Canadian Electric Railway Map Collection

faw

New Member
As commanded by Zathros, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Paul Delamere and I am the author of a project to digitally map all of Canada's current and historical electric railways. I originally posted to this forum several years ago seeking information on the Oshawa Railway. Since that time my project has taken me to all ten provinces in Canada to research and study the history of electric streetcar, light rail transit and industrial railways in Canada. I now have an almost complete, detailed collection of digital maps that are available here for free:

www.cermc.webs.com

You must have Google Earth to view the collection. Contained in the 1 to 1 scale maps are links to historical photos posted by museums and archives across Canada, physical details, stops and stations, track lengths and industrial user names, car house locations and track plans, in short, just about anything of a physical nature that was placed on the ground by the various transit companies and railways. Some short histories are also provided in the file tree folders as well as citations and other details where available and can be accessed by left clicking the lines in the maps. The camera icons on the map, when double clicked, will display the images from the photographers point of view.

This is an ongoing project and updates are posted from time to time. My next update will feature the Montreal Tramway Company and I am using 1947 to 1949 aerial photos of Montreal to improve the current map. I recommend taking a free membership on the website to receive update announcement notices when they occur. These maps are useful for anyone who is interested in modeling their city's ancient transit system and I hope anyone who may have information not already noted on the maps will share it with me to help improve the accuracy of the collection.

Thank you

Paul Delamere
 

faw

New Member
Why is there a link to ebay...

The words "digital maps" have been linked to someone's ebay ad in my previous post. I am not responsible for this nor do I approve of it.

Paul Delamere
 

zathros

*****SENIOR ADMINISTRATOR*****
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Thanks Faw! This should some great viewing with Google Earth. It would be neat if Google did drive by journeys on routes so one could take a virtual ride on the tracks. :)
 

faw

New Member
Thanks Faw! This should some great viewing with Google Earth. It would be neat if Google did drive by journeys on routes so one could take a virtual ride on the tracks. :)
This is possible with Google Earth already, but it will not appear as drive by journey. You will experience the terrain and any 3d buildings that are included near the routes. Right click the line in question, select properties and then close the properties box after it opens. This will highlight the line in the file tree. At the bottom of the file tree in the "My Places" box just above the "Layers " is a selection of switches. Click on the one furthest to the right with the three dots. Not as good as you hope for but cool none the less. You can also adjust the angle at which the tour is viewed by selecting tools then options then touring.

Paul Delamere
 
Top