transitmaps: Historical Map: Chicago Plan Commission - Rapid Transit Facilities, 1945 Here’s a gorgeous pre-CTA planning map from Chicago in 1945, outlining all sorts of grandiose ideas for expansion of the subway system, almost none of which have actually come to pass. There appears to be a proposed second Loop, which would have run more east-west than the existing one. There’s also a planned subway line heading out to the northwest, but this doesn’t follow the same alignment as the Blue Line, and a subway line running along Belmont Avenue. Have we been there? Yes. What we like: Awesome old-school cartography at its finest. The shading to show the city limits is quite beautiful. The map looks gorgeous at larger sizes (click through to take a look!) What we don’t like: Limited use of colour (almost certainly due to wartime austerity measures) does make some detail hard to make out. The blobs on the “L” lines don’t represent stations; it’s just the type of linework used to differentiate it from other lines, such as roads. Our rating: A glimpse at what might have been, but never was. Fantastic! Four-and-a-half-stars. (Source: Eric Fischer/Flickr) FILM: The Last Pullman Car
Pop-upView Separately

transitmaps:

Historical Map: Chicago Plan Commission - Rapid Transit Facilities, 1945

Here’s a gorgeous pre-CTA planning map from Chicago in 1945, outlining all sorts of grandiose ideas for expansion of the subway system, almost none of which have actually come to pass. There appears to be a proposed second Loop, which would have run more east-west than the existing one. There’s also a planned subway line heading out to the northwest, but this doesn’t follow the same alignment as the Blue Line, and a subway line running along Belmont Avenue.

Have we been there? Yes.

What we like: Awesome old-school cartography at its finest. The shading to show the city limits is quite beautiful. The map looks gorgeous at larger sizes (click through to take a look!)

What we don’t like: Limited use of colour (almost certainly due to wartime austerity measures) does make some detail hard to make out. The blobs on the “L” lines don’t represent stations; it’s just the type of linework used to differentiate it from other lines, such as roads.

Our rating: A glimpse at what might have been, but never was. Fantastic! Four-and-a-half-stars.

4.5 Stars!

(Source: Eric Fischer/Flickr)

FILM: The Last Pullman Car

(via wnyc)

Source: Flickr / walkingsf

94 Notes/ Hide

  1. benpassikoff reblogged this from transitmaps
  2. jmchau reblogged this from fuckyeahcartography
  3. scoticus reblogged this from transitmaps
  4. saila reblogged this from sinker
  5. ginamak reblogged this from sinker
  6. sinker reblogged this from transitmaps
  7. shostapovich reblogged this from fuckyeahcartography
  8. gothistory reblogged this from fuckyeahcartography
  9. onlytheparanoidsurvive reblogged this from fuckyeahcartography and added:
    *drools*
  10. thenextstation reblogged this from fuckyeahcartography and added:
    Always reblog the Chicago L.
  11. dignified-and-old reblogged this from fuckyeahcartography
  12. fuckyeahcartography reblogged this from transitmaps
  13. petchmo reblogged this from transitmaps and added:
    A great map of what the city could have become.
  14. lukerson reblogged this from transitmaps
  15. jdunlevy reblogged this from gapers
  16. bisouadieu reblogged this from gapers
  17. snack-tray reblogged this from gapers
  18. gapers reblogged this from samarov and added:
    Very cool.
  19. thenumbereleven11 reblogged this from kartemquin
  20. mcbudd reblogged this from wnyc
  21. webeginattheend reblogged this from transitmaps
  22. trotskitty reblogged this from earthfix
  23. earthfix reblogged this from wnyc and added:
    Interesting Chicago Transit Authority planning map showing how they had intended to expand the subway system.
  24. atomicovermind reblogged this from transitmaps and added:
    Of interest to kennethhite…

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus