Amtrak 2125
Today's #30DaysMapChallenge, is to create a “Map from 2125” - imagining what maps might look like a century from now. For this challenge I created Amtrak Maglev Rail 2125, a speculative map of the United States showing a network of high-speed maglev rail lines, with moving “trains” that visualize travel in real-time across the country.
Concept
The map simulates a futuristic rail network where passengers can travel at extreme speeds of around 400 mph. Each rail line is represented as a neon-colored line, and glowing circles mark stations. Trains travel back and forth along these lines, leaving a visible trail that fades, giving the impression of continuous motion.
The simulation is not just visual: it incorporates real-world geography and distances. Travel time is approximated based on high-speed maglev trains, so a trip from Washington, DC to Seattle, for instance, takes about 5.5 hours in the simulation, assuming a top speed of around 400 mph.
How It Works
The map uses MapLibre GL JS for rendering. Each rail line is defined in a GeoJSON dataset, and the trains’ positions are animated along these lines. Key features include:
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Fixed-length trains: Each moving line represents a train of roughly 100 miles in length, ensuring consistency as it moves.
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Bidirectional travel: Trains automatically reverse direction when reaching the end of a line, simulating round-trip service.
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Simulation time: The map displays a dynamic clock that advances in proportion to train speed, giving a sense of real-time passage.
All of this is achieved purely with client-side JavaScript, leveraging the Haversine formula to calculate distances along curved lines, and interpolating positions along the line to animate the trains.
Styling
To give the map a futuristic, high-tech aesthetic, I created a custom “Dark Matter” style using Maputnik, an open-source style editor for vector maps. Starting from OpenFreeMap’s Positron base style, I adjusted colors and opacity to create a dark, minimalist background that highlights the neon rail lines and glowing stations. Residential areas are darkened, and city labels are hidden, allowing the vibrant train lines and stations to stand out against the black background.
The result is a futuristic looking map providing a simulation of what high-speed travel across the United States could look like a century from now.
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