Meglodon 5
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Is S. K. Baker planning to release a new edition of the Rail Atlas of Great Britain and Northern Ireland soon?
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Is there going to be a 16th Rail Atlas?
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Peterthegreat
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Unfortunately Stuart Baker passed away a couple of years ago.
Mcr Warrior
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November 2020, I believe.
Meglodon 5
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I had a feeling that might have happened.
Lynford1976
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But Joe Brown, the author behind the London Railway Atlas and others, is preparing a new edition for publication next year.
Railsigns
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The Baker atlas covers the whole of Ireland.
Baxenden Bank
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Joe Brown has tweeted examples of some of the changes he is proposing in the next edition, so preparation is underway. I didn't take notes of what those changes were.
Mollington St
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I have just been sorting out my stock and now have a full spare set of the Baker Rail Atlas of Britain and Ireland , so if you need an issue or two please just , e mail or message me .
Came across a couple of oddments , which i thought i would share
A GB Rail Freight special issue for 1988 and then the Railway Enthusiasts Society Atlas cover , again if you need just let me know
Oliver
Came across a couple of oddments , which i thought i would share
A GB Rail Freight special issue for 1988 and then the Railway Enthusiasts Society Atlas cover , again if you need just let me know
Oliver
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PeterY
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I love the format of the Baker Atlas. I have several editions but one is well bashed, (excuse the pun) the 14th and I colour this one in, on lines I've travelled over. 
MK Tom
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I can't find his account. Can you link it?
I absolutely love the Baker atlas, although it has a tendency to be a little over-optimistic with reinstatement proposals and heritage line extensions.
I also wish it would extend the single/double track distinction to freight-only lines. Perhaps Joe Brown will implement that!
Baxenden Bank
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Sorry, I don't follow him, he popped up a couple of times either as a suggested link or forwarded by somebody.
Mcr Warrior
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Twitter handle is @JoeBrownLondon
Cartographer, author, railway historian, former train driver and current transport manager.
Am Broc
Member
I didn't realise that Stuart Baker had passed away. Very sad. His atlas has given so many people so much pleasure over the years but I'm glad it's in good hands for the future!
Quick question - and apologies if this is the wrong place to post it - but does anybody know if there is decent atlas or series of atlases of contemporary US railways?
Quick question - and apologies if this is the wrong place to post it - but does anybody know if there is decent atlas or series of atlases of contemporary US railways?
DelW
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Surprisingly, the best (possibly only?) detailed ones are from a British publisher :
SPV - Railroad books and videos
SPV for railroad books and videos, scale modelling and United States Atlases.
www.spv.co.uk
Am Broc
Member
Thanks
Thanks so much for that!
ac6000cw
Established Member
I second the SPV atlases (bought my first one nearly 30 years ago, and have 9 of them on the bookshelf). I went on an enthusiast tour to the Chicago area in 1996, and the author Mike Walker was one of the tour leaders - an extremely knowledgeable guy, who (at that time at least) drew all the maps by hand. Just think about the amount of research involved, let alone the all the map drawing...
If you're out there linesiding by car and just need to know how to get to places, websites like OpenRailwayMap and apps like OsmAnd (both using open-source mapping data) are really useful, as they show roads and communities as well as railways (and hill-shading sometimes, to get an idea of the landscape). The SPV atlases are basically just railway maps, with some rivers and lakes shown, but no roads.
Some of the US railroads have freely available system maps e.g. BNSF - https://www.bnsf.com/ship-with-bnsf/maps-and-shipping-locations/rail-network-maps.page
This BNSF network map in particular shows the significant rail lines in the whole of the US (and part of Canada and Mexico), not just the BNSF system - https://www.bnsf.com/bnsf-resources...s-and-shipping-locations/bnsf-network-map.pdf
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Am Broc
Member
Thanks so much
That map is fantastic!
deltic
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The 16th edition is planned to be published on the 1st December and is available to pre-order.
Ashley Hill
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I do but many lines are no longer in the newer editions. Likewise reopenings are not in older editions so I need to colour several books in.
Purple Train
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Yes. Which is slightly pointless now, as I keep losing my atlas! I guess I'll just have to get myself a Christmas present... and then, no doubt, the old one will magically turn up! It is an absolutely invaluable resource and I'm very glad that Joe Brown is building on Stuart's peerless work. I might now have a map to draw on that doesn't show the Elizabeth Line as a golden aspiration - and, hopefully, another 40 years of realised aspirations to come!
deltic
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But sadly with most of HS2 removed!
Purple Train
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At the rate it's going, I think HS2 is better left to my grandchildren's atlases!
When I did i had a highlighted line over nothing. It was where the pre diversion Selby- York line went!
There are some I suspect use crayons.
I use the 1978 2nd edition for this still, and had to buy a highlighter for a small bit of colouring after my day out recently (Castleford).
Yep, just got Leven, Okehampton and North Berwick to travel and then highlight in my Baker
Big Jumby 74
Established Member
My 1980 (3rd) edition I used for that purpose. Just looked at my 1977 edition, which (thankfully) I left unmarked, being the 1st one. Being in to the industrial scene back then, I found them invaluable to locate collieries and other off the beaten track locations, which then gave me a clue as to which Ordnance survey maps to buy (still have all my old ones of those too), and from then it was a case of throw the bike in the van of whatever train I needed to take, and cycle from the nearest BR station to the pits concerned. Fun times - didn't have to make reservations for either myself or my bike, all so much simpler!
Cambus731
Established Member
Yes. I first bought a copy in 1992 and I used a highlighter on that one.
I aquired a new one in 2014 so I now use that. I've kept the 1992 edition so it's interesting sometimes to see what lines I had ( and hadn't) done up to that point.
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