Month: June 2013

Historical Map: National Railways of Zimbabwe, c. 1985

June 13, 2013
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A pretty basic two-colour map of the (then newly-independent) Zimbabwe’s rail network produced by the government’s Land Survey Office. Once you look past the eye-searing red ink and “transportation” clip art, there’s a couple of interesting things on the map. Firstly, the map actually does a pretty good job of showing how Zimbabwe’s rail network fits in with other connecting rail services in southern Africa. Secondly, it shows an interesting colonial oddity: the Zimbabwe National […]

Official Map: RENFE Cercanías Madrid Commuter Rail, 2013

June 12, 2013
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Following on my review of Madrid’s old-is-new Metro Map (June 2013, 3.5 stars), I’ve had quite a few requests for Madrid’s commuter rail map, operated by the state-owned RENFE rail company – so here it is! The map is a very solid effort, with unusual but effective station markers: small squares that “cut through” the route lines. The overall design is very angular, with no smoothing of the route lines or the zone boundaries that […]

File Under Awesome: London Tube Map Recreated With Lego Bricks

June 12, 2013
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Sent my way by just about everyone this morning, this Lego map is one of five located at Tube stations across London as another part of the Tube’s 150th birthday celebrations. Each map shows the Tube at a different stage of development from the 1920s right through to the version shown here: a near-future map for 2020. Painstakingly assembled from thousands of Lego bricks, the map looks great, although Neil Bennett from Digital Arts notes […]

Historical Map: Indicateur d’Itinéraires, Paris, c. 2003

June 11, 2013
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An old-school interactive Metro map in Paris. Simply press one of the 360 or so buttons underneath the map, and a path lights up from your current location to your chosen destination. Who needs a fancy touch screen kiosk? I particularly like the way that the furtherest reaches of the RER lines are compressed into diagrammatic form to allow the centre of Paris to be shown as large as possible. This particular example is still […]

Photo: Detail of a Province of Milan Transit Map, Italy

June 6, 2013
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Looks like a visually interesting and abstract map, but I haven’t been able to track down a full version on the Internet. Looks like it might show bus service (green and thin black lines) and regional rail (thick grey line at the bottom of the picture). Does anyone know where I can find the whole map? Source: mikek/Flickr

Update: More Process Work Behind the New Moscow Metro Map

June 6, 2013
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As we reported late last month, the new Art Lebedev Studios Moscow Metro map is now in use around the system and on trains. One thing that the studio has been fantastic at right from the start is documenting the creative process, and they’re not finished yet. Over on their website is a wealth of behind the scenes information that shows how much work has been put into these beautiful maps. The map had to […]

Historical Map: Mornington Peninsula Road and Bus Lines Map, c. 1940s

June 5, 2013
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Here’s a beautifully drawn old map created for the Peninsula Bus Lines in Victoria, Australia by Robert J. Amor. There’s no date, but the general aesthetics and the presence of “Military Camps” near Mount Martha leads me to believe the map is from around 1940-1947, after which Balcombe Camp became the Army Apprentice School. Elements to really look out for: the beautiful ornate compass rose, the olde-time scrolls enclosing town names, and the cameo pictures […]

Official Map: Everything Old is New Again for the Madrid Metro

June 3, 2013
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Over the weekend, Madrid rolled out a new map for its comprehensive Metro and light rail system. After six long and controversial years, the previous map (March 2012, 2.5 stars) – with everything reduced to severe 90-degree angles and very little spatial relationship to the real world – has been consigned to the dustbin. In its place, a new map that looks strangely familiar. The design of the map has returned in-house and Metro’s designers […]

Official Map: Prague Metro 2013 Flood Map

June 3, 2013
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As you may already know, Prague is currently bracing itself for its heaviest flooding in recent memory. In preparation, the city has shut down large portions of its subterranean Metro system and has added temporary tram and bus services to compensate. This map, obviously produced in a hurry, outlines those service changes with a minimum of fuss. It also shows which tram lines have been cancelled until further notice. With events like this, informing the […]

Historical Maps: Evolution of the Stockholm Metro Map, c.1958-1971

June 2, 2013
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Here’s a fantastic photo showing three versions of the map for the Stockholms tunnelbana, probably taken at the Stockholm Transit Museum. By comparing the three maps and the looking at the stations shown on each of them, I’ve roughly dated each as follows. The top map is from between November 19, 1958 (when the Farsta station opened), and November 14, 1959, when Rågsved station (shown on the middle map, but not on the top one) opened. The […]