Railroad Atlas of 1946

Has anyone seen the newly published (by the JHU Press) Railroad Atlas of the United States in 1946 (first volume) by Richard Carpenter?

I read the Fast Company article (in their Feb04 issue and to be available online soon)–

Making Tracks
Richard Carpenter is mapping every mile of America’s railroad system as of 1946. By hand. “It’s a story,” he says, “that needs to be told.” By Charles Fishman

It looks very interesting. It appears that Mr. Carpenter did the work from other works (i.e., he did not travel the lines) and moderated the differences between those primary works.

I saw one reader review that cited two possible complaints–no distinction in the drawings of the “importance” of the lines, that is how many lines a railroad operator had between points A and B; and no regional overview to connect the maps together.

I would be interested in a forum discussion of the book, its techniques, and the article (such as the contained quote from John C. Hudson, Northwestern U. professor of geography, that “Carpenter has invented his own style of cartography.”)

NORM

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