Month: August 2020

Submission – Melbourne Suburban Rail in the Style of Vignelli by Philip Mallis

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Fantasy Maps, Mash-Up Maps

Originally submitted by Philip himself, with further submissions reminding me of it recently. Of the map, Philip says: This is my interpretation of what Melbourne’s rail network could look like in the style of the 1972 Vignelli New York Subway map. I have depicted the current Melbourne metropolitan passenger rail network as it stands in 2020, plus one tram route. Given this is a map of Melbourne with the largest tram network in the world, […]

Historical Map: Boston and Maine Railroad and Connections, 1915

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Historical Maps

I’m loving this totally bonkers diagram of lines owned, leased or controlled by the Boston & Maine RR in 1915. An increasingly complex system of line colours combined with dashes, dots and zig-zags attempts to record all the various agreements in place for line leases and trackage rights. The B&M itself is the yellow lines to the right of the map – all the other coloured lines are lines that they have some level of […]

Unofficial Map: Future Sydney Rail Network by u/Toweringhorizons

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Future Maps, Unofficial Maps

I just stumbled across this unofficial vision of Sydney’s rail transit around the year 2030 or so (mainly because the discussion about it on Reddit was linking to old Sydney maps on my blog), and I have to say that I really quite like it. The 30/60 angles actually suit the network really well, and set up some nice axes and patterns throughout the diagram. I especially like the way the Cumberland Line heads straight […]

Historical Map: Lines of the Denver City Tramway Company, 1904

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Historical Maps

A great map of Denver from 1904, showing the extant lines of the Denver City Tramway Company (DCTC) in green, with planned lines in red – rapid expansion seemed to be the name of the game! The DCTC is unusual for a couple of reasons: it used the less common 3-foot-6-inch “colonial” narrow gauge for its lines instead of standard gauge, and referred to itself as a “tramway”, a term used almost nowhere else in […]

Submission – Unofficial Map: Nice Tramway by Robert Blinov, 2020

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Unofficial Maps

Submitted by Robert, who says: Nice, the fifth most populated city in France, recently expanded its tram network to all major districts. I designed a map to help people get around more easily. Transit Maps says: When I visited Nice back in 2003, it didn’t even have a tramway (which meant a lot of walking for me!), so to see an extensive system like this only 17 years later is quite amazing. The system has […]

Official Map: Transwa Transportation Network, Western Australia, 2020

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Official Maps

Submitted by Davey, who says: Not a heavy Metro-centric map like your usual fare, these are mostly country road coaches spanning the wide south-west of Western Australia (spanning about 1,300kms from Kalbarri to Esperance). I find it interesting to look at though, especially the reliance on different dot-dash combinations for each coach. Would be interesting to hear your thoughts. Transit Maps says: First things first – let’s get the pronunciation of this awkwardly styled name […]

Historical Map: Proposed Telephone Despatching System of the International Railway Co, Buffalo, 1903

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Historical Maps

This spectacular diagram from the February 28, 1903 edition of the Street Railway Journal looks for all the world like a modern schematic diagram of the International Railway Company’s lines, but there’s a bit of a twist in the tale. It’s actually a diagram of a telephonic dispatching system that the company was planning to install on its city and interurban lines, replacing a mixed telegraph/phone system. As telegraphs needed a skilled operator at every […]

Historical Map: Swiss Spiral Tunnels Cutaway, 1952

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Cutaway Maps, Historical Maps, Illustrations

A superb cutaway map of the spectacular spiral tunnels on the Albula Railway in Switzerland, drawn for The Eagle magazine in 1952 by prolific artist Leslie Ashwell Wood. Compare to similar spiral tunnels on the Gotthardbahn. Source: ausdew/Flickr