I'm curious as to what fonts railroads use in their logos and various other markings. All I could figure out was that UP uses 'Futura' and 'Cityof', but I couldn't find any others. Specifically, Canadian Pacific, BNSF and Amtrak are what I'm looking for.
The one I want to know the most is for Amtrak's Acela... That would make me very happy.
But if you know any, even if they're not mentioned, that would be great.
Thanks,
Acela
The timbers beneath the rails are not the only ties that bind on the railroad. --Robert S. McGonigal
I have no idea, but I do know that it is not Dingbats. Who would use such a font?
Johnny
You might try this site or one similar to it:
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
Deggesty I have no idea, but I do know that it is not Dingbats. Who would use such a font?
Professional dingbats
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
For logos, keep in mind that the type is often designed or modified for the sole purpose of the logo, and are never used elsewhere. I don't know about the Acela logo, but it could be that the only characters created are the a, c, e, and l, since they are the only ones ever used in the logo.
Same as anywhere else, different fonts for different things at different times. Often suggested and used by an advertising executive or agency...yes, they've been around a long, long time. One constant was large and clear images were needed so that carmen and trainmen could readily identify them, and numbers on locomotives had to be seen and not confused by operators, agents, towermen, engineers, or train crews either for schedules and safety. Even penmanship was important when writing messages and train orders and keeping records. I know I'd be disqualified in tower, dispatching and agency work on my handwriting alone!
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I am in the graphics industry and for years have been a supplier to various railroads and car builders for their decals.
Most corporations today use a specific logo which has been developed for their branding. There is a strict compliance associated with the use of the logo, colors, fonts, etc.
About 8 years ago Union Tank Car moved to a specific fontstyle which was closely associated with their hertitage "stencil" font. Their UTLX logo on tank cars looked like their stencil style of previous years.
When UTC closed their East Chicago manufacturing plant about 5 years ago, my contact with them pretty much ended and I am not sure what they are doing today.
Ed
I don't know the answer to your question. However I do notice that Amtrak uses a fairly dark blue color on a white background. This makes the name easily readable unlike a lot of other print I see today.
In the old classic railroad days the most commonly used font for locomotives and rolling stock was called "Railroad Roman". If you look at any photos from the old days you'll see it and recognize it immediately.
Nowadays, it looks like anything goes as long as it legible and recognizeable.
Deggesty I have no idea, but I do know that it is not Dingbats. Who would use such a font
I have no idea, but I do know that it is not Dingbats. Who would use such a font
Well, anyone who wants access to special characters from a keyboard, for one.
(In the old days, when it was a real hot-metal 'font' instead of a typeface, how else would you have molds for all those characters? Cut'em with a dental tool? Use watchmaker's tools? ...)
Not all systems have the Alt-xxx switch for special characters, and not all typefaces have what you need in the high-bit characters. So some access to Dingbats (which is a technical term for this sort of thing in typography, btw) or Wingdings or whatever is still useful in many situations.
No more intended as a 'font' in itself than, say, Montreal Steak Seasoning would be as an entree. And surely you would not think ketchup is a vegetable... ;-}
Well ketchup may not be a vegetable but tomato sauce certainly is! That's what makes pizza a perfect food, it's got the vegetable group, the dairy group, and the grain group. Throw on some pepperoni and you'v e got the meat group as well!
Sorry for the off-topic rant, I'll go quietly...
Firelock76 Well ketchup may not be a vegetable ... Sorry for the off-topic rant, I'll go quietly...
Well ketchup may not be a vegetable ... Sorry for the off-topic rant, I'll go quietly...
[quote user=Foghorn Leghorn} It was a joke, son.
Many years ago now, in the Reagan Administration, there was a kerfuffle about school lunch programs, in which one of the cheap-ass 'arguments' was that ketchup 'counted' as a vegetable in nutrition assessments. This was gleefully seized upon by the press as an example of Stockmania or whatever.
It's not so much that it's 'wrong' as that the semantics are. Ketchup is a condiment. Tomato sauce is ... well, much more a component of what it's applied to.
Now you've got me hungry for lasagna, and I have no way to get it. Curses!!!
RME
So basically most roads have their logos and lettering specially designed and probably won't be availible as a font. That's what I'm hearing.
No problem though! (English class requires us to use Times New Roman anyway, blech! )
Acela026 So basically most roads have their logos and lettering specially designed and probably won't be availible as a font. That's what I'm hearing. Acela
No. With so many fonts available today it is unlikely that there is a font exclusive to one or any railroad. If so, it would be trademarked or copyright and not be on anyone's keyboard or hard drive anyway; I don't off hand know of any secured font. Logos, arrangements of letters, phrases, names, terms, figures, artwork, etc, are often TM or Copyright protected however.. And most often it is the one who uses it first and can prove it, owns it. Sometimes it is so because no one else would want to copy or there is no sense in copying....
N
H
That is the closest I can get to the New Haven's logo.
