Rail Road Maps (1914)

[Richard]

Yesterday, I bought an old Yawman & Erbe Rail Road Map Cabinet. In all but one of the shallow drawers is a Rail Road Map (29x21) of a state. Each map is by RAND McNALLY and dated 1914. All the maps are originals and unfortunately adhered to the bottom of each drawer. Who ever glued the maps did a good job there are no bumps or rips and each map is in excellent condition. Each map lists the Rail Roads then extant in that state.

I have a map of Montana, the U.P. of Michigan, Wisconsin, Idaho, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota and Oregon.

My questions are should I attempt to remove the maps by steam or heat from the back side of each drawer bottom or just leave them where they are or remove each drawer bottom with its map intact. How much does being glued to a drawer bottom effect the value of the maps?

 

[Richard]

Alright, I guess no one knows anything about old Rail Road maps...thanks anyway.

 

[RentonRailFan]

Im not a paper or map expert but I do know old paper depending on the conditions they were in, it can be very brittle. If you really want to remove the maps and you dont care about the drawers you could take the drawers apart and keep the backing that its glued to. You would have to be very careful not to damage the paper in the process. If you are really worried about the paper breaking, it would probally be best to leave the maps as they are. I would think steam could make the ink run and heat could make the paper curl. There might be other ways to remove the maps but I have never heard of it.
Good Luck and welcome aboard