Mapping the Tube 1863-2023: Treasures of the Tube Map

[@whoami4597]

"You are the ungrateful corporation to my lifetime of loyal service."

[@backwashjoe7864]

But we are not ungrateful for his lifetime of service!

[@JW1_1]

@@backwashjoe7864 pre-2001 apparently we were🤔

[@nathandoubleyou]

You should have included a clip from that Map Men episode about Harry Beck! That KZbinr who portrayed him did a good job! 😬😆

[@KasabianFan44]

Boooo fake fan, that was clearly part of the Unfinished London series!

[@TheKittyfantastic]

*knowing nod*

[@DarrylAdams]

Unless you agree with Mark that it should have been a Map Men episode.

[@prathamgautam6673]

​​@@KasabianFan44but it could have been the episode of map men

[@paulhaynes8045]

All is clear about Beck's problems, once you clock his glasses!

[@tentringer4065]

Map House, Map House, Map, Map, Map House, House

[@itskdog]

Technically it was part of Unfinished London, but good gag still.

[@isoroxuk]

Last time should only be there twice!

[@tentringer4065]

@@isoroxuk fixed it. Thanks.

[@SIMONWINTER-m6d]

So two people recognised the great man Jago in the gallery. So come on then you two what does he look like? Could you draw us a diagram !!

[@KasabianFan44]

Throughout the first 3 minutes of the video I was like “I wonder if he’s seen Jay Foreman’s video on this topic”… Then my dumb self remembered that Jago literally played the main character in that video lol

[@user-wm3hu7lo1g]

So I'd wager a "yes" on that question... but there are plenty of actors that profess they never watch their movies, so never say never (except I guess now)

[@Gerry0866]

A few years ago, my wife was clearing out the house of her late aunt in Cork. It was a treasure trove of random stuff, accumulated over many years, the majority of it destined for charity shops. One of the things she found was a linen tea-towel, obviously purchased as a souvenir of a trip to London several decades earlier. It was a Tube map, and thankfully it had never been used for the purpose intended. That didn’t go in the charity shop bag, but instead came home to me, a former resident of London and a bona fide Tube nerd. I looked up the various editions and it turned out to be a 1958 map. I had it mounted and framed and it now occupies pride of place here in my house in Co Laois, Ireland.

[@benshelton5230]

The Map House is at 54 Beauchamp Place, SW3 1 NY if you’re looking for it on a map 😃

[@tantaf123]

There is nothing I like more than watching a brand new jago video on a sunday afternoon :)

[@tolby53]

To be followed by Beard meets food later in the day.

[@alanclarke4646]

Informative and entertaining as usual, Jago. 😊

[@oc2phish07]

Absolutely

[@garethaethwy]

Sunday evenings wouldn't be Sunday evenings without a Jago and Autoshenanigans video. I demand a colab. With Ringway Manchester too.

[@alanclarke4646]

@@garethaethwy I want a Collab between Jago and Geoff Marshall

[@kevinmottram9491]

Fred Stingemore? If ever anyone was born to be a Chancellor of the Exchequer then it was him.

[@williamevans9426]

What a great name! 😄

[@andywarne963]

Probably the most impressive Beck-derived map is the Tokyo "Railways covered by Pasmo/Suica" [contactless cards] map which crams over 800 stations on one map. I am lucky enough to have one of the paper versions which I dont believe they provide any longer.

[@kaitlyn__L]

That's interesting, they use the "every station is a white dot, and interchanges have parallel lines with pill-shapes connecting them" method like New York City chose to. (As much as I like the station "ticks" with connecting lines overlapping into a connector circle, I do think the New York method scales better.)

[@bobstacey9311]

I worked in greater Tokyo back in 2019 and the network was very easy to travel on, although the shear quantity of commuters can get overwelming initially

[@fatcontrole1]

Would be cool if there was a play/video where you could play the part of Harry Beck yourself 🤔

[@SmudgeThomas]

Spotting Jago at a tube thing should definitely be some kind of achievement unlocked for tube nerds.

[@highpath4776]

Messing with Diagonals - Beck should have lived at Mornington Crescent I believe reverse diagonal moves are needed to get home more often than not

[@eddisstreet]

Not if you're in nap

[@drtrustrum]

@@eddisstreet I believe you mean in Nid? Which he isn't, because it was not filmed on a Tuesday. Widdershins are allowed.

