(TRIVIA) Which is the most distorted "not-to-scale" network map?

[Old Yard Dog]

Map makers often have to make huge distortions of scale and direction in order to show certain more congested areas in the detail they require.

One glaring example of this is the current WMR / LNWR network map

https://www.westmidlandsrailway.co....x3oC6S-NKY/171102_combined_network_dr_map.pdf

Are there any more extreme examples?

 

[AndyNLondon]

London Overground's strip maps (http://www.citymetric.com/sites/default/files/article_body_2016/09/lo_whole.jpg) must surely win some kind of booby prize for the amount of geographical distortion they have, with stations that are on opposite sides of London being shown close together, stations that are actually very close being shown far apart, and whole lines pointing in the wrong direction. And it's not even to give busy areas more space, it's purely because they wanted to put the map in a space that it doesn't work properly in.

 

[swt_passenger]

Southern used to have a diagram above some 377 doorways with Southampton fairly near Milton Keynes...

 

[DelW]

London Overground's strip maps (http://www.citymetric.com/sites/default/files/article_body_2016/09/lo_whole.jpg) must surely win some kind of booby prize for the amount of geographical distortion they have, with stations that are on opposite sides of London being shown close together, stations that are actually very close being shown far apart, and whole lines pointing in the wrong direction. And it's not even to give busy areas more space, it's purely because they wanted to put the map in a space that it doesn't work properly in.

That's just dire. What's particularly odd is that in places there is an attempt at geographical relationships (e.g. the curve after Gunnersbury to make the Richmond line head south, which isn't needed to make it fit) but then in other areas they have ignored relationships utterly, the worst surely being relocating Liverpool St to somewhere near Woolwich, completely ignoring the fact that the line to it actually crosses under the ELL just south of Shoreditch. I know that one shouldn't use diagrams like this to plot walking routes, but it ought not to suggest that e.g. Liverpool St to Shoreditch is a hike across half of London when in reality it's about a 10 minute stroll.

Just for interest, I've drafted out my own attempt at a LO diagram. It's not as vertically compressed as the 'official' version (though I could increase the compression by reducing vertical spacing of stations, which I may try next). The principles this is based on are:

• keeping the main LO rectangle,, with corners at Willesden Jn, Dalston Jn, Surrey Quays and Clapham Jn
• keeping correct orientation between similarly named stations (Kenton / South Kenton, North Wembley / Wembley Central, Acton Central / South Acton, West Hampstead / South Hampstead)
• minimising complete distortions of direction, though some are unavoidable (the worst being the lines to Watford Jn and West Croydon), but at least most stations are roughly in the right part of the city.

I like it better than the official version, but then I would, wouldn't I! I'd be interested to know what others might think, and also if there are any errors (e.g. lines crossing between wrong stations, stations missed out, or similar).

 

[billio]

The Greater Manchester Tram Network map is a good example :
https://www.tfgm.com/public-transport/tram/network-map
It's well known that Altrincham is west of Manchester and Eccles as far north as Bury.

 

[ffm]

London Tube Map

 

[40145 Panther]

The Greater Manchester Tram Network map is a good example :
https://www.tfgm.com/public-transport/tram/network-map
It's well known that Altrincham is west of Manchester and Eccles as far north as Bury.

I can answer that question for you. The map is distorted to fit on the wide paper size for coving advertisements. This enables passengers to view the map at a glance whilst sitting or standing up on the tram. Similarly, First Transpennine Express have a similarly distorted (though slightly more accurate) TPE network map above the doors of its Class 185 units. Again to the same size as the coving adverts you see on buses and trams.

 

[thenorthern]

I always found this one from First North Western to be inaccurate as it shows Warrington Central to be west of Warrington Bank Quay when its to the east also it shows 3 stations in between. Also it shows Bradford Forster Square as a through station.

http://www.projectmapping.co.uk/Reviews/Resources/NorthWestern 2001.jpg

 

[vlad]

London Tube Map

You mean Beckenham Junction and Woolwich Arsenal aren't a short distance from each other?

 

[snowball]

I can answer that question for you. The map is distorted to fit on the wide paper size for coving advertisements. This enables passengers to view the map at a glance whilst sitting or standing up on the tram. Similarly, First Transpennine Express have a similarly distorted (though slightly more accurate) TPE network map above the doors of its Class 185 units. Again to the same size as the coving adverts you see on buses and trams.

The same reason presumably applies to the London Overground map in post #2?

 

[Clansman]

If the ScotRail map was to scale, taking into account current journey times, then you'd be able to do Stirling to Aberdeen in an hour - a journey that's double the time in reality. The close proximity of intermediate stations in Fife and Angus distorts the size of Tayside and Perthshire, which explains this.

 

[bnm]

This one at Bath Spa defies all convention when it comes to orientation. Cheltenham and Worcester in the same direction as the South West. And apparently you have to travel through Great Malvern to get to 'The North'.

 

[Clansman]

I can answer that question for you. The map is distorted to fit on the wide paper size for coving advertisements. This enables passengers to view the map at a glance whilst sitting or standing up on the tram. Similarly, First Transpennine Express have a similarly distorted (though slightly more accurate) TPE network map above the doors of its Class 185 units. Again to the same size as the coving adverts you see on buses and trams.

Completely forgot about the TPE ones. By far the most distorted I've seen.

 

[RichJF]

There used to be a South Central (not long after Govia took over the franchise) & they used to run to Bournemouth.

Everything west of Southampton was squidged onto the left hand side of the map very close to Horsham, showing it as further north than Dorking!

 

[snowball]

This map is almost as horrible as the Bath one: it's topologically wrong, it doesn't even maintain the correct clockise order of the four lines shown.

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=147587265&postcount=571

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The same reason presumably applies to the London Overground map in post #2?

Correct. The London Overground map in post #2 is displayed above the windows inside Overground trains, and there isn't enough vertical space in those posters for anything more geographically sane.

Does leave the question of why bother to put those maps up though. As far as I can see, a map that shows all Overground lines and nothing else is going to be basically useless for most journey planning. These particularly maps are also far too complex for anyone to easily read them for - for example - seeing where the train they are on is at along its journey. The only thing I can think of is that maybe these are the intended equivalent of the maps on tube trains that just show the line you are travelling on, but that the entire Overground network was included to allow for trains to be swapped between lines. Not sure if that's correct or not, but it's the only plausible reason I can think of why anyone would think putting that kind of map on a train would be a good idea.

 

[Esker-pades]

Far North Line has to be a candidate. Most maps depict it as a straight route (example: here), where as it is seriously indirect (see here).