I am working on a project for the Paris,Tx Chamber of Commerce Transportation museum and need any inf I can get on Texas Midland RR facilities in Paris.I know it had a turntable-how big and who madeit unk,a roundhouse-dont know how big and a freight operation.ATSF and FRISCO also built a turntable and roundhouse in Paris.Any info on these facilities will be appreciated.mike
Mike- one of the places you could ask would be the Railspot group on Yahoo. Lots of folks there who are well-versed in Texas railroad history. There also used to be a magazine called Journal of Texas Shortlines that was published up til about 10 years ago- this was how I got info on the Paris & Mt. PLeasant RR. Unfortunately, it's no longer published, and unless you knew someone who had back copies who could do some research, that avenue is closed. Not sure if Jason Lee Davis down in Commerce (teaches at TAMU-Commerce) would have any info or not. Here is the link to his page at A&M_Commerce
Someone posted a free link to the Sanborn Maps page on some forum or another recently. If that is closed (quick search and I can't find the thread) Sanborn Maps are available digitally through many university libraries. Even though I live in Texas, I access them free through my mom's library card via the Toledo, Ohio library. But, I think UT would have the Texas maps. The great thing about the Sanborn maps is that they were done about every dozen years, like 1888, 1904,1921,1944, etc. You can track the changes of the track layouts and structures pretty closely. Since they were fire maps, they usually show some interior floor plan details and lable things like FR (frame) Steel Supply Hse. So, you get an idea of what a building was used for and how it was built. Good luck! My son just finished two years at Paris so I have at least a nominal interst in the project!
Welcome to Trainboard! As Jeff (Rossford Yard) indicated, the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are a great resource for old RRs. Other resources: 1. When I was looking for info on the Peoria and Pekin Union Ry, I had great success in the vertical file section of the local libraries (Peoria, East Peoria [where the main yard was located], and Pekin). Peoria's vertical file had lots of newspaper articles and pictures; East Peoria's library had a bound monograph (college research paper?) by a local railfan/history professor that was very informative; Pekin's library had hundreds of pictures of the industries served by the P&PU and the half-dozen other RRs that ran through town. 2. The building housing the East Peoria City Hall offices and the office of the Chamber of Commerce is located at the north end of the P&PU yard. Someone tracked down and copied for me detailed listings of transportation resources in East Peoria and surrounding area, RR traffic/usage information listed by the 12 RRs that served the Greater Peoria area, and lists of industries that used rail service (or had used it in the past). 3. The City Hall had huge photos of the rail yards and city buildings decorating their office walls. One of the staff told me the wall pics were enlarged photos from the Special Collections Reference section of the Bradley University Library in Peoria. I spent the next several weeks exploring (and copying at just pennies a piece) hundreds of the Special Collections RR pics, papers, maps, county plat books, booklets, blue prints, engine rosters, track plans, and Sanborn maps (in their color printed bound version rather than the black and white digital versions that I could access at the library's computer terminals on the main floor of the library), and I spent a delightful afternoon talking with a fellow P&PU fan who working at the library and located many of the more obsure RR holdings in the Special Collections section. 4. There may be information on the RR in local newspaper archives or in their picture morgue. In Peoria, I was able to access old newspaper issues on microfilm at the public library; and a fellow NMRA member who worked for the newspaper was kind enough to look through their archives for some information on several of the (now defunct) industries I was modeling at the time. Additionally, newspaper employees might have access to RR information. Peoria's major newspaper had a writer whose "50 years ago today..." column often had RR history tidbits. And another newspaper columnist put together a Peoria retrospective picture book with many RR related photos. 5. Perhaps there are local historical groups, RR museum docents, or RR historical groups that would have information on your RR, even though their primary focus might be on a different RR. In a town north of Peoria, there is a RR depot that has been converted into a RR museum (complete with a 12x16 foot HO layout in the former baggage room modeling the 2 major RRs that went through town--Santa Fe and the Rock Island). Not only do the museum docents have info on the Santa Fe and the Rock Island RRs, but they know a lot about other RRs that served the area, too. 6. A big surprise to me when I first discovered it, but which makes sense in hindsight... I have learned what a lot of the (now demolished) P&PU prototype structures looked like by examining the background of loco and rolling stock pics which were often taken near turntables, roundhouses, and engine shops/facilities. 7. How long ago was the RR still in business...are there former RR employees or people who lived near the RR, who might be able to provide information or pics of your RR? I wonder if someone would respond to a flier in their mailboxes or posted in senior centers or nursing homes or other facilities frequented by seniors, that seeks information or pics of your RR?
Did the Paris Public Library or the library at PJC have any info on the TM? I got an awful lot of info on the T&P's TC Division and some stuff on the GC&SF from the city library. I agree on the Sanborn Maps- I looked up some info on the UT webite and it listed several Sanborn maps for Paris, including the area destroyed by the 1916 fire. Good luck Bob Thompson formerly of Paris, now Sherman, TX (original founder of the OR&T club in 1990, back when it was a round-robin group) PS- if you need some info on the Pa & Ma, I can fix you up
In my research of (naturally) Rossford Yard, I found that the actual Sanborn Maps were in just a few libraries across the state of Ohio. For some reason, I think UT has the Texas Sanborn maps. However, I believe they are also probably available on line via your local public library through a sharing arrangement. Back in the "old days" they didn't have the 1888 maps of Toledo in Toledo. I had to go to Bowling Green to get some valuble maps. There usually are other source maps besides Sanborn. In Ohio, there was a (I think) Chamberlain Map Co which sometimes had better detail. I am sure there were Sanborn competitors in Texas as well. I wouldn't overlook things like real estate maps. For instance, when I was trying to determine the date of the first engine house at Rossford, the first clue I had was a realtors map that (at small scale) that showed a little "smudge" in the area I knew the enginehouse was in 1895, but not on their 1894 map. That pretty well tied it down for me! Its easy to get locked in the library overnight once you start looking at those things!
