Here’s a beautiful old strip map of the Paris Métro’s Ligne 12, which runs from Mairie d’Issy to Porte de la Chapelle. This map is located in one of the few remaining old Sprague-Thomson cars, once the workhorse of the Métro. The fact that Rennes station is crossed out dates the map from between World War II, when it was closed, and September 1968, when it was (finally) reopened. Judging by the general aesthetics and […]
Well, I guess this is one solution to the problem of having to look awkwardly over the shoulder of people sitting in front of the map on the train… Source: varlamov/Flickr
Here’s another unusual transit map — this one for the narrow-gauge, rack-assisted Zentralbahn railway in central Switzerland, serving the cities of Lucerne, Interlaken, Engelberg and points inbetween. Before a tunnel was built in 2010, the grade between Grafenort and Engelberg reached a staggering 25 percent – hard work even for a rack-assisted engine! Totally appropriately for a system that serves an alpine area, the map looks as if it would be completely at home in […]
Here’s another transit map made as a prop for a film, but with considerably more style and skill that the weird alternate universe DC Subway map for “Leverage” featured a while ago. At first glance, this prop – made for the 2008 film, “The Escapist” – looks like an exact replica of Harry Beck’s unusual and short-lived 1941 London Underground diagram, which uses 30- and 60-degree angles and “Olympic Ring” style station interchanges. Everything is […]
Note the fantastic station identification here – the roundels containing the station name are perfectly positioned to be visible to riders as the train pulls into the station. Lots of other transit systems could learn from this, not mentioning any names (*cough* BART *cough*)! And the Central Line map on the wall looks big enough to be read from the moon. Source: josericardodavid_o/Flickr
Submitted by ma77design, who says: I think it’s one of the most unattractive and horribly designed transit maps out there. It hasn’t been redesigned or reworked for a large number of years. Its choice in colours is uninspiring and doesn’t really offer much to people using it. Transit Maps says: While certainly not the worst transit map out there by any stretch of the imagination, this map is so bland and generic that it looks […]
Do want. Source: Vladimir Tomilov’s Behance Portfolio via @Piktograf
Looks quite lovely in location… although perhaps a little small to be seen from far away. Source: varlamov/Flickr
This has the subway mural in Brooklyn beat, I feel. This awesome tiled map of the 13th arrondisement covers the whole wall of this building (which I’m guessing is located where the red lines on the map intersect), complete with street names, parks, and Metro stations. It looks like the route lines are neon lighting, just for that extra cool factor. The whole thing has a great 8-bit art feeling to it which I love. […]
From the now sadly defunct “Stickers on the Central Line” Tumblr, are these hilarious and superbly executed “prank” stickers found on the London Underground. Matching the original strip map almost exactly, they instead insert something unexpected, pointed, or just plain funny. My favourite? Change at Tottenham Court Road for a submarine to Somalia, complete with a very plausible London Underground submarine icon. More here in this imgur album. Hat tip to Twitter user Ben Darfler.
