All posts filed under: Historical Maps

Historical Map: Sydney Railway Map, 1939

May 8, 2012
comments 3
Filed Under:
Historical Maps, Prints Available
Tags:

Just how influential was the original Harry Beck London Underground diagram of 1933? Certainly enough for Sydney, Australia to issue this nearly identical vision of its own suburban rail system in 1939, right down to its own version of the London Underground roundel. I’ve never been able to find out whether this map was authorised or licensed from the London Underground, or whether Sydney just thought, “that looks like a good idea, let’s do that!” […]

Historical Map: Sydney CityRail Network Map, 1992

May 3, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Now this is the transit map of my youth. Sydney’s CityRail map went through a few different looks in the mid-80s and early-90s, but this is the one that sticks in my memory the most. This map shows both the first growth in the system for a number of years with the extension of the East Hills line to Glenfield, but also the last remnants of the old with the vestigial Pippita branch still in […]

Historical Maps: Berlin S- and U-Bahn Maps, 1910-1936

April 25, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Wow. Just wow. These amazing transit maps of early 20th Century Berlin are just a few samples of the maps that can be found at the BerlinerVerkehr website – an absolute treasure trove that transit geeks like me can easily lose hours to. Five stars for this collection, obviously! All of these maps are of interest, but there’s a few things that really stand out: The “Hoch-und Untergrundbahn” logo used on the 1914 and 1918 […]

Historical Map: Trolley Map of Portland, Oregon, 1943

April 11, 2012
comments 2
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

It’s been a while since Transit Maps featured an historical map, so here’s one from my city of Portland, Oregon. This charming map was produced by the Portland Traction Company in 1943: check out their nifty monogram in the photo set. While it’s labelled as a “trolley map” of Portland, it actually marks a point in time where streetcars and trolley buses were being replaced with cheaper to operate buses, and transit as a whole […]

Unofficial Historical Map: An Animated History of the MBTA

April 5, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps, Visualizations
Tags:

This is something you just have to look at: an amazing animated timeline of the Boston MBTA Subway over at Andrew Lynch’s Vanshnookenraggen blog (check out his future MBTA maps while you’re there). To my mind, this work is far superior to the animated history of the New York Subway map that was floating around the interwebs a little while back: it’s clearly dated on the map, it’s fully annotated, and even has a slide […]

Historical Maps: West and East Berlin, 1984

March 10, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Further to my previous posts, here’s a couple more maps from East and West Berlin, this time from 1984. Both are much better-designed than the examples shown earlier, and West Berlin has taken on the “U-number” line names that we know so well today. No further comments as the basic principles still hold true for each map – presented for comparison and completeness only.

Historical Map: East Berlin U-Bahn and S-Bahn, c. 1989

March 9, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

As a direct contrast to my previous post, here’s the East Berlin perspective of transit in that divided city. Notice anything? West Berlin has almost been entirely excised from the map: a small, empty, featureless area totally encircled by extensive East German rail lines as well as the Berlin Wall: here referred to as the “state border”. A powerful statement of East German superiority if there ever was one. Have we been there? Yes. What […]

Historical Map: West Berlin U-Bahn Map, 1977

March 8, 2012
comment 1
Filed Under:
Historical Maps
Tags:

Berlin’s troubled post-World War II history led to a fascinating dual history for transit in that city, divided into East and West sectors. This West Berlin U-Bahn map from 1977 – at the height of the Cold War – shows that division in a stark, but also curiously understated fashion. The infamous Berlin Wall that completely divided the city is prosaically referred to as a Sektorengrenze, or “sector boundary”. All U-Bahn lines are still shown, […]

Photo: Early MARTA Rail Map, c. 1974-1979

February 24, 2012
Leave a comment
Filed Under:
Historical Maps, Photography
Tags:

A photo from our good friend, Matt’ Johnson, showing a very early system map (circa 1974 to 1979) for the MARTA commuter rail system in Atlanta. Compare to the current map here. Click on the source link at the bottom of the post to read Matt’s comprehensive notes over on Flickr. I’ll just note that I really like the clean, uncluttered design; especially the subtle grey background with the underlying and unlabelled road network reversed […]