[PRCo] Re: PennDOT historical maps (was: West Penn Street Car??)

[Donald Galt]

On 25 Jun 2008 at 8:31, Edward H. Lybarger wrote:

> There was a lot of sloppy mapmaking in those days.
> But the fact that it was
> done at all with the available tools is
> remarkable.

Yet, the best mapmaking of the early XX century is stunning, like any work that 
an artist takes seriously. By and large, USGS topos at 1:62500 and 1:125000 are 
exquisitely engraved and highly accurate (surveying may have been harder than 
it is nowadays, but was not to be sniffed at). They can easily stand being 
blown up to double size, thereby yielding even greater detail.   

And that's just the US. The best of European government mapping of that era is 
if anything even better.  

Of course, GIGO as you say. It's not that unusual with slightly earlier 1:62500 
maps to find railways crossing contour lines back and forth like roller 
coasters.

That rendering of the Charleroi interurban is an example of careless freehand - 
quite possibly taking a smaller-scale map as its source. A similar example is 
on the Cambria County map, where the Southern Cambria line across country to 
Ebensburg and Nanty Glo appears drawn in two or three strokes.

Don G