Map help?

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Trainmans daughter

OBS Chief
Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
987
Location
Paradise, CA.
Help! My husband is driving me nuts this morning. He is looking for a map that shows both Amtrak routes and highways. "You can drive, or take the train, but you can't do both"!

Now he is getting grumpy about it. So hurry and send me a link to such a map, if such a map exists.
 
Here's the only one I know of...http://fragis.fra.do...v/GISFRASafety/ On the drop down menu (globe symbol), select Base Maps and then Streets. You can select what to see using the drop down menu under Layers - I always deselect grade crossings, f'rinstance. Some of those layers don't display unless you scroll/zoom in and when you scroll/zoom in fully the map changes to satellite imagery.
 
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I got a "resource cannot be found" message when I went to this link. I'll try other ways to get to it. Thanks.

He woke up this morning with the idea that he'd like to research other places to live. We've already lived in 24 places in our 50 years together, so I know the signs. But he says this time we must factor in the requirement of an Amtrak route nearby for me. He doesn't care about trains, but knows how important they are to me.
 
How's this? http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/ The initial link in Post #2 didn't work for me either, but this one does. (link in Post #2 now fixed) There must be some secret to copying & pasting links that I haven't yet figured out.

Oh, and at times (most times) that FRA map takes several minutes to finally display the info after zooming and/or panning.
 
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Much as I love riding Amtrak, I couldn't live anywhere else but Kauai. Just makes the train more of a treat when I visit the mainland.
 
There are several ways you can do this. One is to select the Amtrak route map and then zoom in on the route. I can't figure out a way to direct link a map. For instance, check the California Zephyr main website, click on the map, and the map comes up in the middle of the webpage. From there you can zoom and move onto the map, with the route, stations, and major roads displayed together. Amtrak's website works through Google Maps for the underlying software, and they have both regular and satellite maps.

https://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train

Another way is to use Google Maps. Enter the names of the station and click on the little thing that looks like a subway car, which is for surface public transportation. They have most Amtrak routes available. This may be better if you need to print. I entered Emeryville Station to Chicago Union Station and got this:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Emeryville+Station,+Horton+Street,+Emeryville,+CA/Union+Station,+225+S+Canal+St,+Chicago,+IL+60606/@34.1840589,-123.1298069,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x80857e42e25f6059:0x44cb27793c3c6004!2m2!1d-122.2918185!2d37.8404487!1m5!1m1!1s0x880e2c8dbbb32f5d:0x5f985dc0044b1109!2m2!1d-87.6403334!2d41.8786738!3e3
 
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Are y'all considering leaving California Patti?

If so, the Flagstaff area of Arizona is pretty nice, and you have the Chief running through daily!
i don't know if we will really move anywhere, but our sweet Miki will be off to college in 3 years, so our reason for staying here will be gone. We have a son in Virginia with kids we rarely see, so hubby is thinking maybe somewhere out that direction. Although California is an awful state for retirees, we live in a nice rural area in the foothills north of Sacramento with lots of woods and hiking trails. I don't know if I want to learn to deal with crowds and traffic again. Maybe I'll let him move and I'll stay right here! I'll take the train and go visit him periodically. (Just kidding)!
 
Are y'all considering leaving California Patti?

If so, the Flagstaff area of Arizona is pretty nice, and you have the Chief running through daily!
i don't know if we will really move anywhere, but our sweet Miki will be off to college in 3 years, so our reason for staying here will be gone. We have a son in Virginia with kids we rarely see, so hubby is thinking maybe somewhere out that direction. Although California is an awful state for retirees, we live in a nice rural area in the foothills north of Sacramento with lots of woods and hiking trails. I don't know if I want to learn to deal with crowds and traffic again. Maybe I'll let him move and I'll stay right here! I'll take the train and go visit him periodically. (Just kidding)!
I think you'll be able to find somewhere similar in VA.
 
It appears that all maps mentioned so far do not distinguish rail tracks WITH Amtrak service versus those without.

And, of course, there are lots of smaller branch railroad lines that are not included on any of the maps noted so far.
 
It appears that all maps mentioned so far do not distinguish rail tracks WITH Amtrak service versus those without.

And, of course, there are lots of smaller branch railroad lines that are not included on any of the maps noted so far.
Appearances can be deceiving. The FRA map... http://fragis.fra.do...v/GISFRASafety/ ...has all those features (and more) as seen below:

FRA Maps.jpg

Some of the selected layers (features) don't show up unless you zoom in. In addition, this is the only one I know of that displays mileposts (when not deselected)!
 
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Here are all the FRA Map menus you can select from:

FRA Map Menus.jpg

But this site is not the easiest to use because of its speed: it can be excruciatingly slow at times.
 
If you're like me, and enjoy pouring over paper maps, many states issue free copies of their official maps. Many of these highlight Amtrak routes...
 
When using the FRA map, exercise some caution as it may not be thoroughly up to date: It shows an Amtrak line from New Orleans to Mobile AL; the Everett WA station location is shown closer to the old one. There may be other flaws too.
 
How's this? http://fragis.fra.dot.gov/GISFRASafety/ The initial link in Post #2 didn't work for me either, but this one does. (link in Post #2 now fixed) There must be some secret to copying & pasting links that I haven't yet figured out.

Oh, and at times (most times) that FRA map takes several minutes to finally display the info after zooming and/or panning.
I wish the red line running from New Orleans to Mobile were real but, sadly, it's just a fiction.
 
If you are looking into Virginia but don't want to deal with day-to-day traffic, Charlottesville is a nice area. And Amtrak serves it with the Cardinal, Crescent, and Northeast Regional.

If you want a more centrally-located place, Richmond is high(ish) traffic but not unbearable. It's at the southern end of the I-95 congestion, once I-85 splits off at Petersburg the traffic eases up considerably and driving to Florida is pretty easy. And RVR has several trains a day, including multiple daily NER, the Silver Star/Meteor, Carolinian, and Palmetto, so if you needed to go north along the I-95 corridor you could probably do it without driving.
 
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