[@eddisstreet]

@@drtrustrum I don't know what I meant, I was paying attention to myself

[@AndreiTupolev]

9:38Simplicity, visual clarity, and ease of use. A good summary there of Jago Hazzard videos. 😌

[@lordmuntague]

Your voice is your living Jago, skip a few vids if you need to but stay safe! ;o|

[@EElgar1857]

I remember that 1972 NYC Subway map, and thought it was beautiful, and quite easy to read. But I guess I was one of the few who appreciated it.

[@Tokkemon]

It's making a comeback. NYC is slowly replacing the old one with a new version inspired by the Vignelli map.

[@geoffreypiltz271]

@@Tokkemon Yay!

[@seanbonella]

Beck & JH, two legends

[@oc2phish07]

Fantastic. Thanks Jago. Last Friday I visited the London Transport Museum Depot so tomorrow I will pop over to The Map House. Thanks as always for not only excellent videos, but also for ideas about places to go and things to see.

[@frglee]

I was fascinated with the tube map from the first time I saw it in the mid 1960s in a diary I got one xmas. Over the years I have watched its slow evolution - new lines added, old lines removed. I've watched it fight with overcomplexity when added to all the London rail network. And still fighting the battle to remain simple and clear with the addition of the Overground lines,Thameslink and the Elizabeth Line. But, indeed, a masterpiece of transport map design. Three cheers for Harry Beck! 🥳

[@lexxietheourplefolf]

7:32 "You are the ungrateful corporation to my to lifetime of loyal service" 😢

[@lefthandedspanner]

for what it's worth, one of the pubs in Pontefract (the Liquorice Bush, if memory serves) used to have a tube-style map of the pubs in town, which they called the Pontefract Overground

[@mikewilliamson7246]

A short while ago there was a similar map available round where I live (Lancaster - Northern England for you foreign types !) which included all the North Lancashire pubs, connected I think by lines representing the best routes for ideal pub crawls.

[@superlynx98]

I could never forget the Watford branch! .... only because i live on it

[@DanBen07]

Love transport maps!

[@runoflife87]

Aah, such a nice addition to "Map Men" videos.

[@TheEarlofK]

It doesn't surprise me that Beck ran into trouble with London Transport and its previous iterations, institutions hate individualism. Of course, had he been savvy enough to copyright his design before submitting it he would have been in a far better position to negotiate from strength, but I'm glad to see he has finally achieved the recognition he deserves.

[@nickbarber2080]

I knew an old chap...a graphic designer...who had worked under Beck in the post-war period. He said that only his very closest friends got to call him Harry...to the world in general it was Henry or Mr.Beck.

[@TazerXI]

I wondered if there was a place with all the tube maps. I want somewhere to see the evolution of them over time Also it's very apt you talking about Beck considering your role on Jay Forman's channel

[@ianthomson9363]

The London Transport Museum's Acton Depot has many Tube maps from before and after Mr. Beck's. It's only open occasionally, but is well worth a visit.

[@TazerXI]

@@ianthomson9363 I know I should But I want a website that can show them side by side over the years to compare changes. I need to know when they started having a competition for worst connector blob. Currently the Paddington and Moorgate/Liverpool Street are up there.

[@jerribee1]

​@@TazerXI There is a book about the history of the London Underground Map, by Caroline Roope. I have no idea how good it is though.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Hope your voice gets better! Also, yay maps of the Underground! (Also hey Harry Beck)

[@cujimmy1366]

The beauty of simplicity.

[@isashax]

I wish I could go to see this, but I won't be in London while it's open. Pity! Looks amazing! Thanks for showing it to us!

[@stevenflebbe]

As with the Imperial Airway map, there is a Tube-style map of the navigable waterways of England and Wales, showing the canal system. It was created by the KZbinr Minimal List.

[@eattherich9215]

I have a print of Harry Beck's map waiting to be framed along with other transit maps from my trips abroad. I will make a point to catch the exibition and thank you for the alert, Jago.

[@proanimali]

Your voice sounded fine, even if you didn't think so. A lovely video with so many interesting details, of most I was aware of, due to your (and Jay Foreman's) intelligent videos in the past.

[@pauljmccluskey5532]

Hi Jago: whatever anyone says about the London Underground map, it is extremely iconic and I’m sure that, when I next pop down to London, this exhibition will be right down my street… literally. I’ve even downloaded the London font to my computer lol 😜

[@graham5670]

Fascinating video - most enjoyable. Ken Garland's excellent book was published in 1994 but can still be found online or at second-hand bookshops

[@greatstationsyt]

A play about Harry Beck sounds like the most gloriously nerdy thing. I want to go see it!

[@IamTheHolypumpkin]

Get better soon Jago.