NH's letters look rather like "Stymie Bold," which I happen to have in actual type in a couple of sizes.
NYC's font is called "Grand Central" and is available on-line, for a small fee, which I did pay. I use it a lot when preparing handouts for our railroad, which runs on a former NYC line.
There are literally thousands of type styles, the differences between many of which can be told only by an experienced eye.
As for original fonts (like Grand Central), sometimes the font itself isn't original (or is real close to an existing font), but the arrangement make it so, as already noted. Adding a flourish, outlining, or some other feature changes a routine type style into something that uniquely identifies it's user.
The logo of one tech company was rumored to be either the grease stain from a donut or the rings from a coffee cup...
As for the dingbats - I use a few of them fairly often, especially the pointing "fists." As long as you don't get too cute, the various characters can provide a way to make "bullet lists" unique in a report.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Don't get type fonts and logo's mixed up...a type font is the way a letter or members of a set of letters are styled or configured. A logo can be a combination of letters and figures and shapes which specifically identifies an entity such as company, orginazation, etc.
Just as a nitpick: the way that the letters and numbers are styled and configured is the TYPEFACE.
The 'font' is the collection of all the characters with a particular style and configuration.
This used to be a traditional sore point, back in the Alan Cooper Macintosh days. Produced the same sort of effect as calling a Spartacist a "Trotskyite" -- NO, IT'S "TROTSKYIST,IST,IST" <stamps feet, turns red, then holds breath and turns blue, etc.>
I usually refrain from grammar fascism (I can't very well be a 'grammar Nazi' when italicized type would have to be Fascist, could I?) but in this particular case I consider the distinction to be meaningful enough to mention it.
BTW: Usually the letterforms used in logos have been derived from some existing (probablly electronic) typeface source. The best thing to do is CONTACT the organization in question, and ask what firm did the logo design. Then ask that firm how they developed the letterforms, why they altered them, etc.
When I design logos, I do quite a bit of tweaking to existing letterforms, and to their leading and kerning, to get 'just the right effect'. Do not forget the typeSETTING aspect of this material, in addition to the letterforms...
Larry,
I used new courier which is the closest I could get on my Mac.
John
Isn't ACELA a nasal decongestant ?
Perhaps we should change it to A Choo Choo.
John WR I used new courier which is the closest I could get on my Mac.
It's not too far off, actually.
That said, sometimes the differences between typefaces are subtle. I've got various catalogs of typefaces, and sometimes you just have to take their word for it that there's a difference between Times Roman 1 and Times Roman 2, or whatever.
I often use Garamond for my fire department stuff. When I used to print tickets for the department (we don't sell many anymore) I used a typeface I'd acquired called "Garamond Italic." The catch was that I'd picked up an auxiliarly font of "swash" characters that I used, and I haven't found them on-line.
One problem with using non-standard fonts on the computer (and you can get hundreds of them) is if you want to take a document to a copy center for printing. If they don't have the font, it won't come out the way you wanted it.
Nah... Logo Designers do not use fonts, they design a logo from scratch. There are just far to many things that need to be just right. Once they have a logo, they may then specify the fonts that they want to use with their equipment (Numbers, Letters etc) and on all of their corporate image.
LION was given the Independent font used by NYCT on the R-1s to R-38s and used by the IND on their original station signs. At least I can make new numbers for my subway cars.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I'm sure you know Courier is the font traditionally used on typewriters. I find it is easy to read. I assume it is a standard font. Here I make it bold because that looks to me more like a manual typewriter would look.
Overmod This used to be a traditional sore point, back in the Alan Cooper Macintosh days. Produced the same sort of effect as calling a Spartacist a "Trotskyite" -- NO, IT'S "TROTSKYIST,IST,IST" <stamps feet, turns red, then holds breath and turns blue, etc.> RME
Overmod, I understand what you mean. Alcoholic... Workaholic. No... Workic.
http://www.railsimstuff.com/
this has a lot of fonts in it
I didn't see Atlantic Coast Line or Seaboard Airline? Did I miss it?
VGN JessI didn't see Atlantic Coast Line or Seaboard Air Line? Did I miss it?
He revised the site extensively in late 2016, and it is possible that he would produce appropriate faces/fonts for either or both upon request.
It's true. I have been known to take requests.
VGN Jess I didn't see Atlantic Coast Line or Seaboard Air Line? Did I miss it?
No, although I dimly remember use of the Eurostile Bold Extended for one of them in passenger.
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A couple of years ago for my railroad themed wedding, I needed vector artwork for about 30 "classic" railroad heralds. With exactly three exceptions, I had to redraw them in Illustrator (UP and KCS had vector files on their websites and the B&O historical society had the Capitol Dome). They all contained letters or words.
Virtually all of those letters had to be hand drawn. Even ones that superficially resembled known or common typefaces had some sort of porportional difference that could not be recreated unless the individual letters were reconstructed and positioned manually.
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