Robert Reynolds
Books, bibliographies, special items of interest
image: Stockholm Local Transport Authority
Petite histoire du ticket de Métro Parisien . . . (Grégoire Thonnat's new history of Paris Métro tickets)
Metro Bits: Mike Rohdes' page on "Some Aspects of the World's Subway Systems."
Geoff at geofftech.co.uk has some pages devoted to mostly London Underground but with some appealing anagram maps for subway systems (maybe currently blocked, but try here for a work-around as of 7/06).
Palm Pilot ultimate subway guide of Patrice Bernard & Frank Van Caenegem. Thanks to Thomas Mognetti for update of link.
iSubwayMaps is William Bright's contribution of a growing list of subway maps for a very popular pocket music-playing device; since he is enjoined from naming it on his page, I assume it is discreet for me to avoid doing so on mine as well.
Dr. Alan K. Hogenauer's Definitive List of World Subways and Non-Subway (Rail) Transit
Book: Paris By Metro: An Underground History
100 pp/2006/Arnold Delaney/Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., Northampton, Mass./ISBN 1-56656-646-0/paperback
image courtesy of Moira Megargee, Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.
The goal of this small book (4.5" x 7.5") is to provide a brief account of the source of the name for each of the 296 stations of the Paris Métro (RER system stations are not included). The buyer should understand that the book does not intend to be a history of the Métro itself. Although very brief historical notes concerning origins appear for lines 1 and 2 (lines are treated in numerical order), the practice is then abandoned.
The project is nevertheless ambitious. The book may well appeal to the reader/traveler/rail-fan who is interested in etymology and is curious about what or who one had to have done or have been in order to have merited an eponymous station. Given the difficulty of saying much about this many stations in such limited space, Mr. Delaney has labored gamely. Of necessity, the result is much more broad than deep.
The sixty-three core pages that treat all 296 station names also include 39 of Geoffrey Smith's 42 photographs. Seventeen of these are actual Métro scenes; the rest are (usually) near-station attractions. A clear Métro-RER map reproduction is provided, along with various advice and publisher's promotional material, in the remaining pages.
Book: Metro Maps of the World
136 pp/November 2003/Mark Ovendon/ Capital Transport/ISBN: 1-85414-272-0
- Book: Berlin U-Bahn Album
144 pp/2002/Robert Schwandl/metroPlanet Press/ISBN 3-936573-01-8
This excellent 2002 publication by Robert Schwandl's metroPlanet Press provides carefully produced color photographs of all 192 of the stations of Berlin's U-Bahn, whether underground or elevated. Parallel text in German and English offers brief explanations of relevant history and design features. Production qualities are outstanding. To browse this book is to want to ride the system as soon as possible.
- Book: Berlin S-Bahn Album
144 pp/2003/Robert Schwandl/metroPlanet Press/ISBN: 3-936573-02-6
This 2003 addition to the metroPlanet Press' welcome growing line joins "Metros in Spain" (see below) and "Berlin U-Bahn Album" with the presentation of photos, history, and design data for all 170 of Berlin's S-Bahn stations. A novel feature of this companion to the U-Bahn volume is the incorporation of a legend for each station -- larger than similar annotations in the earlier work -- that indicates (among other useful data) the first day of service for the station, period (if any) of closure, distance to previous station, lines served by the station, and correspondence with another line of the S- or U-Bahn.
Book: The Cincinnati Subway
128 pp/May 2003/Allen Singer/Arcadia Publishing/ISBN: 0738523143 paperback
THE CINCINNATI SUBWAY by Allen Singer
Book described just below
- Book: Metros der Welt / Schleife, W. et al / 2nd edition, 1992 / Berlin,
Transpress, 1992 ISBN 3-344-70715-9. ". . . a richly illustrated, 380 pages, alphabetical account of 127 of the world's metros from Algier to Yokohama, curiosities like the Metro Alpin in Saas Fee, technical details, very thorough, . . ." ; reference provided by Norbert van Haaster (no web link).
Book: Underground Railways Yesterday Today Tomorrow (From 1863 up to the Year 2000) /366 pp. no date / Walter J. Hinkel et al. /Vienna,
Compress Verlag ISBN 3-900607 249. (no web link).
image used with permission of Amy Rashap, Rutgers University Press
Book: Transit Talk /171 pp 1997 / Robert W. Snyder / Rutgers University Press (co-publisher: New York Transit Museum) / ISBN 0-8135-2577-2.