[@mikebirkett010]

There is no denying that Harry Beck was a genius (when it comes to underground maps). Portraying the complex as simple takes brains.

[@highpath4776]

Deptford Road station looks like it needs a talk about , it is in an interesting area and lines out

[@barbaraprest783]

Wonderful - tha k you 🎉🎉🎉

[@michaelb6269]

Perfect timing for my visit to London the coming weekend. Thank you!

[@dondesmond7969]

Thank Jago and Harry. We would be lost without both of you.

[@lightplane]

Love the Beck map and so glad TFL now give him credit on the map. I have a full-sized authentic 1987 London Transport underground Journey Planner framed and hanging on my wall in Victoria Canada. It's a beautiful piece of art.

[@Blade_Daddy]

Thank you, Jago!

[@KevinTheCaravanner]

I recently visited the Lake District where I came across a map of the mountain footpaths in Harry Back Tube-style. It made any mountain climb look rather simpler than it was. Fortunately there was a bus replacement service on some routes.

[@MrGreatplum]

What a fantastic looking exhibition. I can only think that Mr Beck had a clash of personalities with the bosses at London transport

[@SS-qo4xe]

I am envious. So wish I could see this exhibition.

[@joermnyc]

The MTA has been testing an updated take on the Vignelli subway map alongside a geographically accurate map that includes Select Bus Service routes (our take on Bus Rapid Transit) for about 5 years now, no word on when or if they'll actually replace the current maps with one of these or not.

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

When I was living in Cambodia there was an Australian (?) artist who had made a map of Cambodia in the style of Harry Beck’s map.

[@Saint_Dan132]

i do love a sunday, thanks mate xx

[@Saint_Dan132]

😁😁😜

[@kenmorris100]

Thanks Jago for highlighting this exhibition which unfortunately I won't be down in London again (from Manchester) before it closes. As a long time collector of "Underground" maps dating back to the 1890s it is fascinating how they show the growth of the network with rival maps by the Metropolitan and the Underground Group. The "pocket" maps produced by Stingemore were the first attempt to provide an easy to carry and read map of the system prior to Beck and I feel are not given the credit they deserve. Today's Map is totally overloaded even including the Croydon tram system. I wonder what Mr Beck would make of it today?

[@Sasha-1313]

Thank you, Jago; I might have missed this exhibition entirely if not for your video, as I have an allergy to being in Knightsbridge. Edited to add: I was able to have a brief (~20 minute) look at the exhibit this morning (2nd November), and will go back later in the month, preferably not on a Saturday, to look more carefully. Thanks again, Jago!

[@Andrewjg_89]

I love tube maps because they got so much character in them and how they were designed for passengers that use the London Underground. And others including the DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth Line, Tramlink and the cable car that are all now on the tube map. And how the tube map has evolved every decade.

[@macaidwin]

Nicely mapped out

[@davidellis1355]

When I picture Harry Beck, I will always picture Jago

[@tonys1636]

There is a pre Beck geographical tube map in the tiling in the tube entrance /exit to Victoria Station, along with an old Brighton and South Coast Railway map, now both covered by cladding but were exposed during '70's renovation for a few months. Hopefully may be exposed in the future but at least have been preserved.

[@pulaski1]

9:27 How can you show Maxwell Roberts' reimagined map without pointing out that incorporates the Tube roundel into the design?

[@ianthomson9363]

I shall have to pop in to see this.

[@philipcurrie5003]

Thank you for making this video. I went to see the exhibition myself today.

[@russellnixon9981]

Thankyou for guiding us though this interesting topic.

[@martinross5521]

Thank you for this exhibition visit. Fascinating! Here in Devon we have Mr Beck style framed diagrams for the principal routes and places on Dartmoor - a very unusual way to portray ‘the last wilderness’!

[@lawrencelewis2592]

I'll be in London this coming Friday- I am going to the Map House without a doubt!

[@TestGearJunkie.]

Sadly, I'm not going to be able to make it from up here in the frozen north of Scotland in time, but have fun.

[@christtrockministeries5542]

Bravo.

[@jaakkomantyjarvi7515]

My wife and I visited this exhibition a few days ago, as we happened to be in London. While sadly we did not have £75k to hand that would have bagged us the hand-annotated Beck/Stingemore proof (4:00), we did come across a pre-Beck map I had never seen before, and not seen in this video, by one E.G. Perman (1928). It is an attractively decorative map/diagram somewhere between geographical and geometrical in execution, with nice visitor-enticing details such as an elephant at the location of London Zoo. We ended up buying it. (The map, not just the elephant.)

