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

[Edward H. Lybarger]

"Plane" is correct.  They may or may not have been plain! 

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Schneider
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:31 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] Re: PennDOT historical maps (was: West Penn Street Car??)

plain not plane    fws

On Jun 25, 2008, at 12:06 PM, Fred Schneider wrote:

> But remember, Don, that the USGS maps are all plane table mapping 
> technology.  The aerial surveys of today are a whole lot more accurate 
> in some ways.
>
> On Jun 25, 2008, at 9:52 AM, Donald Galt wrote:
>
>> 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
>>
>>
>
>