Miscellaneous
This page displays a selection of miscellaneous details of the St. Jacques Map, as well as the city itself!
Digitising the Map
Beno's Map Creator
Beno’s Map Creator is an online tool where you can create your own Metro maps. When I first discovered this site, I was instantly elated and went straight to recreating my map on it. This would be the first attempt at creating a digital map.
It’s an incredibly useful tool, but not nearly powerful enough to create professional looking maps easily and intuitively.
Created before the map was really fleshed out, around the middle of first year (early 2013) – there is a lot of empty space – a lot of streamlining was needed.
Beno’s Map Creator really comes into its own for future planning. Rough drafts on the computer allowed the expansion of the map – as it developed. Introducing new Overground Lines, fleshing out the Tram Network and adding Crossrail – this was commenced with several iterations using Beno’s creator.
Shown above are the initial plans for Crossrail services, which would be introduced in Version 5. There are slight differences to what was eventually implemented, of the most considerable note, there aren't many Crossrail services in the south-east, the Underground and Overground seemed sufficient.
The above map shows the considerable plans I had for Version 5. Included in the map are the plans for the Overground network - with existing and new lines. The TLR makes an appearance, and the trams are now more fleshed out compared to version 4. Crossrail proposals are included, as well as the extensions to the existing Underground lines. In version 4, some lines terminated in Zone 1 - I made sure this was not the case for subsequent versions. To tie everything together, I included the Line 1 circle for reference.
I played around plenty with this useful website – it’s certainly worth a look as an introduction to creating maps. Though a little fiddly to use at times, it’s been a godsend for St. Jacques.
Paint
A bus enthusiast friend of mine, Aubrey, created a humongous metro map for his fantasy city on MS Paint. Chiswick – not an area in London, but seemingly the largest metropolis on the globe. Here is a Flickr link to the map of his city. There may well be more stations in Chiswick than in St. Jacques itself.
This map inspired me to attempt a creation, using MS Paint. I used a slightly different design aesthetic to Chiswick’s map.
This map was created in early 2014, in the middle of second year. I think it’s quite a cute attempt. There were fewer stations around that time, so central St. Jacques did not end up looking too cramped – a recreation today would be far busier.
This map was a huge help with planning the Overground network. You can clearly see envision the existing tube lines which would eventually be transformed into the Overground network. Through lots of annotations of print outs and scruffy lines on paint, the network was developed. Having a rough copy really does help.
Inkscape
I was debating ever bothering to draw a Version 5 – leaning towards the option of the next map being digital only. With plenty of new lines envisaged, drawing the map would just be far too complicated.
With tons of planning from Beno’s Map Creator, I would make a first attempt at an official digital map. MS Paint frankly would not cut it, though I did manage to produce quite an attractive diagram with it. Paint is better than you think!
I did not have the money for good software, nor a decent laptop – InkScape and an aging Sony Vaio laptop would have to do. Without an initial plan, I jumped straight into creation – not at Jacques Central, the logical spot, but the Dharani area instead – without any strategies on how the lines would meet and interchange. I created quite a significant part of the central area, though I gave up when the computer began crashing more often – and as I started to have troubles - in the creation of the double-barrelled Overground lines.
Here is the attempt using InkScape – which is probably a lot better than what I remembered – but Affinity has been quite a significant upgrade.
Affinity
To learn Affinity throughout the trial period, the best course of action was to create a draft map, tracing over the existing sketches. This was a very fun process and put me in good stead for the creation of the official version – clearly, as you can see below, there was plenty of planning and work to do!
Click the image to view the PDF in full size.
This experiment was incredible fun, but you can clearly see that tracing over the sketch just wouldn't cut it. The central area is so incredibly cramped - my handwriting is a lot narrower than most fonts. This clearly conveyed that the Line 1 circle instead had to be a wider ellipse instead.
Buses and Streets of St. Jacques
St. Jacques has an extensive network of buses and night buses, because of course.
The bus network was developed in tandem with the rail network; as early as 2013, different bus routes were detailed. A lot of scribbles and drawings were created early in the bus network’s development. Some stations are placed in certain places because of the bus network itself.