[@edrubin6042]

As a former New Yorker, I liked the Vignelli map and actually saw one in the wild in 1987 in Broadway Junction in Brooklyn

[@buffplums]

Fantastic video Jago

[@georgeprior-vinylshowtell4934]

As luck would have it, I'm in London a couple of days before this exhibition ends, will more than likely pay it a visit. Thanks for recommending, nice one!! 🙂

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I have an original Beck map from the first print run, i picked it up at a collectors fair a few years back for only a tenner! On the front it appears to have London Passenger Transport Board ink stamped on rather than printed, i assume the map was printed before the creation of London Transport......

[@nicomonkeyboy]

Have you been to Croydon Airport? They have the Imperial Airways Beck map up - it's wonderful.

[@peterdawson2645]

This cheered me up after nearly two two weeks fighting off a pesky respiratory virus. Also made me realise one or two of my early maps are worth rather more than the few quid I'd assumed! One interesting point. The Map House's own excellent site on the exhibition lists the 1969 Garbutt map as the first showing the Victoria Line. It wasn't. I have a 1968 map showing the Vic open from Walthamstow. to Warren Street, and Warren St to Victoria opening Spring 1969. I also have 1971 maps on which I have neatly drawn in the Brixton extension, meaning they are now worthless except as examples of teenage overenthusiasm! Sadly it's unlikely I shall make it up before the end of November to see the exhibition.

[@nirgunapa56]

So the great Harry Beck was, effectively, on a zero hours contract though that term wasn't coined until the early 21st century.

[@skyblazeeterno]

To me he did it voluntarily

[@uktrains5679]

Fascinating video Jago, thank you.

[@ROCKINGMAN]

Beck's diagram of lines, I think, was first produced in 1931. A version of the map was in black & white, where printing was limited, lines were shown with patterned lines. I used to collect the first London Connections maps from the library, in 1973, as well as bus maps and BR maps. Still have them. Sydney Australia, produced a copy of the map in 1939 for their underground.

[@paulhaynes8045]

Wow - from map desert to map cornucopia!

[@stevewoodard527]

I enjoy your videos generally, but this one was particularly interesting -- well done!

[@MLampner]

Would that I could see this but a trip in November is impossible. Thanks Jago for letting those of us on a foreign shore at least get some sense of it.

[@thefareplayer2254]

I was concerned about your voice since hearing the ad voiceovers in your previous video. I hope you feel better soon, Jago!

[@Wildcard71]

I am redrawing a current map aiming it not to look as busy as the official one. Thames not shown Inner circle complete Ends of the map now: Earl's Court, Notting Hill Gate, Royal Oak, Queen's Park, Swiss Cottage, Hampstead, Tufnell Park, Highbury & Islington, Liverpool Street, Algate East, London Bridge, Waterloo and Pimlico.

[@Wildcard71]

Update: Circle, Metropolitan and Bakerloo Line complete. West ends of underground lines reached. North ends of Northern Line reached. South end of Victoria Line reached.

[@gregessex1851]

8:33 Sydney used the roundels for station names for many decades. You can still see them on heritage stations such as St James and Museum.

[@neilmcfarlane5644]

Went to the Map House today on your recommendation and it was great, really interesting and informative. Even managed to get my gf (broadly, slightly) interested. Thanks Jago, NfM

[@AtomcsiKK]

Harry Beck is the reason I've found your channel.

[@davebutterworth7414]

Great video Jago ! Fabulous ❤👍

[@rollinwithunclepete824]

a most interesting video!

[@phaasch]

5:26 "Tubeopoly- a game for all the family"

[@skyblazeeterno]

There was a tube version of the board game Monopoly... I think you may still be able to get it from the Transport Museum

[@paultidd9332]

I went to visit this last Saturday, having seen this/your KZbin on it, it is pretty amazing. Perhaps more amazing is the unpublished Harry Beck proof at £75,000!

[@adrianwatson9277]

Melbourne follwed backs map as well thanks learnt a lot

[@thewildbunchASD]

Was expecting a cameo of the cameo you did wih the the other train nerd for unfinished London!

[@jonasrosengren9093]

Thanks

[@JagoHazzard]

And thank you!

[@highpath4776]

Interesting Underground HQ Number Victoria 6800 sounds like a Glenn Miller tune (and was 222 6800 ever used in further publicity come LPTB?

[@AndreiTupolev]

Underground HQ sounds like a secret military bunker, or villain's lair

[@phaasch]

"Mr Bond Street. I've been expecting you."​@@AndreiTupolev

[@michaelwatson113]

Incredibly, Tokyo uses the Beck style map. And it works.

