was and in a few places I actually found the posts themselves, they had pulled most of them, but in some areas they fell off the embankment. There was also the foundations of stations and slabs for crossing tender shanties.
This data could also be really useful for modellers who want to build prototypical layouts, all the curve, elevation and grade data would be right there too, and a scale calculator probably wouldn't be too hard to make. The data can also easily be used in some railroad simulators.
So the reason I'm posting this is that I'm wondering if there's any interest in this? Just to set the record straight, this will be a free site, advertisements will support hosting fees, but since I would be relying on users to provide most of the information I really can't charge for that. Some people who sell copies of charts may find their business drying up, but everyone else will find the data for any line all in one place.
Trains aren't dangerous, it's lack of common sense that's dangerous.