The above map is probably the earliest sketch of the bus network in St. Jacques.
The most complete record of the bus network is detailed in a ginormous Word document; a route-by-route listing detailing all stations and points of interests served. I’ve gone so far as to assign frequencies, operators, garages and assigned bus types for each route! As with London, all bus routes are tendered – when I had more free time I even put my routes through imaginary tenders – operators, garages and allocated fleets changed often.
The network currently has 566 day routes, and 169 night bus routes (including 24-hour services).
I have always wanted to create a complete St. Jacques Bus Map. Affinity Designer has been able to handle the 55 lines – however increasing this tenfold – I am doubtful that the software would be able to handle this. Attempts have been made however, merely as experiments.
As the bus network has not fully formed, with quite a few bus black holes in areas where there historically have not been many stations, I feel it is wise to allow all the routes to be devised before making an attempt of creating a full map. This doesn’t even consider the free time I would need for the map’s creation.
This map is akin to the bus spider maps that TfL has produced. There would need to be a lot of colours chosen – not necessarily a different colour for each bus route but chosen specifically that bus routes of the same colour do not cross paths.
Street maps have also been devised – a sketch of the entirety of Zone 1 was created, as well as a sketch of the Tropical area in the north-east – with main roads detailed, along with bus routes serving these roads. These maps were more akin to Mike Harris’s Greater London Bus Maps, which are amazing and a life-saver now that TfL does not produce their own maps anymore. Certainly worth checking Mike Harris’s website out for more information {add a hyperlink}.
Central St. Jacques can be seen above – this map was created in 2016 so some tube stations are missing. I have looked to update the central area bus network with some more recent sketches.
The street map of the Tropical area of St. Jacques was devised to rationalise its bus network, but it is sure to change if I ever get to finally create the bus map.
A digital diagram of street maps has been created to further develop the bus network – this time, the Pademba area was drawn out in a more simplified style (with a 16-angle grid) – again with bus routes.
In time, with more of the bus network and street map developed further, perhaps this could be converted into a fully-fledged bus map. Whether in the format of a bus spider map, or more similar to Mike Harris’ maps (likely the latter), it’s something I would like to work on with more free time on my hands.
City of St. Jacques - Boroughs and Postcodes
Just like Greater London, Greater St. Jacques is split into numerous boroughs. This has always been a feature - especially when creating the bus network's lettered routes, where each letter denoted buses running in a particular borough.
I've always loved how the city of Paris is organised into different arrondissements - so just had to carry this feature onto St. Jacques - which is split up into 22 separate sections. (I just had to beat Paris on this).
Somehow, postcodes have always fascinated me a little - and I then continued on splitting the entirety of Greater St. Jacques into separate (named) postal regions. The map is shown below. Note, that if your station is not within a borough or postcode, and not highlighted on the map - officially, the station is outside the city limits of St. Jacques!
To enlarge the maps, you can click on them.
Historical Maps
I love my historical maps, especially showing how the tube developed over the years. I have a book in my collection, called ‘The Spread of London’s Underground’, which, in the style of the current tube map, shows the network through the years, from 1863 to the present day.
I made a couple of attempts to show the map at certain periods of time. One of the maps essentially shows the Underground network without Lines 17 and 18 – south St. Jacques is incredibly empty, mirroring London itself!
Above shows the network in 1960, before the opening of Line 16 – where much of the Overground and Crossrail network, as well as a few trams, were instead heavy rail lines – indicated in white. This is a work in progress but being interested in the history of many a metro network, I always have pondered about the theoretical history of St. Jacques Rail Network. You may say I’m too invested in fantasies…
The map was still a work in progress, it will be fun to finalise it at some point.
Dark Map
The Zafarnia map is on a dark background (which looks nice on the screen but is a nightmare to print accurately).
The tube map, mainly on merchandise, has versions on a black background, hence I wondered what my map would look like in black. This is an older version of the map, but it can be seen here.
There is still work to be done - including better contrasts between lines.
