From what I can remember, we made a spreadsheet template that captured the title block information and a list of bearings and distances with some optional columns for field notes, landmarks/monuments, elevations and other measurements, etc. and I wrote some AutoLISP code that would generate an overview drawing and a set of scale drawings for the route. It figured out the bounds for each segment based on the scale and drawing size and then drew the route like a turtle and added the various callouts and a consistent title block and legend. There was also some ability to draw details about the railroad/pipeline whose right of way was being used, but I don't remember exactly how it worked.
My mom (secretarially trained typist, self-taught Lotus/Excel wiz, former drafting assistant at an RBOC) would enter everything into the template and use it to generate basis drawings which they might then tweak and finalize by hand. It dramatically reduced the amount of time they spent creating drawings to the point they could usually finish the drawings for a week of surveying in a couple of hours. I like to think of it as my small contribution to the Internet.
I was in high school at the time and taught myself AutoLISP from some combination of in-app docs/help and mall bookstore fare. Now I desperately want to go dig through floppy disks at my parents' place to see if any remnants remain to look back at how younger me did everything. It was the first truly useful software that I ever wrote, and in hindsight, might've planted the brainworm that led me to Clojure decades later :)