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Transportation History can be understood through the documents and stories of the people and companies that connected industries and communities. Trails and natural waterways have given rise to canals, roads, railroads, highways and airports. They have had a major influence on history of localities and their citizens. Rails and Trails shares primary source materials and research on the history of transportation in Ohio and North America. Although its emphasis is on railroads, a comprehensive study includes other transportation modes that compete with railroads. The web can organize and display materials in public and private collections without the need to visit and handle the fragile or restricted access originals. This is transforming the study of history. Some of the digital downloads on this site use the DjVu format. Additional resources can be found at Historical Societies and Libraries that preserve and document transportation history. Rails-To-Trails (no affiliation with this site) spearheads the re-purposing of abandoned railroads as linear parks that can be explored by foot or bike. |
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Historical Mapping |
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Topographic maps show elevation and land use details. View Northeast Ohio quads from the early and mid 20th Century. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) processing digital data have replaced paper maps. | |
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Transportation maps show routes between cities and towns. Viewing an area over time can identify name changes and construction/abandonment years. | |
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Trains were governed by timetables. Public timetables listed passenger train schedules. Employee timetables.had detailed information necessary to operate a train on that section of railroad. | |
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Railroads maintained track charts and diagrams showing track details including stations, switches, crossings, bridges, tunnels, signals, elevation and curvature. These are helpful in understanding and modeling specific railroad lines. Detailed ICC railroad valuation maps show track and land details over much of the 20th Century. | |
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Transportation histories, route guides and other promotional materials from different time periods provide informative perspectives on events and operations. | |
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Photos and drawings document the details of structures, equipment and operation at specific points in time. | |
| Railroad | Cleveland, Akron & Columbus Railroad |