All posts tagged: trolley

Project: Electric Streetcars and Interurbans of Yakima, Washington, 1920

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Historical Maps, My Transit Maps, Prints Available

The third in my series of maps depicting electric streetcar networks of the Pacific Northwest, one that both builds on my previous maps of Spokane and Portland and adds something new to the mix: geography. The full project description follows, but you can view the map below or click here to view it in a full-screen window. At first sight, the Yakima streetcar and interurban network may not look quite as impressive as the other […]

Official Proposed Map: “SEPTA Metro” Map and Wayfinding, 2021

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Official Maps

After teasing this for a while now, SEPTA has finally dropped their recommendations for a completely revamped (and long overdue!) rapid rail network map and wayfinding system. And I have to say, I’m cautiously optimistic about things so far. Note: The image above is a screenshot of an online interactive map that omits the map’s title and legend. The printed map has this information included. The first and most obvious difference when compared to previous […]

Historical Map: Tourist’s Trolley Map of St. Louis and Environs, 1915

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Historical Maps

A fairly crudely-drawn map of St. Louis’ extensive streetcar network, reaching far past the city limits to the cities of Florissant and St. Charles, as well as to the pleasures of the Meramec Highlands and Lake Park. Like many maps of St. Louis from this period, the map is oriented with north to the right so that “downtown” is literally at the bottom of the map. Of particular note is the message at the bottom […]

Historical Map: Map of the Laurelhurst Addition and Streetcar Lines, Portland, Oregon, c.1912

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Historical Maps

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. […]

Historical Map: Subway-Surface Lines, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1978

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Historical Maps

Here’s a great late-1970s diagram that I haven’t seen before of Philadelphia’s subway-surface trolley lines. From the looks of things, this might well have been a strip map within the trolley cars themselves. The subway-surface lines are given full prominence here, with the rest of Philly’s rapid transit rail system represented by very thin route lines mainly confined to the right third of the map. The five trolley routes are treated very diagrammatically, each following […]

Historical Map: Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co. Trackage Map, 1910

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Historical Maps

What appears at first glance to be a street map of Philadelphia in the early 20th century is actually not what it seems. All this map depicts is streetcar track and mainline railroads (in traditional ticked lines), showing how incredibly dense the streetcar network was at the time, especially downtown. Interestingly, a lot of the system appears to be single-track only. Nowadays, only a few vestigial trolley lines recall the days when streetcars reigned supreme […]

Submission – Unofficial Map: SEPTA Regional Rail and Rapid Transit by Sam Winfield

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Unofficial Maps

Submitted by Sam, who says: Hey! For my Graphic Design Thesis, I created a Graphics Standard Update proposal for SEPTA. This includes a System Map (attached), a line map, and various other identity pieces. The most challenging part of the project was creating a Transit map that organized the current information in a way that felt unique to Philadelphia, and increased readability. Transit Maps says: A bold and radical departure from the status quo from […]

Submission – River Rail Streetcar, Little Rock, Arkansas by Peter Dovak

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Unofficial Maps

Submitted by Peter, who says: Ages ago, after you posted a tutorial on highway interchanges on your McKinney Ave streetcar map, I was inspired to try and practice the technique on what ended up being a very very similar project–definitely too similar to take any credit for. I left it incomplete for so long because it was just uncomfortably reminiscent of your map to finish, but for the sake of completion and appreciation for the […]

McKinney Avenue Trolley Loop Opens – My Map Updated!

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My Transit Maps, Official Maps

The McKinney Avenue Trolley in Dallas, Texas is opening its loop extension tomorrow, June 6th. Working with MATA (the non-profit operator of the trolley line), I updated the map that I donated to them to reflect this new service (see the final map here).  And – with my permission – DART is also using the artwork on pole signs along the route (shown above), presumably at the locations where where DART and the trolley interchange. […]

Submission – Historical Map: SEPTA High Speed and Commuter Rail System, 1976

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Historical Maps

Lovely little simplified network map that shows the SEPTA network in the mid-1970s, when commuter rail service was provided by the Reading Company and Penn Central… hence the two separate Chestnut Hill stations in the network (now denoted as East and West). Although the two systems are noted separately in the legend, there’s very little – if any – difference in the way they’re depicted on the map, although each line is labelled with its […]