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13 October 2008

Where is the Railway Path? [Old Maps Better]

Where is the Railway Path? [Old Maps can be better sometimes]

Yes it a fact. Here is some proof.
UK Railway networks/passengers peaked in the 1940's
Then there was a decline in the number of the routes and services and therefore passenger numbers.
"desire for profitability led to a major reduction in the network during the mid-1960's"

So where is this leading, well as it happens Bill Chadwick has looked into using old Ordnance Survey Maps [via NPE] to show the original Railway Networks - these are happily out of crown copyright now.

Here is a Map where the network does not get represented with rail spec on new OS Maps.

Where is the old railway path?
Both the Google Maps [Right and the New OS Map fail to show an original railway line going to Portland Bill]
The Old Map [shows the course of the railway in full spec]
Digitised to make it clearer.
Mapperz is not saying new maps are bad, just they only show a snapshot of our current time and not the full picture, aerial and satellite images can be used to this but to the general user it would be hard to tell whether this was an existing railway or not.

Note:The NPE tiles are served by Getmapping.com - there maybe limited time for these older maps to be displayed. Hope this is not the case.

View the Old Maps and New Maps
http://wheresthepath2.googlepages.com/wheresthepathNpe.htm
**Please look at the useage bar in the bottom left corner if going red then tile useage from the OS OpenSpace API will refuse to display after 30,000 tile impressions a day - OS please raise the limit!


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24 September 2008

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps [Sneak Peek]

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps [Sneak Peek]
Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps in French
French Language Map Tiles soon to be available

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps in German
German Language Map Tiles soon as well

Virtual Earth 6.2 Maps in Italian
Italian Maps


You can see what is new in Virtual Earth 6.2 [but not fully updated yet]
http://dev.live.com/virtualearth/sdk/

* Static maps
* Direct map tile access
* Aerial map imagery metadata
* Pushpin clustering
* Landmark-based directions
* Improved geocoding
* Expanded rooftop geocoding in the US

# Pushpin clustering. Use the VEShapeLayer.SetClusteringConfiguration Method to set how to display and cluster overlapping pushpins for better shape display at higher altitudes.

# Hints for route instructions. Help your users find route turns with hints about nearby landmarks and intersections using the VERouteItineraryItem.Hints Property.

# Imagery metadata. Retrieve information about imagery using the VEMap.GetImageryMetadata Method.

# Base map disabling. Use the Virtual Earth Mercator projection in non-mapping applications by turning off the base map with the VEMapOptions.LoadBaseTiles Property. You can use the VEMap.HideScalebar Method as well.

# Support for other languages. Retrieve maps with labels in French, German, Italian, and Spanish from Virtual Earth. See the Returning Localized Results topic for a list of supported culture strings.

# 3D model import. Import 3D model data files into a shape layer using the VEMap.Import3DModel Method. Interact with these models as you would any shape.

# Updated interactive SDK. See the new functionality of the Virtual Earth map control demonstrated in the updated Virtual Earth Interactive SDK.
[not yet available]


Mapperz Source:
http://www.nateirwin.net/post/Virtual-Earth-62-Coming-September-22nd.aspx
[but it's the 24th September]


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18 September 2008

Live Maps - New Map Tiles

Live Maps - New Map Tiles

New Tiles
New Map Tiles
(odd with duplicate motorway junction numbers?)

Old Map Tiles
Old Map Tiles
To get the old tiles - press the 3D option - Virtual Earth plug in required.


From the Virtual Earth Blog

"now live and contains the following 46TB of imagery and vector updates."

* Vector overlays for Navteq and MDS data sources for orthos and Bird's Eye
* All mobile tiles
* New British Isles Map style

for those interested the new map tiles are load balanced from
r0.ortho.tiles.virtualearth.net
r1.ortho.tiles.virtualearth.net
r2.ortho.tiles.virtualearth.net


View some new tiles
http://tinyurl.com/4u2jrv

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