British Rail Headcode Typeface and Fonts

[Ian J.]

Just opening up this thread to separate it from the Heljan 45 thread.

 

I'm wondering about the copyright and availability of the headcode typeface used by British Rail. Whether it was consistent (i.e., only one font used across all headcodes), and whether any artwork exists for it (them). If so, would the design still be in copyright, or would it now be in the public domain?

 

My reasoning for asking the above is the dislike many have expressed for the fonts used by the manufacturers for their diesel models' headcodes, and wondering about whether it's worth creating a font for open use so that there's 'no excuse' left for it being wrong.

[The Johnster]

AFAIK the 'font' was the same on all headcodes,  The letters and numbers were on roller blinds which were supplied by the same outside contractor, a company in North Wales that specialised in this sort of thing, and they presumably chose the 'style', which clearly met with BR's approval. They also provided the destination blinds for multiple units and the 2-character headcodes used on some of them, but not for the Southern which I believe used stencils.  

 

Getting it right on a model is not just a matter of scaling down the numbers and letters to the correct size and shape, the density of the black background and white (usually dirtied to cream) numbers and letters is also important.  They were designed to be backlit by very low wattage bulbs, so a dense brilliant white won't look right at all.  

[Izzy]

I have just in the last week or so been making headcode boxes for my AM9/309 EMU and hit this particular problem. That the numerals and letters used are different to any of the   standard fonts used by British Railways. The ‘standout’ feature is that the numeral 3 is flat-topped. 

 

For a a while I had no luck at all. Then one particular search produced a link to a post on RMweb with both png & PDF’s of all the letters&numbers generated by the poster. The big problem is I can’t find the post now, but I will keep searching.

 

Izzy

[45125]

To be pedantic three typefaces were used, the four character head code used a totally different on e used on the two character head code  used on DMUs and a another style was used on some EMUs and DEMUs.

Al Taylor.

[Ian J.]

26 minutes ago, Izzy said:

I have just in the last week or so been making headcode boxes for my AM9/309 EMU and hit this particular problem. That the numerals and letters used are different to any of the   standard fonts used by British Railways. The ‘standout’ feature is that the numeral 3 is flat-topped. 

 

For a a while I had no luck at all. Then one particular search produced a link to a post on RMweb with both png & PDF’s of all the letters&numbers generated by the poster. The big problem is I can’t find the post now, but I will keep searching.

 

Izzy

 

Which 'version' of RMweb? If it's pre-2009 then we've probably lost it, however anything since then should be here somewhere.

 

I'm thinking the Southern Region units (think 4TC/4VEP, etc) might have used a different typeface too. However my knowledge is scant in this area.

[Gibbo675]

Hi Folks,

 

I'm surprised that no one has yet developed an LCD or similar type head code box that will interface with DCC so that the head code may change appropriately.

 

Gibbo.

[Izzy]

10 hours ago, Ian J. said:

 

Which 'version' of RMweb? If it's pre-2009 then we've probably lost it, however anything since then should be here somewhere.

 

I'm thinking the Southern Region units (think 4TC/4VEP, etc) might have used a different typeface too. However my knowledge is scant in this area.

 

I have looked at the PDF file, and I just downloaded it on 27/05/19. I think it might be to do with Southern Region/Class 33 headcodes as it has the legend 33/0, 33/1, 33/2 on the bottom, and might have been posted by 'Ceptic' - apologies if it isn't - which rings a bell for some reason. But I can find no trace of it at present, and although it would seem it was uploaded for free use by others I don't feel it would be right/correct for me to re-post it here. Perhaps someone else can find a link.....

 

Izzy

[Ian J.]

I found Ceptic's thread, but he explicitly states his work is not for commercial use. While I'm not intending to make money out of creating a font, I do want to release it to public domain, so can't use anything with such restrictions on it. I need, therefore, two things: original artwork (not someone else's interpretation of it); and to know that that original artwork is in the public domain. Otherwise creating a font file (or set of font files) is pointless.

[Izzy]

Yes, here is is the link for anybody wanting to download for personal use. As with others my thanks to Ceptic for generating them.

 

 

Izzy

 

 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

If you want some ready-to-use ones, have a look at these for DMUs:

 

http://www.aardstorm-models.com/DecalsStdDMUHeadcodes.html

 

and these for locos:

 

http://www.precisionlabels.com/l41.html

 

http://www.precisionlabels.com/l51.html

 

Usual disclaimer.

Edited June 2, 2019 by St Enodoc
speling

[Porcy Mane]

On 01/06/2019 at 09:29, Ian J. said:

I'm wondering about the copyright and availability of the headcode typeface used by British Rail.

