Yes, that James Niehues.

As you’d expect from the acclaimed master of ski resort maps, the mountains in this map are gorgeously rendered, and Amtrak’s routes are drawn as straight red lines — almost as if they were ski lifts across the country. I particularly like it when a route line “disappears” behind a particularly tall mountain — it’s something that really sells the implied dimensionality of the map.

It is perhaps unfortunate that some routes have been omitted from the map — none of the Michigan Services make it, nor the City of New Orleans, which is almost unforgivable. Perhaps it’s better to treat this as a work of art than a practical map?

On a personal note, I’m just happy to say that I’ve now been published in the same magazine as James Niehues — my Amtrak as Subway Map was the very first in this series of alternate Amtrak maps appearing in The National, way back in December 2016/January 2017.

If, like me, you’re a fan of James Niehues’ work, you might want to check out this book about his career, The Man Behind the Maps (affiliate link).

Source: Amtrak’s The National