https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/light-up-london-underground-map • Posted by Cat Morley
For this project, you'll need a large rectangle of plastic or perspex around the same size as your desired tube map. I used the plastic from an Ikea Lomviken frame measuring 91 x 61 cm.
Remove the plastic from the frame. Mine came with a protective coating on the front and the back but I only removed the plastic from the front.
You'll also need a large tube map. I actually used London Underground gift wrap that I'd found in the Transport For London Museum shop.
Use double sided sticky tape to tape the map in place on the back of the plastic.
Turn the plastic over so that the tube map is facing ip and you're ready to begin.
Measure each line on the tube map with a measuring tape and buy a length of EL Wire in the corresponding colour. Remember to buy extra for any lines that have extra branches or bits that jut off. EL Wire doesn't come in black - so I've got a little trick for the later.
Start with a nice simple line, like the Hammersmith & City.
Place a block of wood behind your map and drill a hole, big enough to fit your wire, through the first station on the line.
In this case it would be Hammersmith.
And then drill a second hole at the last station on the line, in this case Barking.
Thread the tip of the EL wire up through Hammersmith and then down through Barking, so that the connecting side of the wire is nearest the bottom of your frame.
Use a hot glue gun to stick the EL Wire along the path of the Hammersmith & City lines, stopping wherever the line meets another tube line.
When you meet another tube line, leave this section unglued and place a second length of EL wire underneath, before continuing to stick down the wire above the new line.
Be careful to follow the shape of the tube map at any areas where it bends and curves.
Keep going until you reach the end of the line.
Next, I worked on the circle line, which is continuous, so I drilled two holes right next to each other at Tower Hill.
This line sat snuggly underneath the Hammersmith & City line.
When adding one of the trickier lines, like the Metropolitan line, we need to drill a few extra holes.
Work out the path of the EL Wire and where it needs to pop up and pop under the map. This required drilling holes at Harrow-On-The-Hill, Watford, Chorleywood, Amersham, Chesham and two holes next to each other at Chalfont & Latimer.
Now thread the EL Wire up at Aldgate and bring it down all the way up at Uxbridge.
Thread the wire behind the map and bring it back up through Amersham and back down through Chorleywood, then go up the back of the map and back up through Chesham, making a loop around to Chalfont & Latimer, then up through Chorleywood and then down halfway between Rickmansworth and Moor Park, looping around the back and up through Watford.
And then back down the line to Harrow-On-The-Hill.
Once you've got your path sorted, glue everything down.
This is a good time to turn your lights on to check that they're still working and that your map is looking good so far.
Continue adding the rest of the lines.
Turn on the lights one more time to check that you're happy with the design. You'll notice that the light will shine through from the back of the map.
Flip the map over.
Use white electrical tape or duct tape to wrap the wire on the back.
Cover all the exposed wires bringing the ends together at the bottom of the map in the middle.
Remove the paper map from the back of the plastic, along with the protective coating.
You'll notice that I used a clear white light for the Northern Line. To give it a black line, I found a thin strip of black wire from a broken cable.
Simple glue the black wire on top of the white light.
Snip the wire whenever you get to the interchanges.
In the same way, I used a white wire to stick on top of the green light for the DLR.
Simply stick it along the middle of the light, creating two green lights at the top and bottom.
Your map is ready to hang on the wall. I drilled holes through the top corners of the map and nailed it into the wall. I also used a white cable tidy to group all the wires together and cover their light on the way to the plug.
Turn off the lights and admire!