@paul-in-pa The RR is long since abandoned.
Looks disused, but possibly not legally abandoned.?ÿ Don't the companies usually scrap out or sell the rail upon abandonment?
The longest straight reference line nearest you is the N 25?ø26'47" E line of the railroad, use that to establish your local compass deflection, then lay out your S 51?ø56'01" E line.
Given that it is not an active RR line, that would be an excellent way to turn the angle to the line with a transit.?ÿ But holding a compass over or near the rails is likely to give a seriously wrong answer.?ÿ If there is a right-of-way fence you might be a little better off with it, but still could have some effect from the fence.
If it were in Pennsylvania and you owned it you could happily survey it yourself.
Isn't it true that an owner anywhere can survey their own land if they want, but their results are not binding on the adjoiners, they must not alter monuments, and their work may not be accepted for purposes like zoning setbacks?
Well, you are a boat cap'n. You want to use your tools you are familiar with. From Tha era, we may not know the declination.
We would often use a compass, to kick off the job, then turn angles, and leave the big picture of the overall job's declination alone.
Find 2 consecutive points on that survey, and shoot it with your cap'n compass. Write down the bearing.?ÿ
Record: N54-45W (N 54-3/4 degrees W)
You: N 61 W?ÿ
So, now you know there is 5-1/4 degree difference. You must now apply this correction algebraicly. Means add to record 5-1/4 degrees. In the NW, and SE direction. And, subtract 5-1/4 from record in N E and SW direction.
Now, make your own little drawing, on YOUR brg system. Now, you can go walk the property.
Remember, a screw in your glasses can monkey your bearings. Same with being close to fence, truck, conc with rebar. Anything. Get your PERSONAL declination wrong, and all I've said goes out the window. Especially, click glasses, with a magnet. Or, a cell phone.?ÿ
Still, on your very best day, you will still probably be +- half a degree. This due to all the things, that can mess up a compass. This "instruction set" can be handy to generally review the property. Maybe even find some corners. But, it's just an estimate.
These are ideas. Compasses even can have individual declination.
Have fun navigating on land!
N
Wow! Thank you
Its also a good idea to check the declination in more than one place.?ÿ
Post a pic of your compass. We all like nostalgia. Our minds go back to early America, where they used Rittenhouse Construction compasses, (Google that, if you'd like to see) in the mid 1800's. We'd be curious to see yours.
N
I'm curious. How did a ship manage the declination of the ships compass when it was relied on? As the declination is constantly changing, what steps were taken to account for this? I certainly ignorant on the subject. My best guess is a sextant was used for navigation and the compass was only a general guideline. If you are still around, I'd appreciate being able to satisfy my curiosity.
@lurkerWe always hired a specialist to come and adjust our compasses. For a voyage outside your normal area, a chart will have the variation which you would use for that occasion. I've never even had a sextant in my hand.
A ship's compass is fixed in place within the ship, so the effect of local magnetic disturbance is always the same and can be accounted for. In any case, the compass is completely surrounded by ferrous metals, so the needle isn't particularly drawn towards any single object - other than the earth, of course. Nevertheless navigating by compass is intended to find a harbor, an island, a continent. Not a square inch in an ocean.
@lurkerWe always hired a specialist to come and adjust our compasses. For a voyage outside your normal area, a chart will have the variation which you would use for that occasion. I've never even had a sextant in my hand.?ÿ
If you are curious about compass adjustment on a ship, find any edition of Bowditch American Practical Navigator, or Dutton Piloting and Navigation. It involves dealing with both permanent magnetism and the effect of soft iron drawing the earth's local magnetic field out of N-S alignment.
It is my understanding that the sextant has been at most a backup tool, if even that, since electronic navigation aids became common. Loran, Omega, other radio aids for close to port, and now of course GNSS.
I have a survey that has one of the lot lines saying N52.0.0. What is this in compass degrees?
Where is the N52.0.0 ?
I've been watching this since the beginning. Looking at Lot 19 everything seems to be there except for the curve data at the SW corner of the lot. Easy to calculate that lot. There's a tangent in and out. A chord distance would be easy to close the lot. But it's a side line that is in question. Maybe an hours work. I wish this was my normal everyday task. Simple. 😉 ?ÿ
maybe the N51-56-01W got rounded off in some other document. Pretty strange that he cites N52 and the map is straight up normal.
There could be a meets & bounds desc, with a typo in it?
N
?ÿmeets & bounds desc
metes
(Assistant spelling police)
We still want to see the Cap'ns compass!
Thanks
N
@nate-the-surveyorSorry, retired 15 years ago, no boats. I'm landlocked here in North Georgia.
The curve data is available in the oblique photo the OP posted. Chord S73?ø03'00"W, 101.05', L= 102.0', R=215.74'. I've run through a quick calc, at first blush there is about 1.5' of misclosure.
Ok, then do you have a compass to do this? If not, then I understand.
I use a Suunto. Others like a Brunton.
You will want something better than a boy Scout compass. Those are useful to find the truck... But not lots more.
N
?ÿ
I think I do Have my Boy Scout compass. At the moment the only compass is an app on my phone.