 

For the 4 character  headcode typeface I don't think it was ever registered as an official "font".

 

See here for a bit more info

 

I make up my own headcodes as & when required. I used to use a utility that was included with windows but with upgrading of windows I can't find that utility anymore so currently tend to use open source Fontforge. I then pull the letters & numbers into image editing software to align miswinds and damage. Did I use an oxymoron there?

 

I use the thinner lettered backing because as per prototype i think it helps with the halation when illuminated.

 

Knocked up this, this afternoon to fit a splitty 37 nose that was lying about.

 

P

Edited June 2, 2019 by Porcy Mane

[Ian J.]

It may not have been registered, but that doesn't mean there wasn't original artwork for it, and as such in my understanding that would constitute copyright for as long as it was at the time, or perhaps even longer now. As it was something that I imagine was designed in the 1950s, it's possible it's still in copyright if copyright is taken to be 70 years.

[Porcy Mane]

59 minutes ago, Ian J. said:

It may not have been registered, but that doesn't mean there wasn't original artwork for it, and as such in my understanding that would constitute copyright for as long as it was at the time, or perhaps even longer now.

 That's why I was careful not to use the word copyright.

 

If copyright is your main concern then you had better start contacting the Intellectual Property Office and the Rail Safety and Standards Board* to see how you stand. Best of luck with that one as you will be following in the footsteps of many.

 

*became the owner of Intellectual property relating to rolling stock etc following the abolition of  BRB (Residuary) Limited in 2013

[andy stroud]

On 01/06/2019 at 22:51, Gibbo675 said:

Hi Folks,

 

I'm surprised that no one has yet developed an LCD or similar type head code box that will interface with DCC so that the head code may change appropriately.

 

Gibbo.

 

It would be about as unrealistic as most of the LED lighting seen on model trains.

[Mel_H]

In the very early 1980s I bought a 4-character headcode blind box, complete with blinds, from Collectors Corner. Tell you what, it was bl**dy heavy carting it onto the train at Euston! My plan was to take pictures on film (way before digital), and then cut them out (having done the maths to get the correct distance away, etc) and illuminate them from behind. The only snag was that the winding/actuating handles had been removed (I suspect when the headcode box was taken out of use), which made it a right pain to change the blinds. The label said that it came from Stratford, but I don't know which loco. I guess it might have been a 47, as if it was a 31, then the handles presumably would 'go down', rather than 'come up'. One day, when I have time (the year 2045?!!) I might revisit this..

[cctransuk]

On 02/06/2019 at 23:43, Ian J. said:

It may not have been registered, but that doesn't mean there wasn't original artwork for it, and as such in my understanding that would constitute copyright for as long as it was at the time, or perhaps even longer now. As it was something that I imagine was designed in the 1950s, it's possible it's still in copyright if copyright is taken to be 70 years.

 

Do you really think that the some corporate body is going to come looking for infringement of 'copyright' by private modellers printing headcodes for their models?

 

I fail to understand why some members start getting all hot under the collar whenever the subject of fonts is mentioned.

 

John Isherwood.

[bécasse]

12 hours ago, cctransuk said:

 

Do you really think that the some corporate body is going to come looking for infringement of 'copyright' by private modellers printing headcodes for their models?

 

I fail to understand why some members start getting all hot under the collar whenever the subject of fonts is mentioned.

 

John Isherwood.

Furthermore, if you look through the official British Rail modern image handbook which was "published" as a working bible in the mid-1960s, you will realise that many minor variations of the font existed. They were all intended to look the same but in order to do that in every size and in every situation (particularly with reference to the background) detailed differences in dimensions (and sometimes even shape) applied. Such variations would undoubtedly be required to make head code characters look right in our small model scales (as precisely scaled ones would look wrong to the eye, particularly with background illumination), and the amount of work required to do this - and get it right - would certainly be sufficient to create new intellectual property and hence copyright. It could be argued that Ceptic did this, and he certainly seems to have understood the issues, but I am not certain that all of his expanded font is yet perfect (although it is certainly pretty good).

Edited April 20, 2020 by bécasse

[St Enodoc]

13 minutes ago, bécasse said:

Furthermore, if you look through the official British Rail modern image handbook which was "published" as a working bible in the mid-1960s, you will realise that many minor variations of the font existed. They were all intended to look the same but in order to do that in every size and in every situation (particularly with reference to the background) detailed differences in dimensions (and sometimes even shape) applied. Such variations would undoubtedly be required to make head code characters look right in our small model scales (as precisely scaled ones would look wrong to the eye, particularly with background illumination), and the amount of work required to do this - and get it right - would certainly be sufficient to create new intellectual property and hence copyright. It could be argued that Ceptic did this, and he certainly seems to have understood the issues, but I am not certain that all of his expanded font is yet perfect (although it is certainly pretty good).

