What GPS you use for railfanning?

[neokrrfan]

Howdy,
Curious if any railfans out there use GPS for railfanning & which units (Garmin,Magellan,TomTom, etc.) show railroad tracks.
Looking to purchase one with 5-7" screen for traveling & railfanning.
Thanks.

 

[Pat]

I had a Magellan that showed the tracks (it died). I have a Garmin now that doesn't. I find the DeLorme Gazetters more useful. The GPS took some zooming in and out to follow the track and roads.

 

[kenw]

Map on iPhone, similar to Google Earth

 

[laredosub]

Amtrak GPS Trace

Don't know if this is similar to what you are looking for but I use this to railfan Amtrak. http://www.dixielandsoftware.com/

 

[ES44AC]

I don't use a GPS but I sometimes use track charts very seldom and the majority of the times, I just know where to go.

 

[Pat]

Don't know if this is similar to what you are looking for but I use this to railfan Amtrak. http://www.dixielandsoftware.com/

That's cool.

 

[troygly]

I use a garmin nuvi that shows tracks, also I use the Garmin oregon hand held useful for my trip to Florida on amtrak in June.

 

[RailfanRails]

Howdy,
Curious if any railfans out there use GPS for railfanning & which units (Garmin,Magellan,TomTom, etc.) show railroad tracks.
Looking to purchase one with 5-7" screen for traveling & railfanning.
Thanks.

Droid X w/ Goggle Maps

 

[Eastern Railfan]

Map on iPhone, similar to Google Earth

Ditto.

 

[setxrailfan]

I study maps such as Google Earth or Bing maps if I'm going somewhere unfimilar. Most of the time I know the layout if I've already been there before.

 

[sunktankahemani]

I use GPS receivers primarily for mapping purposes (abandoned right-of-ways and such). I record them with a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx and then upload the waypoints/tracks with DNRGarmin (from the Minnesota DNR) into ArcGIS 9.3.1. Eventually, after some editing, I save the data as an ArcGIS shapefile for future reference & map-making.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

A 1998 Garmin GPS III and a 2010 Garmin Nuvi 3790T.

 

[Youngwarrior]

I have a Magellan that shows the tracks. Haven't used it much for railfanning though.

 

[B_Kosanda]

I use a Garmin when hiking, but I prefer Microsoft Streets and Trips running on a laptop when I'm railfanning in unfamiliar territory. The screen is big enough to see without glasses on

Bill

 

[GP30_5513]

Garmin Nuvi 205W. Map updates show all current trackage and some abandoned ROWs (a nice touch).

 

[SDJeff]

I study maps or print them out before leaving out. Most of east to central Texas I pretty much know. Sometimes it's fun to get lost and guess where to go!

 

[Paul@MWR]

Garmin Nuvi 205W. Map updates show all current trackage and some abandoned ROWs (a nice touch).

Same here with a Garmin Nuvi 255W. Even for areas that I have very familiar with I find it convenient to tag favorite locations so I have an estimated time of when I might get to that location from another one. This cuts down on a lot of travel when you are too far out, but think you can make it.

I've found the GPS useful for finding interesting photos on lines I am not familiar with because you can see the curves and s-curves coming on the map.

 

[setxrailfan]

I couldn't resist temptation anymore...I just purchased a Garmin 1490T that shows rail lines. It doesn't show their ownership but it does show them.

 

[B_Kosanda]

I couldn't resist temptation anymore...I just purchased a Garmin 1490T that shows rail lines. It doesn't show their ownership but it does show them.

It probably runs the same maps as my Garmin. The Garmin City Navigator North America map is what I have. It shows all the tracks. I also bought their Topo map too, which is better for hiking because it shows all the trails in the National Parks.

Bill

 

[CGW101c]

Rand McNally Road atlas. But only as a last resort. Too much fun learning where roads go. TZ