Lovely little simplified network map that shows the SEPTA network in the mid-1970s, when commuter rail service was provided by the Reading Company and Penn Central… hence the two separate Chestnut Hill stations in the network (now denoted as East and West). Although the two systems are noted separately in the legend, there’s very little – if any – difference in the way they’re depicted on the map, although each line is labelled with its owner’s name in any case. Only interchange and terminus stations are labelled, but the map is only meant to give an overview of the network (the “big picture” if you will), so I don’t mind that so much.
Here’s an interesting rail planning map from 1969, presumably produced in association with the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan. It outlines all the improvements planned for Melbourne’s metropolitan rail system, including a whole bunch of new branches as shown in blue. According to the map, the works depicted were to be completed by 1985.
Fast forward to 2015 – some 30 years past that deadline – and only the City Loop (opened between 1981 and 1985) and the extension to Westona (1985, now part of a loop on the Werribee Line) have been built. The rest remain unrealised, with the Doncaster Line being a fine example of a project stuck forever in “planning hell”.
When you have a project that’s going to shut down the central section of one of your busiest commuter rail lines completely for four weeks of summer over the next four years, you’d better make sure that you communicate effectively with your stakeholders. The RATP seems to be doing just that with the massive RER A rail renewal project: this diagram is just one of six different project maps available on their website.
For me, this diagram is a very effective way of quickly showing how the different stations along the line will be affected over the six-year span of the project. A diagram of the route with station names is shown at the top, while a year-by-year display of closed stations sits beneath. An “X” means the corresponding station is closed, while yellow station dots indicate the temporary terminus stations of the routes on either side of the break in service. Obviously, it’s just an overview, and more detailed information about the project can be found elsewhere on the website.
A curvaceous, minimalist diagram. Notably mainly for the strangely muted colour scheme (yellow, brown and purple?) and the interesting interchange station symbols, which make things very clear by showing two arrows pointing in opposite directions. Visually, I like the way that the diagram makes use of overprinting where the route lines overlap.
Update: I’ve since found out that this map is a small inset on a much larger geographical map of bus services in Leningrad, which explains its simplicity somewhat.
Our rating: Simple but effective! There’s a pleasing organic feel to the route lines that I can’t help but like. Three stars.
Ah, yes, the old manual indicator boards that used to be at pretty much every Sydney train station. I actually walked past these very boards for much of my high school, college and early working career, as Eastwood was my local station.
Of course, these venerable boards have now finally been replaced with newer electronic signs that update automatically without the need for the stationmaster to come and flick over all the station names manually, first holding down the little foot pedal to unlock the rotating signs. (Those are actually recent additions: the stationmaster used to have to bend down and press a button on the underside of the board.)
For smaller stations which only had an up/down service pattern, these boards were pretty much ideal for quickly determining which platform the next train was leaving from and where it would stop. The trick at Eastwood was always working out whether it was worth waiting a few minutes for the express train rather than the all stations one.
Obviously, the bigger the station, the less effective these simple boards became. Strathfield’s eight platforms were pretty unwieldy, and Central’s myriad platforms and services became almost impossible to decipher for all but the most seasoned train commuters.
The photo above does have one oddity: the board on the far left shows a city-bound train leaving from Platform 3, which is normally a Hornsby-bound platform.
Here’s some nice illustrative map work, originally sent my way by Jeffrey Bridgeman, that showcases the routes of the Jefferson Lines bus company through the state of Minnesota. I’ve featured the main map that shows all of their services, and one of the six individual route maps – the evocatively named “Paul Bunyan” route.
For the record, I think these are great: fun, welcoming, informational and nice to look at. Anything that makes long-haul bus travel seem more appealing is a good thing in my book. Four stars!
Source: Jefferson Lines website – link to maps no longer active.
A fun little GIF from Appealing Industries that shows the construction of the modern New York Subway in sequence. I’d really like it to be just a little slower, and have a year clock somewhere. Bonus points would have been awarded for showing the construction and eventual demolition of the elevated lines as well. Still nicely done, and almost mesmeric after a while.
Thanks to Robert McConnell, who let me know that the map I featured in my last post is actually a modern digital map made by none other than Maxwell Roberts. Roberts states that he based his version of the map off one that Beck produced, unsolicited, in 1938 and that a copy of this version is in Ken Garland’s excellent book, “Mr. Beck’s Underground Map”. I own a copy of this book, so was a little stunned that I couldn’t remember ever having seen it before. It turns out that it’s on the page opposite to the quite astounding map of the Paris Metro that Beck produced in 1946, so I guess that got most of my attention!
So, from that book, here’s a scan of Beck’s original London rail transport map: reproduced from a photocopy, unfortunately, as the whereabouts of the original drawing is unknown. Being from 1938, it uses Beck’s iconography of that time: diamonds for interchanges instead of circles. Roberts updates these to circles with white centres for his version of the map, and also thickens up the main line routes to place them on a more even visual footing with the Underground Lines, along with a host of factual, technical and aesthetic changes.
Source: Scan from my personal copy of “Mr. Beck’s Underground Map” by Ken Garland.
Here’s something via Chris Applegate on Flickr, where Chris says:
Finally put up and framed the gorgeous vintage Tube map I won in a competition yonks ago.
It is gorgeous, but it’s not just a Tube map, nor is it anything I’ve ever actually seen before.
It appears to be a Greater London Tube Map/main line railway diagram produced in a Beck-like style – a precursor to this 1988 “London Connections” map (May 2013, 3 stars) if you will – although I have no way of knowing whether or not is was actually produced by Beck’s hand. I’ve certainly never heard mention of him producing such a map in addition to his tireless and all-consuming work on the Tube Map itself.
Interestingly, the map shows a number of stations and lines that were never actually built, mostly on the Northern Line – the branch out to Alexandra Palace and the “Mill Hill” line being obvious examples. These lines were shown as planned future extensions on Tube Maps in the mid-1940s, so perhaps this map is of a proposed “future” system map from around then? The style of the map certainly fits that time period, as does the fact that it shows a single green “District and Metropolitan Line” – the Metropolitan Line wouldn’t be split off from the District Line and shown in its own distinctive magenta until 1949.
Also interesting: Addison Road station is still connected to the District and Metropolitan Line at Latimer Road, but doesn’t go through to Earls Court to the south, as it actually did in the mid-1940s. These days, the station is better known as Kensington (Olympia) and only connects to Earls Court as an infrequent District Line service.
Design-wise, I love the little swoop beneath the District & Metropolitan Line that the Bakerloo Line makes just east of Paddington, almost certainly introduced to account for the extra complexity of the interchange once the mainline station was added to the mix.
In all, it’s a lovely, fascinating piece, but I’d love to know more. Does anyone know its provenance, or have a link to the full map? Let me know!
