A lovely example of British Rail’s house style of the 1960s and 70s, now residing at the East Anglian Railway Museum. This map is from between 1965 (the introduction of the “double-arrow” British Rail identity), and 1978 (when the “Eastern” component of the logo changed from sitting in an outlined box to a solid box like the British Rail text). Can anyone date it more definitively? Source: Deptford Draylons/Flickr
Here’s a fantastic map out of England in the mid-60s, showing British Rail service in the Greater London area. It’s almost staggering to think that a map this well drawn was created without the use of computers. I definitely recommend clicking through to the large image on Flickr to savour all the beautiful, crisp linework: this map is technically excellent. Have we been there? Yes, and I’ve used many of the great London terminus stations, […]
Nicely done — even if some of the letters are a bit of a stretch — but Animals on the Underground is more fun. Source: Tim Fishlock
Some guy installed the London Underground in his bathroom. Badass. Source: amanda-lwin/Tumblr
This charming diagram produced by Transport for London is obviously targeted at tourists, but still manages to pack a lot of information in – bus routes, tourist attractions, connections to the Tube, Overground, DLR, National Rail and river ferries. That it still manages to look attractive and be easy to follow makes it all the better. Have we been there? Yes, and I even got off the Tube to catch a bus here and there. […]
One of my all-time favourite pieces of London Tube art. So cleverly done and executed perfectly. By David Booth (no relation!) of The Fine White Line Design, 1986.
Requested by: My dad (whose love of transit maps I have inherited) The London Tube Map is so synonymous with the name Harry Beck that I feel sure many people think he’s still holed up in a studio somewhere working on the maps even now (he died in 1974). In actuality, Beck’s last published Tube map was released in 1959: in 1960 it was replaced by this new version, ostensibly made by London Transport’s own […]
Almost everyone credits Harry Beck with “inventing” the diagrammatic transit map in 1933 with his iconic London Underground map. But the diagram form had already been in use for a number of years before that, as shown in this delightful 1929 diagram for LNER suburban services out of London’s Kings Cross station to points north. It was designed by George Dow, who created many such diagrams for the LNER. His son, Andrew Dow, wrote a […]
A few years old now – Sydney’s Chatswood to Epping rail line is missing – but a clever idea very well executed by Saatchi and Saatchi Australia. Station names are replaced by those of music artists. Source: AdGoodness – link no longer active
Older transit systems like the London Underground face huge problems with access for disabled users. Originally constructed at a time when such things were not thought about, retrofitting is expensive and difficult. Sometimes, even stations that rely on elevators for platform access – like Russell Square on the Piccadilly Line – are still not wheelchair-accessible, because there’s still a flight of stairs between the elevator and the platform. So what does the London Underground look […]
