All posts filed under: Historical Maps

Historical Map: Los Angeles Pacific Electric Relief Map, 1920

October 31, 2011
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A fascinating snapshot in time of the full extent of the great Pacific Electric Railway Company’s operations in Los Angeles and southern California. The famous “Red Cars”, a combination of streetcars and interurban light rail spanned vast distances at a time before the car had truly entered the American way of life. Within 30 years, most of this system – the “largest electric railway system in the world” – had been replaced by motorcoach services […]

Historical Map: Stuttgart VVS Map, circa 2000

October 29, 2011
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Without a doubt, this has to be one of my favourite transit maps ever. As far as I know, this isometric approach is unique and it is staggeringly effective. Everything is beautifully labelled, and lovely icons highlight important sites like the zoo, museums and sports stadiums. Unfortunately, this stunning map has since been replaced by a far more conventional diagram – a great loss in my opinion. Have we been there? I’ve changed trains at […]

Historical Map: San Francisco Market Street Railway Company Routes, 1931

October 24, 2011
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An absolutely stunning overhead perspective drawing of San Francisco in this old cable car company map of services. The Golden Gate bridge does not exist yet, and fares to any part of the city (including transfers) are just five cents. Have we been there? Yes, but the remaining cable cars are now just a sad, touristy reminder of what there once was. What we like: Just about everything. The draftsmanship, and detailing is extraordinary – […]

Project: Historical Passenger Rail of Portland, Oregon

August 29, 2011
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Somewhat related to my previous post, here’s a new transit map of Portland for your perusal. This piece was born out of two things – a friendly after-work chat with the immensely talented Ryan Sullivan of Paste In Place, where we discussed a concept similar to this; and a chance discovery of a high-resolution scan of a 1943 streetcar/trolley map on the amazing Vintage Oregon site. Based on that map, and information gleaned from too […]