Month: March 2013

Submission – Unofficial Historical Map: Los Angeles Pacific Electric Railway Diagram, 1917 by Sam Huddy

March 18, 2013
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Drawn and submitted by Sam, who says: Pacific Electric: Challenge Accepted! Cameron, When I read your disappointment on the uselessness of that beautiful map of the Pacific Electric at its peak in 1917 (not 1920), I wondered if it was possible to create a simplified London Underground-style map. With over a hundred routes it seemed impossible, but after several attempts, this was my end result. Any further information is on the map itself. Transit Maps […]

Photo – Historical Map: (1985?) London Tube Map

March 18, 2013
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This map has certainly seen better days! The fact that the Hammersmith & City (salmon pink) line is not shown dates this map prior to 1990: the “peak hour only” dashed line on the very light purple Metropolitan Line, combined with the black text for station names leads me to believe that this is the 1985 map. By 1987, the Metropolitan Line had become a much darker colour, and station labels were the now-familiar blue.

Photo: NY Subway Map and Tokens, 1990

March 15, 2013
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Great little slice of history here. The photographer on Flickr seems to recall the cost of a token as being 60 cents at the time; Wikipedia prices it at $1.15. As a graphic designer, all I can see is the terrible registration in the (cheap) printing – look at the huge yellow halo bleeding out to the right of the green and red printed areas. (In four-colour printing, green is made from combining cyan and […]

Comparison of Beijing Subway – 1984 and 2013

March 14, 2013
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I absolutely love this now-and-then snapshot of what is now the busiest subway system in the world. The picture on the left is from the first edition of Lonely Planet’s guide to China in 1984; the one on the right is from the 13th edition, released this year. That’s only a 29 year gap – quite astounding! Source: two tweets from Daniel McCrohan, a writer for Lonely Planet’s China and Beijing guides. 1984 and 2013.

Submission – Keio Railway Map Bath Towel

March 13, 2013
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Submitted by Jeffery Bridgman, who says: A bath towel with the different services (different types of local/express trains) that run on the Keio lines in Tokyo. Hilarious! http://railf.jp/news/2013/02/22/100000.html Transit Maps says: Oh, those crazy Japanese! Still, one can’t help but think that Douglas Adams – whose 61st birthday would have been two days ago – would have approved. Because, after all, a towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. […]

Future Map: Washington, DC “Silver Line” Draft Map

March 13, 2013
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Long time readers will be aware of my low opinion of the Washington DC Metro Rail map – here’s a fairly scathing review of the “Rush+” map (March 2012, 2.5 stars) to refresh your memory. It looks like WMATA is preparing for the opening of the Silver Line and has put a draft version of a new map up for comments. According to the blurb there, the route lines are now thinner and station names […]

Historical Map: 1974 New York MTA Commuter Rail Map

March 11, 2013
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Submitted by dpecs, who says: Vignelli-inspired map (designer unknown) of the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Roads. On display until March 15th at the New York Transit Museum’s exhibit Grand By Design, on the centennial of Grand Central Terminal. Transit Maps says: Designer unknown? The amazing book “Helvetica and the New York City Subway” attributes this map to one Joan Charysyn, saying she designed it freelance in between stints at Vignelli Associates and Unimark. It’s […]

Transit Map Typefaces: Other Styles (Part 4 of 4)

March 9, 2013
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To be honest, this is a pretty small category and I’m only including it for completeness’ sake. Included in this category are san serif fonts that don’t fall into any of the three major categories, veering more towards the decorative or ornamental. Examples of this include the Madrid Metro’s severe, squared off typeface (that matches the aesthetics of the map almost perfectly), and the similar, but less successful, square font that was once used in […]