[@LegendaryHopOnBaby]

I'm planning on visiting on Saturday - I hope it's not too thronged with fellow admirers!

[@apolloc.vermouth5672]

4:24 I often try to imagine how Willesden Junction would look as a brand new station. But I always fail.

[@Flymochairman1]

A fun episode to watch. I hope you're keeping better as you sound like you've got this years 'Cold and Flu Season' edition. A fascinating look at Cartography indeed. Thanks for making the effort as it's always appreciated and I hope the Exhibition is well attended. Cheers!

[@neilmcfarlane5644]

Loved it, Jago.

[@scottydude456]

In New York, the MTA now uses a Vignelli-inspired, angular map for all service announcements, and they even use it for their online live subway tracker map. The map is is also at some stations, mostly on digital signage, but the old map is still used as well

[@roderickmain9697]

That will be/would be/must be on my todo list next time I'm in London for any length of time. Would colouring the Victoria line in a shade of lilac be possible or would it be confusing on todays map? One of the things I like about the map is its "easy to read" and "easy to take in and understand". Its never bothered me that its not a good representation of where things are above ground. I'm simply traversing a network from whatever (A) I'm starting from to whatever (B) I want to get to. Harry Beck's map just works. I do wonder if, to retain clarity, a larger map will be on the cards at some point. With a long enough corridor you could cover Reading to Shenfield with maybe slightly larger fonts at top and bottom so if the bottom the map is near your foot or the top is somewhere above your head you can still read the names.

[@caw25sha]

It's not just the map but the branding on signs etc. so a recolourisation (!) wouldn't be feasible. Also I think people almost subconsciously follow colours so as you said it would be confusing.

[@kaitlyn__L]

It would probably clash with the Elizabeth line and the Hammersmith and City line encircling that part of the visible spectrum now, but tourists do mix-up Victoria and Piccadilly on maps sometimes (especially in poorer lighting) so I think it was sensible of him to propose lilac back then.

[@driver288]

I think most transit systems in the world use some variant based on Beck’s map. The Stockholm Metro map looks very similar with straightened routes.

[@alextr3a640]

Hi Jago, thanks ! Lovely video about a great design! Hope they included a photo of you being Beck..👍🏻

[@johncamp2567]

We Map-Geeks thank you, Jago!! You are the fold to my crease…..(if that’s not too suggestive).

[@MartinBrenner]

Won't be able to travel to London to see the exhibition, thanks for showing us! That's pretty cool stuff! (Edit: They actually have the maps on their website, but the real gem is Jago giving the tour)

[@paulhaynes8045]

I think a video about the complexities of the modern day underground map, and possible solutions, would be a good idea. (I think you've done something like this before, but not in the depth it deserves?) We have reached (passed?) Peak Map, and now have a seemingly impossible problem - how to we get an increasingly complicated system on a clear, easy to use, map. Do we leave stuff out - is the so-called 'Overground' really that important on an Underground map - does a 'peripheral' system like the Croydon trams even need to be on a London map - is the Thameslink system London or regional, etc, etc? Or, do we try to come up with a clear map of the entire spaghetti - if so, how? And how do we future-proof it? Or, perhaps (my personal choice), should we offer the traveler several maps - a central 'Tube' map as the main Underground map, with separate maps for each system (Underground, Overground [Wobbling free], Docklands, Tram, Thameslink, etc), with combined maps being available and displayed at least once at each station/location, but with the simpler maps being the one most often displayed within each system (much as they used to do)? Each version could also be a 'standard' map, printed lightly, (but still usable), with the local system highlighted in bolder type/colour? Having traveled (and struggled) on the New York subway, with their utterly appalling maps, we simply cannot end up with something as confusing as that. And, yes, New Yorkers, I do appreciate just how complicated the actual Subway itself is! (But I still think you could do a lot better.) Of course, some people will argue that the day of the map is numbered - after all, who uses a map to drive these days? (I do, for one!). But, is standing on an Underground platform in the middle of the busy period, trying to work out how to get from A to B on your phone, really going to be easier than just looking at the poster on the wall or in the carriage? (Spoiler alert - NO!)

[@skyblazeeterno]

I suspect the simple answer is you do NOT have a paper map for it. I'm guessing an app version where you see only what you want to see is the future. Possibly stuff like city mapper will make it redundant. IMO London definitely needs a zone 1 only map I'd prefer tfl improve their signage IN the stations