As I mentioned last week, I recently inherited a number of old maps from a variety of places around the world and they are now a part of my collection of maps and other transit memorabilia. I plan to share some of the more interesting additions from this inheritance here on The Travelogue in the coming weeks.
This is a 1973 London Underground Map. While the London Underground map design has remained fairly constant since Harry Beck’s initial diagram in 1931, there are some notable things on this map that are not the case today. These include:
- The Piccadilly Line to Heathrow Airport is under construction
- The Jubilee Line is not yet open and Bakerloo Line trains operate the branch to Stanmore
- The Hammersmith & City Line is still depicted as part of the Metropolitan Line
- The East London Line has a partial identity of its own, but it is depicted in Metropolitan Line purple as opposed to the orange color it would have later on
- The Docklands Light Railway is not on the map and will not exist for another 14 years
What other differences do you see? You can click on the images to make them larger. I apologize for any issues with the quality as the maps were scanned, converted to JPEG, and then compressed to a size manageable for sharing here on Oren’s Transit Page.
Epping to Ongar is still open! A lot of the other changes have been the result of jurisdiction: the creation of the Overground for the local London railways (which then allowed the East London line to flourish) At the time of the map, the East London line was supplied with rolling stock from the Metropolitan line via St Mary’s curve.