Automatically obtaining railway maps from a set of historical events

Abstract

We present here what, as far as we know, is a real novelty: a computer package that can automatically generate railway maps of a certain network at any (past) date requested, using different colors to show the type of line. The input is: (1) a set of historical events, (2) the graph of the railway network at its maximum extension and (3) a list of geographical coordinates of stations, junctions, loading bays, … (that are the nodes of the graph). The package processes the set of historical events (affecting whole lines or portions of lines), and assigns a list of dates to each edge of the graph. Then, when a date is given to the system, it computes the right coloring for each edge, and constructs and plots an accurate map of the railway network at that given date according to the geographic coordinates of the nodes of the graph. This piece of software can be really useful for geographers, historians and engineers. What is normally available are maps of certain dates, and they do not always use the same scale, the same level of detail, the same symbols and colors, …, or are restricted to a certain railway company.