Map recommendations?

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Eris

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Me again, with the kids and the Coast Starlight trip, yadda yadda, leaving this weekend, then you'll be done with me.

Anyone have any recommendations for maps to take with us, for following our route? Do the AAA state maps have enough detail/show the train tracks?
 
Not sure about the AAA maps. I do not thik they show rail lines. However, most state highway department state maps that they give out in the welcome centers and at other tourist places do show rail lines, at least those in the southeastern states that I am familiar with. Some states have these on line, usually as a pdf file, Mississippi for one, but getting a print out that you can read easily may be difficult. You willl have to check the various state DOT web sites. Some states have a railroad route map showing the various railroad company names on their sites as well. I beleive that Washington state does. Not sure of any of them in your area, however. BNSF railroad has division maps on their company web site that are very detailed. They do not show roads, but if you have any sort of state highway map you can identify the towns and figure out about where the track is. You would need the Northwest division which would get you Seattle to Portland.

www.bnsf.com/tools/reference/division_maps/div_nw.pdf

If you go to it, you can enlarge until you can read the names and milepost numbers and move around until you are looking at the area you want and then do a file print and when the form comes up click on "current view" before hitting print.

The rest is all UP track, which does not have anything equivalent that I have found.

George
 
Delorme has an Atlas and Gazetteer series (I have the Florida edition) which is extremely detailed and includes rail lines. They have two editions for California, a Southern and Central edition and a Northern edition. They have one Gazetteer each for Washington and Oregon as well. I use my Florida edition every time we leave the local area. Scale is about 2.3 miles to the inch, which gives you wonderful detail and includes even dirt road through the national forests and parks, and that sort of thing. The downside is that it is BIG, and over a hundred pages for the Florida edition. You may be able to find them in local stores there, and certainly in book stores. Even if you don't decide to use it on the train it is invaluable for trip planning - I don't ever make an out-of town Florida trip without mine.
 
Delorme has an Atlas and Gazetteer series (I have the Florida edition)
Oh, the Delorme! They're huge, and kind of expensive, and I'd need all four, but you know, on reflection, I think they'd be worth having now and in the future. I don't know why I had forgotten to even consider those. I had the Northern California one when I lived down there.

That BNSF PDF is awesome, too. I'd found much more vague Union Pacific maps at their site- nothing so nice as this.

I'll try to manage notes enough to do a trip report. "My Coast Starlight Trip In A Roomette With A Two And A Five Year Old: How I Stayed Sane (Or Didn't)"
 
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