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[densha-fan]

The map also deliberately omits showing the railway line from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin (the "Island Line" operated by South West Trains):

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/uploads/swtiowmap2detail.jpg

The stylized station signs on this map replicate the British Railways signs of the 50s and 60s, before the re-styling bigbang with the double arrow.

Half hourly service, sample train: http://goo.gl/UYxR1K

Official Map: Southern Vectis Bus Map, Isle of Wight, England

An attractively drawn map that bridges the gap between geographical representation and a diagram rather nicely. While the shape of the island is quite accurate (if simplified slightly), all the roads have been straightened out to remove unnecessary kinks and twists. The routes are clearly marked and major stops are shown efficiently. The map is also supported on-line by town maps for the destinations shown in larger type, so there’s more detail where it’s needed. There’s even some lovely icons for points of interest, such as Carisbrooke Castle, Osborne House and the famous steam railway.

No, the map doesn’t show every bus stop: but I’ve never really had a problem with that for bus route maps where it can generally be assumed that stops are fairly evenly spaced — although closer together in more urban areas, and farther apart in rural/outlying areas. The map gives a good idea about destinations that can be reached along each route: a timetable would then handle the fine detail.

About the only real problem I have with this map is its delivery method. While the map can be downloaded as a PDF from Southern Vectis’ website, this is actually a low-resolution JPG (complete with ugly compression artifacts) that has been resaved in PDF format from Photoshop. The map is really quite lovely, so it’s very disappointing to see that good work being shared in this manner. It degrades the crisp, clean look of the map and means that it is not able to be enlarged to any great degree without being pixelated. Nor is the text on the map searchable in any way, or accessible to vision-impaired users — being simply an image.

Sidenote: Interestingly, while “Vectis” has the ring of one of those fancy newfangled transit company names (much like “Arriva”), its use as the name for this bus company dates back to 1927. The name “Vectis” itself is much older, being the name that the ancient Romans gave to the island when they invaded around 43AD.

Our rating: Great map, poor delivery. Three stars.

(Source: Official Southern Vectis website)

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The Russian web is a mine of railway goodies, let's dig it !

Beautifully evocative picture of electric double-unit VL10-519, a former main line DC locomotive built 1969, ending its carrer for OAO Apatit, an iron ore mining company. Seen exiting tunnel with a train of loaded dump cars from the Kirovsky mine towards Yuksporiok [Юкспориок] station.

[Approximate] location of picture : http://goo.gl/maps/SVOnY

Another view of same engine and sister VL10-311

Photo Kirsidor, 2007

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This is Eurostar, not a Thalys ! You can see the fences, which segregate the Eurostar platforms from the rest of Gare du Nord, including the (quasi-)dedicated Thalys platforms (which are entirely open). The fencing is a consequence of the special status of the Channel Tunnel and the fact that the UK is not part of the Schengen Agreement, thereby imposing full airport-style immigration check before boarding Eurostar.

(The Eurostar in the background is one of the original Eurostar train sets demoted to domestic services, usually on Paris to Lille TGV runs. They carry SNCF TGV logos)

TGV Thalys, Gare du Nord, Paris.

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Maschen Rbf

This is the Maschen marshalling yard, South of Hamburg, Germany; the largest yard in Europe and second largest in the world.

On GoogleMaps

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RZD (Russian Railways)  AC EMU ЭР9ПК-93, inside the Krasnoyarsk servicing shed in Siberia. This very old unit, built in 1965, has received a fresh coat of paint in the new RZD livery : red and two tones of grey, as well as the current logo.

Previous look of same unit.

Photo : Anton Pocheptsov

Source 

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Sapporo - location on GoogleMaps

Sapporo Municipal Streetcar

Winter Wonderland Hokkaido Style

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Outside this new sign greets visitors along with a PCC car from the Streetcar era (via RailPictures.Net Photo: Kansas City Terminal NA at Kansas City, Missouri by Dan Mackey)

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Paris metro - RATP - line 12 @ Saint-Lazare. Gif made with Fixie for Android. MF67 train.

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Chicago Union Station, 1963

http://chicagopast.com/page/24

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Stadler Flirt trainset leaving the Stadler plan in Bussnang, Switzerland. This is part of an order for Junakalusto Oy in Finland for suburban services in the Greater Helsinki region. The trainsets are factory-made at Finnish (Russian) gauge (1524 mm), wider than the continental gauge (1435 mm). For this reason, they are loaded on 1435 mm trucks (the blue elements between wheels and rail) for leaving the factory, eventually they were ferried to Finland by lorry and ferry because of the gauge difference. (no idea what was the actual route between Switzerland and Finland, any info on this is welcome)

Class designation in Finland : Sm5

Winter can be very harsh in Finland, see this Sm5 in action in deep snow.

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Tram (trolley) in Zlatoust, Russia, 1400 km E of Moscow, one of the semi-rural tram networks which survive in Russia, but threatened by lack of funds for investment and maintenance.

Fare is 13 rubles (40 US cents, 30 Euro cents)

source

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Pennsylvania Railroad 1945 ad in LIFE magazine: "Something new on the table!"

LIFE magazine, 3 December 1945

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TGV, gare de Narbonne, France.

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JR East Japan class 485 EMU at Fukushima. 

待ち侘びる お帰りと言える日を

[densha-fan]

Excellent look & feel of LUL surface line, love it; 

(just pointing out that your tags should be written in the tag box, not in the text box. If in the text box, they are plain text and are not recognized as tags)

Old v New @igersLondon #trains #MetLine #londonunderground #london #igerslondon #dailycommute #tfl (at Harrow-on-the-Hill London Underground Station)

[densha-fan]

Paris - RATP - métro ligne 2 - entre Anvers et Barbès-Rochechouart, origine de la section aérienne. Cette ligne est désormais équipée à 100% en matériel MF 01. (Essai de GIF avec l'application Fixie pour smartphones )

Paris - RATP - metro ligne 2, between Anvers et Barbès-Rochechouart stations, this is the start of the elevated section. This line is now 100% run by MF 01 rolling stock. (GIF trial with the Fixie app for smartphones).

Another view from the same spot