Drawing from interviews with transit workers, Snyder looks at their lives from many perspectives, from the varied elements of operation (stations, shops, policing, etc.) to the the social issues that affect every occupation in distinctive ways (race, women's issues, unionization, age). The result is an engaging narrative that charmingly shows the human component of the transit system and implicitly offers us insight into the complex humanity associated with all infrastructure.
Book: Metros in Spain/120 pp 2001/Robert Schwandl/Capital Transport/ISBN 1-85414-242-9.
This beautifully ilustrated and informative book contains a wealth of information about the Madrid, Barcelona, València, and Bilbao metros. I congratulate Robert Schwandl on its publication. A companion CD has been released (October 2001); I especially admire the way it develops the construction histories, the ease of maneuvering among sections dealing with the various lines and stations, the completeness, and the magnificent photographs.
Books by Allen Morrison on certain Latin American tramways and streetcars.
The Hudson Tubes pages of Bob Klapouchy: "A short history and a sightseeing tour of the Hudson Tubes (Hudson &
Manhattan Railroad), one of the earliest subways of the world, along
with an image gallery of the Tubes, past and present." This page also provides direct access to a number of rail-related web rings.
The Tunnelbuilder web page of Mike Smith is a comprehensive source of tunneling news.
Transit Rider, a "west coast plus Baltimore" site as of July, 1998.
The Subway Bibliography, one of many links to the nuanced offerings of David Pirmann.
Temporarily (?) unavailable: the London Underground History -- Disused Stations page of Hywel Williams, with intriguing links as well.
Joseph Brennan's abandoned subway stations and abandoned elevated stations of the New York system.
André Quintanar's Les Stations Fermées du Métro de Paris is a fascinating companion piece to the entries above, as well as a source of more interesting links.
Abandoned stations, tunnels, etc., of MTBA in Boston.
Forgotten NY Subways and Trains (thanks to David Forgue)
Chicago "L", "the internet's largest resource for information on chicago's rapid transit system"(thanks to David Forgue)
Lost Subways, Forgotten Tunnels, Strange Railways, Railway Modelling page of Frederic Delaitre.
Measurement of tunnel profile in subways (Leica; commercial).
Joseph D. Korman's Subway Line Names, an interesting and apparently thorough compendium, now part of a larger "JoeKorNer" page.
Kobe 1995 earthquake effects on transport, including subways. Page down to street collapse photo.
The Melbourne Drain Team pages -- astonishing!
Chicago Tunnel Company Railroad Home Page - - astonishing also! (Phil O'Keefe)
The Quuxuum Organization maintains a server with several subway-related features.
Rail-related postage stamps (see Norbert Reulke's page [probably defunct] for subway-related stamps).
Subway Map Standards -- which incidentally seem to refer to a class of tutorials called "subways" and not to underground rail.
What seems to be a sort of game called Mornington Crescent -- a London tube stop -- is evidently comprehended by (many of) those of the British persuasion, although my own efforts to master the rules has so far met with frustration at every stop. My original link died (thanks to "DXAlgar" for the news) so I have replaced it with the above, rather more helpful than the original. If still more help is required, the next best (at least as regards concision) I've found is here; finally, far the most colorful description I've found is here. I must thank my son-in-law Patrick Snook of Rotherham, Yorkshire for insight into the nature of this game that could not have been provided by one not a son of Albion (after leaving me in the dark for a decade).
The Piccadilly Line essay of Kryss Katsiavriades.
The Chronicle of Higher Education's "Academe Today" featured this page as Internet Site of the Day on February 19, 1997 (used with permission; see article for full statement).
American Underground-Construction Association's Featured Project of the Month (not necessarily a subway, but sometimes is!)
Le Mural d'Abesses Metro Station Escalier Ascendant and Descendant Paris (QTVR pictures; Ken Turkowski; brilliant idea).
Endstation metro-related graffiti magazine.
Following are generous contributions by Minott Kerr, who kindly keeps an eye out for the relevant. Thanks, Minott!
TokyoSystem aid(?) (thanks to Minott Kerr)
Urban Mass Transit Systems of North America Radical Cartography page (thanks to Minott Kerr)
Portland bar access streetcar map (thanks to Minott Kerr)
Vignelli-inspired map of NYC subway system by Max Roberts (thanks to Minott Kerr)
Jug Cerovic standardized world subway maps (thanks to Minott Kerr)
Mapping London's Tube Tongues (thanks to Minott Kerr)
Transit WebRing access
Hudson Tubes page; the bottom of this page provides direct links to many rail-related web rings.
RAILring
London Transit WebRing
World Wide Transit Ring (these last two are two members of the same ring, it seems)
image: Stockholm Local Transport Authority
Subway Page
e-mail: reyn@reed.edu
© Robert Reynolds
