Hi, everyone – it’s been a while! Quite a few people have written in lately wondering why I haven’t updated the blog in a while, so I thought I should address that. Firstly, for those that were concerned something was wrong, I’d like to reassure you that I’m a-okay and everything is fine. I’ve just been engrossed in a new project, and as a result, the blog has gone into a bit of a hiatus […]
Here’s a map from a rarely-seen era of Portland, Oregon’s transit history – the period of time between the end of the streetcar era and the emergence of the current transit operator, TriMet in 1969. The Rose City Transit Company (with their lovely casual script logo and friendly “Rosy” nickname) operated bus service within the Portland city limits from 1956 until TriMet was formed. Under RTC’s watch, the last of Portland’s trolleybuses were phased out […]
Here’s a map that’s been a long time coming, and one that I think has been worth the wait. I’ve wanted to make a transit map of historical streetcar routes in my adopted home town of Portland, Oregon for at least five years now, but it’s always seemed like a very daunting task. The success of my historical Spokane streetcar map from earlier this year finally gave me the tools I needed to get this […]
I’m loving this totally bonkers diagram of lines owned, leased or controlled by the Boston & Maine RR in 1915. An increasingly complex system of line colours combined with dashes, dots and zig-zags attempts to record all the various agreements in place for line leases and trackage rights. The B&M itself is the yellow lines to the right of the map – all the other coloured lines are lines that they have some level of […]
Here’s a delightful hand drawn and lettered map showing the burgeoning network of motor coach routes in Washington state in 1923. It would seem to have been produced as an accompaniment to an application for an additional route crossing the Cascades – shown as a yellow dashed line on the map – joining two previously unconnected segments of service. Of note is the extensive service into the Olympic Peninsula by means of a joint thru-service […]
I missed this when it was released yesterday, but those TriMet designers (who really do seem to have too much time on their hands!) have released another mash-up map, this time riffing off the (in)famous 1970s New York Subway diagram by Massimo Vignelli. It’s probably the best one so far, mimicking the style almost perfectly. If you’re going to do a homage, you may as well go all in, and that’s exactly what’s been done […]
Those TriMet designers are at it again! Just a week or so after their superb TriMet/WMATA mash-up comes this new map that reimagines Portland’s MAX light rail as the Bay Area’s BART. On first glance, it’s another near-perfect rendition of the source map and there’s a lot of neat touches. The reworking of TriMet’s logo to match BART’s famous lower-case “ba” logo is wonderful, and the accurate depiction of the Red Line’s corkscrew to get […]
Here’s a handsome map from a prospectus produced in the early 20th century to promote the exclusive new Laurelhurst addition in Portland, Oregon. Prominently shown in yellow “gold” ink are the three streetcar lines that provided service to the neighbourhood — the Rose City Park line, the Montavilla line, and the Sunnyside line. Streetcar lines to other parts of the city are also clearly shown, just not given the exclusive treatment of the other three. […]
OMG. I’m in hysterics over here. TriMet just posted a new system map — that they themselves made — that’s a note-perfect homage to the Washington, DC Metro system map. Just look at this work of art! It’s got thick route lines, tightly-set Helvetica, lush green parks, freeways and rivers. About the only thing missing are icons for the big tourist spots, like Powells Books or the Japanese Garden or Big Pink. Of course, TriMet […]
Here’s a handsome map of electric rail transportation in and around Portland, Oregon that – somewhat curiously – I hadn’t come across before. For the most part, it correlates with my own research into the network in the 1920s, though there are two little stub lines shown that I haven’t previously seen on any other map. The first of these is a branch on the Oregon City interurban from the Gladstone stop eastwards a short […]
