Southern/BR (S) Disc Numbers

[Rick_Skateboard]

Hello All,

 

I believe the numbers seen on SR route code discs are the locomotive's duty number? Does anybody know how they were applied, and what size or font they were? I'd like to get the detail right in 4mm scale, but I also have a full size replica disc I'd like to put a number on, and I plan to make some 5" gauge ones too.  I'm guessing they were printed on paper and stuck on with some sort of wallpaper paste or similar? Any information would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

 

Rick

[corneliuslundie]

I have consulted John Harvey, The HMRS Southern Railway Company Steward, and he has replied as follows:

"If one looks at a large number of photos covering a good many years, then it will be seen that the styles and sizes of the figures on the discs might not be consistent.  These were paper and stuck on as required.  I believe that in some places the figures were painted on using stencils.  From time-to-time the discs themselves were cleaned and repainted.

 

"The Duties were set out in 'Engine Workings' books, usually produced twice a year with amendments as necessary.  472 was probably from the series allocated for Salisbury shed, whilst 280 is probably an Eastleigh working.  The duties applied for a season, and possibly for several seasons successively with but minor changes, but this was not always the case."

I hope this helps

Jonathan David

[zarniwhoop]

On 31/01/2020 at 12:41, Rick_Skateboard said:

Hello All,

 

I believe the numbers seen on SR route code discs are the locomotive's duty number? Does anybody know how they were applied, and what size or font they were? I'd like to get the detail right in 4mm scale, but I also have a full size replica disc I'd like to put a number on, and I plan to make some 5" gauge ones too.

For a model, I will suggest that you first find a font which looks likely (from the pictures, probably a condensed Sans-Serif variant).  Point sizes are not consistent across computer fonts, so once you have a font that you think might do the job try printing the numbers at different sizes.

 

Google for fonts - some are not as free-to-use as the download sites imply, but for this use I don't think anyone is likely to try to sue you! Where you have a photo, try to match it - and expect that different numbers will suit different fonts.

 

As with all testing of fonts for use on a model (e.g. for station signs), print a range of sizes to start with and then review the results.

 

For full-size I suppose that the differences between fonts might show up more, but you'll again have to take a guess at what size to print them, and if they still look ok then adjust the size as necessary.

 

ĸen

[Rick_Skateboard]

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to look at some more photos and have an experiment with different fonts and sizes then. Interesting to learn more about this.

 

Cheers.

 

Rick