#rail networks

[mapsontheweb]

Countries with high-speed rail network.

by try.balkan

[yarn-owl-ferry-thoughts]

no one:

absolutely no one:

me, enraged: HOW IS THERE NO DIRECT TRAIN SERVICE BETWEEN THESE TWO MAJOR EAST COAST CITIES????!!!?!!? YOU’RE TELLING ME I HAVE TO GO TO AN ENTIRE SEPARATE CITY IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION THEN SPEND HOURS ON A SECOND SMALLER TRAIN GOING ALL THE WAY BACK?????

me, thoughtful: well, i suppose there is a major mountain range between those two cities

no one:

me, enraged once more: IF THEY CAN GET MULTIPLE HIGHWAYS FOR CARS THROUGH THOSE MOUNTAINS, THEY CAN GET A TRAIN THROUGH

[thatsagreatpainting]

[mapsontheweb]

US rail network density.

[drgeoduck]

" Atsushi Tero of Hokkaido University grew the slime mold Physarum polycephalum in a flat wet dish. He placed the mold in a central position representing Tokyo, and he placed oat flakes in the dish corresponding to the locations of other major cities in the Greater Tokyo Area. As Physarum avoids bright light, light was used to simulate mountains, water and other obstacles in the dish. The mold first densely filled the space with plasmodia, then thinned the network to focus on efficiently connected branches. The network strikingly resembled Tokyo's rail system."

[mapsontheweb]

Map of the Grand Transasiatic Railway from Jules Verne's "Claudius Bombarnac" (western part, Tbilisi to Kashgar).

[mapsontheweb]

U.S. Rail Lines by Owner

[mapsontheweb]

Dates of building of the first railways in European countries.