All posts tagged: cartography

Historical Fantasy Map: The Gospel Temperance Railroad Map, 1908

September 20, 2013
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Starting from the city of “Decisionville” in the “State of Accountability”, our commuter must make up his mind (Decisionville, get it?) as to which line to take: the “Great Celestial Route” to salvation, the “Way That Seemeth Right” that totally isn’t, or the ominous “Great Destruction Route” leading – predictably – to “The City of Destruction”. Scenic detours can be had through charmingly named towns like Grumblemore, Lewd Castle, Crap Hollow and Treasondale. Perhaps a […]

Historical Map: Liverpool Overhead Railway, c. 1935

September 19, 2013
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The Liverpool Overhead Railway operated from 1893 to 1956, and was a unique example of an American-style elevated railway in the United Kingdom. It was the world’s first electric elevated railway and the first to use automatic signalling and electric signal lights. Serving Liverpool’s then thriving docks, it quickly earned the affectionate nickname, “The Dockers’ Umbrella”, as the elevated structure sheltered dock workers from the rain as they moved from dock to dock. This attractive […]

Future Map: Greater Sydney Intercity Trains Network

September 19, 2013
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With the removal of intercity train routes from the new Sydney Trains map, the question is – where did they go? The answer: onto a new map of their very own! Aesthetically, it’s very similar to the Sydney map, part of what I understand is a major effort to unify all transit services that Transport for NSW provides. The layout of the lines is very clear and easy to understand, and having separate maps makes […]

Submission – Official Map: Szeged, Hungary, 2013

September 15, 2013
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Submitted by fuckyeahgmetro, who says: Hi, this is the official map of SzKT, the company running trams and trolley buses in the Hungarian city Szeged. I think it is in a very good place to run for the worst transit map “designed” ever! Transit Maps says: I’ll certainly agree that this map is really quite atrocious. But it’s not even really close to the very worst transit maps out there. It’s certainly a lazy, slipshod effort […]

Historical Map: Société des Transports en Commun de la Région Parisienne – Réseau Tramways Banlieue, 1921

September 13, 2013
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Transport in Paris these days is so inextricably linked to the image of the ubiquitous Metro, that it’s very easy to forget that it once had an extensive network of trams spreading far out into the suburbs. Fancy catching a tram from the Louvre to all the way to Versailles along the banks of the Seine? You could back in 1921, when this gorgeous map was produced. At this time, all the many competing tram and […]

“Stitched Subways – London” by Susan Stockwell, 2007

September 5, 2013
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One of the loveliest reinventions of the London Tube Map I’ve seen so far – simply red thread stitched onto rice paper. It’s bigger than it looks: 100cm wide by 30cm deep, so it would certainly look impressive on a wall! Source: Susan’s website

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

July 20, 2013
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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: New York Metropolitan Transit Authority 1968 Plan for Rail Improvement and Transit Expansion

July 15, 2013
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Courtesy of the new and already indispensable hyperrealcartography Tumblr, here’s a simply stunning set of New York transit planning maps from the late 60s. In this modern age of computer-aided map design, a lot of time can be spent trying to digitally replicate this watercolour look, but it’s hard to beat the real thing (although Stamen’s lovely map tiles do a pretty good job!). The north pointer – successfully and cleverly integrating the then-brand-new MTA […]

Historical Map: New York City Transit System Morning Peak Flow, 1954

July 11, 2013
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A beautiful old map showing scheduled morning peak service (both actual service and absolute maximum capacity) into Manhattan below 60th Street. The thicker the lines, the greater the service – much like modern service frequency maps! Being 1954, the subway is still divided into its three separately run divisions: BMT (Yellow), IRT (Blue) and IND (Red). Source: Ward Maps’ Facebook Page

Submission – Historical Map: Amsterdam GVB Map by Hans van der Kooi, 1980s

June 27, 2013
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Submitted by Alain Lemaire, who says: this map might interest you – in response to your blog post of Joan Zalacain’s Amsterdam tram map. It seems the 30/60 degree paradigm is indeed well suited to Amsterdam’s topological layout. Too bad this once official map is no longer in use today. Transit Maps says: Thanks to Alain for sending this beauty in! Simply put, this is lovely work. What I really like about this map is […]