Transit Maps: 1959

All posts tagged: 1959

Fantasy Map: Capital Monorail, Washington DC (1960s) by Michael Tyznik

April 7, 2020

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Fantasy Maps

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1959, Capital Monorail, DC Transit, Michael Tyznik, monorail, O Roy Chalk, USA, Washington DC

I’m not quite sure how I missed this one when Michael posted it to Twitter back at the beginning of March, because it’s really quite wonderful. It seems to be based on a 1959 proposal by O. Roy Chalk – the then owner of D.C. Transit – for a monorail system. Chalk considered traditional rail as obsolete, while monorail represented the future: “beautiful, silent-operating… suspended on graceful pylons for the most part.” You can read […]

Submission – Fantasy Map: Proposed Winnipeg Subway, 1959 by Tyler Sterdan

December 4, 2017

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1959, Canada, colour-blindness, Manitoba, subway, Tyler Sterdan, Winnipeg

Submitted by Tyler, who says: I found out that back in 1959, there was a proposed Subway system for Winnipeg, but it got scrapped in favor of busses. Most maps that exist of the routes are low-res or not very detailed, so I made one (One such map here – Cameron). I used nonconventional colours, and utilized patterns to help people with colour vision deficiencies read it. Any feedback is welcome. Transit Maps says: Overall, […]

Project: American Class I Railroad Heralds, 1959

December 21, 2014

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1959, Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, graphic design, history, logo, Long Island Rail Road, poster, railroad, Union Pacific, USA, vintage

I found a 1959 map showing Class I railroads in the USA and Canada. The map was beautiful, but what really struck me was the border, which had the logos of the railroad companies featured on the map. It's not often that you get to see so many contemporaneous historical logos from the same industry, so I cleaned them up in Photoshop to make this poster that showcases them.

Historical Map: “Visitor’s London” Tourist Map and Guide, 1959

May 30, 2014

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Historical Maps

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1959, graphic design, H.C. Beck, illustration, London Transport, London Underground, Peter Roberson, tourist map

The inset central zone London Underground map is a black and white version of Beck’s diagram from the same year, but really, this is all about the fantastic illustrations (by Peter Roberson) and groovy mid-century graphic design. There’s only two colours used here – black and pink – but they’ve been used in a very striking and eye-catching way. I wonder what was on the reverse of this? Source: smallritual/Flickr

Historical Map: General Form of Rapid Transit System, Winnipeg, 1956

July 20, 2013

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1959, Canada, cartography, Manitoba, planning map, rapid transit, Winnipeg

Or to give it its full title: 1956 Populations and Estimated 1981 Populations of the Four Natural Sectors of Greater Winnipeg also General Form of Rapid Transit System Designed to Meet Basic Transit Needs of 1981 Notwithstanding Street Congestion. A lovely old planning map from the “Future Development of Public Transit in Greater Winnipeg” report by Norman D. Wilson. It shows the very general concept of a proposed rapid transit system along with the expected […]

Historical Map: Tokyo Railway Map (English), 1959

July 23, 2012

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1959, cartography, commuter rail, heavy rail, Japan, rail map, Tokyo, Yokohama

This is not a map of Tokyo’s subway system, but main line trains. The subway lines are the blue crossed lines contained mostly within the circle of routes at the center right of the map. Just 14 years after World War II’s conclusion, the sheer amount of tracks in just the Tokyo/Yokohama area is astounding. Not the greatest cartography ever, however: the map is a bit of a mess. Source: Rob Ketcherside/Flickr