1958 DC Transit Map

[btconet]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through a rather ambitious challenge to take a 1958 DC Transit Map and create a sharable PDF File for posting online.  Attached are a couple of screen shots of the final map.

Note the similarities and the differences from today.  While it is rather easy to spot a few routes that are nearly the same today as they were then, it's more interesting to spot things that are totally different, particularly when the same designator is used today.

Red Lines are Streetcars,
Blue Lines are uptown-downtown local buses,
Green Lines are crosstown buses,
Orange Lines are feeder buses.
Purple Lines are Limited or Express buses,
Brown Lines are Limiteds operated by Montgomery Bus Co.

Solid lines/bullets run base, hollow run peaks only.

A couple oddities you might notice are the S6 and T5.

The S6 ran as a feeder at most times, but in peak hours was extended with both limited and local configurations into Downtown.

There are actually two T5's, one, the "T5" being a peak hour feeder between Friendship Heights and Alta Vista, the other, the "T5\" being a peak hour feeder between Takoma and Ga. & Alaska via Flower Avenue.

[WMAveteran]

Good history execise, thank you for the effort. I lived in the Rock Creek Forest area (served by the L8) on the Chevy Chase/Silver Spring border in the early 1970's (before METRO).  At that time the L8 ran straight through to Silver Spring; it did not terminate in Rock Creek Forest as your map seems to indicate.

[Perry]

This is really cool.  What's interesting is how so much of the route network is the same as it was then in concept, even the route designations are still the same.  I love all of the old J and T lines going to Takoma and other areas around there too. 

[NewFlyer9736BCT]

wow, that's awesome, who knew there were some similarities from 1958 to today?

as for the non similarities, that's also interesting. It looks like Georgia-Alaska Aves was the old bus fan's paradise before Silver Spring Station. interesting also how the D6 used to go to Friendship Heights and the H2 to Massachusetts-Western, but may have been different throughout the rest of the route...anyways, thanks, this is cool

[WMATAGMOAGH]

H2 went to Westmoreland until September 1999, as did the H4.  Residents on Yuma Street complained about vibrations caused by full size buses, which led to the creation of the N8.  The H4 was cut back to Tenleytown, the H2 was rerouted to Van Ness, and the H3 was created to cover for the Van Ness Street/Veazy Street part of the H2.