For the avoidance of doubt, 4-character headcodes did not use Rail Alphabet.

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

For the avoidance of doubt, 4-character headcodes did not use Rail Alphabet.

 

Quite - for the simple reason that the headcode 'font' preceded the Rail Alphabet by quite a few years!

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[PJT]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

For the avoidance of doubt, 4-character headcodes did not use Rail Alphabet.

 

Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places, but I've tried for 40 years to find the origin of the headcode typeface.  It's kind-of similar to condensed versions of Johnston or Gill Sans but has significant and obvious differences with some characters (the 3 is the most obvious) that means if you try to use either of them they still don't look right at all in a headcode box.  Neither do condensed versions of more modern sans serif faces like Helvetica or Univers; again just looking at the '3' character rules them straight out.

 

In a previous life I did graphic design and technical illustration and a substantial part of our four year course at polytechnic involved typography - including much hand rendering of typefaces, so you really got to know and understand the differences between them.  Even back those days I couldn't puzzle out the headcode typeface.  I came to the conclusion that it was probably designed simply as a set of characters specifically for the purpose, to be as clear as possible within the constraints of the desired size and proportions of the headcode boxes.  There are other instances in the world around us of sets of characters designed for specific purposes that never make it into fully-fledged typefaces or get given names to know them by but, typically of me, I can't rcall any of them at the moment!

 

Pete T.

 

[bécasse]

1 hour ago, St Enodoc said:

For the avoidance of doubt, 4-character headcodes did not use Rail Alphabet.

Indeed, and neither did any of the Southern 2-character ones (whether blinds or stencils), but the scaling down design issues still apply.

[bécasse]

7 minutes ago, PJT said:

 

I came to the conclusion that it was probably designed simply as a set of characters specifically for the purpose, to be as clear as possible within the constraints of the desired size and proportions of the headcode boxes. 

 

I am sure that that is the correct conclusion and, of course, it was a process that was carried out more than once. The L&SWR probably initiated the process with their limited range of stencil letter head codes*, some of which were meaningful and some weren't, which was then adopted (for 3rd-rail electrics) by the Southern Railway, who then started adopting stencil numerical codes with the Brighton Line electrification, and finally, post war, started using roller blinds which carried similar, but not identical, characters to the numerical stencils. Finally, with the advent of the class 33 locomotives and the need for blinds to show alpha as well as numeric codes, a smaller font was universally adopted which was certainly similar to that used for 4-character head codes elsewhere on BR, but not, I suspect, identical.

 

* One should not forget, though, that back-lit stencil route characters had already been in use for a couple of decades on trams and buses.

[PJT]

4 minutes ago, Lantavian said:

The headcodes look a lot like Granby to me...  (a lighter weight than shown here)

 

Close, but like the other san serif faces I mentioned, not close enough.  Sure, Granby has a flat-topped '3' rather than round topped, as headcode '3's do, but as another example, look at the Granby '8' and then look at a headcode box with an '8' in it (no, not a Heljan printed headcode!) - they're very, very different.  Similarly, the 'B's are very different.  I could go on...

 

Pete T.

 

[Porcy Mane]

You can always make your own headcode typescripts.

 

Maybe enlist the help of one of these good men.

 

What's that in grandad's loft? by Geoff Dowling, on Flickr

 

It had nowt to do with me:

 

24145 "Porky" at Swindon by Geoff Dowling, on Flickr

 

and for those of use that use Windows you could try the little secret of the hidden typescript editor that has shipped with Windows since its earliest versions and is still there in Windows 10.

 

P

 

 

 

 

[Porcy Mane]

14 minutes ago, Lantavian said:

And so it never was a typeface created by a type foundry. It therefore could be a fool's errand trying to match it up with actual typefaces.

 

I'll just leave this quote here as it would seem a few folk don't like following links.

 

"The font was the result as a consultation between the BRB's design panel and the Applied Psychology Research Unit of the Medical Research Council.

The reason the font was much condensed/thinner was to reduce the effect of halation.

The above info came from a 1963 edition of "Design". The magazine of The Council of Industrial Design. (Now the Design Council)"

 

Just to show headcode blinds were not necessarily white on black:

 

 

and there were the reversed black on white that was trialled for a period.  (Hmmmmm, "period" might be a pun on the context of headcode fonts.)

 

P

Edited April 20, 2020 by Porcy Mane