Re: GE Detailed Map Chama-Pagosa-Durango-Farmington-Logging

Sharrod: I made it accurate using most of the tricks Peyton and Joe mentioned. I did not do ICC map overlays due to the very poor quality ICC maps I have and it's a chore orienting the overlay. An additional trick I used is using the footage stations on the ICC maps to cross check a location of a feature from a landmark visible on GE today that's also shown on the ICC map. Footage stations are used to design and construct railroads, roads, pipelines, etc. I was in the pipeline construction and inspection business, so using this information is second nature. The units are expressed as Sta 0000+00.0 (000,000.0 ft) For example, Brg 394A (64') crossing Cat Crk in the Cat Gap area was a tough one to locate. Much of the old RR grade is gone along Cat Crk. In this area the ICC map shows only the track & row and does not show Cat Crk nor Cat Crk Rd. The large scale topo map shows trackage, creek, and road. So, at least I know where those 3 features are in relation to each other, but not the location of the bridge in question. With the ICC map footage stations the distance to the general area of that bridge can be measured from a known location that's on the ICC map and on GE. In this example I measured from Brg 393A crossing today's visible Round Meadow Crk (aka Rodunda Crk), which is a tributary to Cat Crk. So, using the measure path tool set for feet on GE one can snake along the rough track path to find the location of the bridge in question. Then I would narrow it down by adjusting the location from a Wood Box under the track shown on the ICC map for a Wash coming from the west. That wash is visible on GE. Often I place marked Wood Boxes (W.B.) for evidence. By this time I sometimes start to see some evidence of the bridge. In this case some possible grade and a hook in the creek for a logical crossing became evident. This then allows me to adjust the track route to match the bridge, water box, and to check the curves match. By this time I'm cross eyed and ready for a cold one! I want to look at this site next time I'm in the area. This example was repeated numerous times. As Peyton mentioned, I occasionally used the degree of curvature and the distance the curve traveled (calculated from the footage stations) to verify route direction or location at tough spots. Another trick is to calculated % grade using the GE tools to see if todays roads/highways are really on the old RR grade. If it's over 4%, the RR likely curved around a hill. Both of those tricks steered me to see some grade a little west of and behind Pagosa Springs ACE Hardware. Another example of the curvature trick revealed the topo was drawn wrong showing track curving around a knoll following Hwy 160. That was the opposite direction of the same curve on the ICC map, which forced me to believe the old RR grade visible on GE on that curve! Books, photos, and browsing ngdiscussion helped. And so on.