This month’s Fast Company has a profile of Richard Carpenter, who has published the first volume of his Railroad Atlas of the United States in 1946. The maps are hand-drawn and hand-lettered; the article provides fascinating details about their creation. It looks like there will be at least five volumes (the first covers the mid-Atlantic states) covering 1946 — the year at which U.S. railroads were at their zenith. I must find a way to have a look at a copy. (via Here Be Dragons; previous entry: Railroad Atlases)

• Buy A Railroad Atlas of the United States in 1946, Vol. 1: The Mid-Atlantic States at Amazon.com