Bing Maps is a Great Resource

Bing Maps is a great resource for model railroaders.  Google Maps has been around for a while, and MapQuest before that, however Bing was the first to introduce a perspective view that they refer to as "Bird's Eye".  Recently Google Maps has been adding this same feature, but currently Bing Maps seem to have the largest amount of areas covered by perspective view.

In my case I wanted to do a little bit of research on the "look and feel" of the Port of Texas City, specifically the areas occupied by the Texas City Terminal.

Bing Maps is able to give me a view as if I was in a helicopter.  It didn't take long before I found the familiar green and yellow diesels.

There's a lot of "look and feel" which can be gotten from just this photo, but the great thing about Maps is that I can continue to pan around to get a sense of the area.  Ground cover? Structures? Rail/building interaction? etc.  It's all there, and easy to access for free.