Submitted by Hayden, who says: My apologies for the glare in the photo [No problem! I also straightened the image for publication – Cam]. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this 1982 Montreal Metro map. I found it in a preserved MR-63 subway car at Exporail, a railway museum outside Montreal. The map shows the three Metro lines open at the time with white stations, as well as the under-construction Blue Line […]
Here’s a fantastic poster designed as the centre spread of an advertising supplement to various Bay Area newspapers to celebrate the first ten years of BART (1972–1982). The immediately recognisable system diagram is overlaid on top of some charming line illustrations of landmarks and attractions, with the routes of BART Express buses also indicated. It’s all very simple – the illustration looks like it’s been done with some coloured fine felt-tip pens – but it’s […]
Sent my way by Marcin Wichary on Twitter is this rather adorable little illustrated map. It’s from the front page of a leaflet issued to introduce new – and quite substantial – changes to routes in San Francisco, moving from a radial pattern that centred on downtown to more of a gridlike pattern covering the whole city. The changes also introduced the concept of timed transfers at some stations to eliminate long waits for transfers. The illustration […]
This newspaper ad from 1982 predates all those trendy “coffee shops/restaurants/bars/etc. nearest every subway/metro/train station in [insert city]” graphics that are pretty much everywhere these days by some 35 years. Riffing off the the Tyne & Wear Metro Map of the day, the map shows all the Newcastle Inns’ pubs near stations with their star logo, while also featuring some truly dreadful advertising copy puns. Source: SkyscraperCity forums
Submitted by sailsandrails, who says: I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while: what is your opinion of the original styling of Helsinki’s Metro map? (Photo taken from this site, unfortunately I couldn’t find a better one). After several revisions, the current version looks like this, which is more international in style. Personally, I think the original is surprisingly readable while being pleasantly unique in style, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. […]
Sent my way by Dennis, who says: Today’s offering is spurred by news of a new Muni map showing frequency of service. Here’s the one I created for personal amusement in 1982. As you can see, the technology was a bit more primitive: Rapidograph technical pens, a calligraphy pen, and crepe-paper tape on tracing paper. The rest of the page (of a visitors guide I made for friends) was typewritten. Transit Maps says: Nice and simple – […]
Here’s a great map that shows the rapid transit of Frankfurt am Main in Germany at an interesting point in its development. The Citytunnel that carried lines S1 through S6 under the central part of the city had opened just four years prior to this, and the bridge over the Main that carried the new S14 and S15 lines was constructed in 1980. The year after this map was produced, the Citytunnel was extended from […]
Submitted by “Some Assembly Required” who says: I’ve been enjoying your site for some time and recently remembered that I have an old MBTA system map in my basement. It came into my possession via a roommate over 20 years ago; I’m not sure how that person came to have it, but it probably wasn’t entirely legal. It’s a piece of metal (some sort of tin?) so I believe it was removed from a station. […]
Submitted by Kyril Negoda. Milan boasts an comprehensive transportation system, consisting of a Metro, trams and buses. This map shows the ATM system in 1982, when the Metro was only 18 years old and consisted of just two lines. Not shown are the suburban rail services, which are operated by a separate company, although stations with transfers to it and mainline trains are indicated. The first thing that really jumps out are the rings of […]
The Tyne and Wear Metro system map peeks out from between two carriages at the St. James station in this great old photo from 1982. Source: jp4712/Flickr (link no longer active)
