ess1uk Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 What font do I need to use to make signs for BR depots, stations etc? Is it just a normal easily available font? I know the London Underground is their own Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Banger Blue Posted February 9, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 9, 2012 Try this link to RM Web (in a former guise) http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=20822 Andy has posted a link to the specific fonts in this thread. I tried to load the files direct from my laptop but not permitted to upload that sort of file. HTH Dougie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 Thanks, can get on and make some signs tonight now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
col447 Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Try this link , http://www.f1p.co.uk/download.html it has a few of the train companies in use. Just fill in the name of the station and print off. Cheers Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 fonts won't install like the other site though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridwatcher Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Specific font called Rail Alphabet. Very similar to hospital NHS fonts and Helvetica Sans with minor differences. try here http://www.newrailalphabet.co.uk/ Si Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Try this link , http://www.f1p.co.uk/download.html it has a few of the train companies in use. Just fill in the name of the station and print off. Cheers Colin Thanks for the link. Signs printed off and ready to be mounted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Specific font called Rail Alphabet. Very similar to hospital NHS fonts and Helvetica Sans with minor differences. try here http://www.newrailalphabet.co.uk/ Si In my early days in BR I was told that it was 'modified Helvetica medium'. It was derived from Jock Kinnear's pioneering work with road signs which as per Si's post was also developed into the NHS font too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ess1uk Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 Shoul it be red arrows on a White background Or White arrows on a red background for station signs? What about depot signs? Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_long Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 This link was posted by Pugsley in a blog post, its really good. http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ Crop a photo of the text you want to replicate, then upload it to this site and if the text is determinable it will tell you what font it is and give you a link to download it. A lot of fonts are payware, but take the name and google it you'll quite often get the ones you want free somewhere else. I used this to get the font the Cargowaggon used on their wagons. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquireBev Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 On a related note - for pre-Corporate Image signage such as totems, am I right in thinking it's Gill Sans? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenman Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 On a related note - for pre-Corporate Image signage such as totems, am I right in thinking it's Gill Sans? Yes, beautiful Gill sans was the pre-Corporate Image font. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted April 9, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 9, 2012 On a related note - for pre-Corporate Image signage such as totems, am I right in thinking it's Gill Sans? Yep, although the font was 'tweaked' for use on railway signage so the word processing font may not be 100% spot on. Near enough for me though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquireBev Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Good good, thought it must be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-gog Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 In my early days in BR I was told that it was 'modified Helvetica medium'. It was derived from Jock Kinnear's pioneering work with road signs which as per Si's post was also developed into the NHS font too. Corporate BR in the blue era and beyond used Jock Kinnear & Margaret Calvert's Rail Alphabet. It's very similar to Helvetica 65 Medium, but it's not Helvetica 65 Medium. Rail Alphabet was also used in the NHS, at UK airports, and also on Danish Railways. Misha Black was also "inspired by" Helvetica for his typeface for the "Western" locos. (Inspired by, as in pretty much a direct copy.) Prior to 1964, BR (and LNER) used a modified Gill Sans, and even within BR it wasn't consistent (curly 6 anyone?). AFAIK there's no specific British Railways Gill Sans face out there. Scalescenes also do print-at-home station signs. They even had a link to download Rail Alphabet in ttf format. Please, please, please don't use Arial for anything railway-related, except perhaps certain EWS locos as some cretin at EWS thought it was "cool" to use it for loco numbers. Every time Arial is used, an angel dies. Anyone seen my coat? It's the one with "The Elements of Typographic Style" in the pocket. RWJ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 ... Every time Arial is used, an angel dies... Don't mention comic sans. I did once, but I think I got away with it. My coat pocket - CD with backup of Lintoype Font Explorer having a nervous breakdown over different versions of Helvetica. For UK road signs, the Transport and Motorway fonts are available from http://www.cbrd.co.uk/fonts/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-gog Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Don't mention comic sans. I did once, but I think I got away with it. My coat pocket - CD with backup of Lintoype Font Explorer having a nervous breakdown over different versions of Helvetica. For UK road signs, the Transport and Motorway fonts are available from http://www.cbrd.co.uk/fonts/ I avoided mentioning C***c S**s as each time that's used, another of hell's hounds gets unleashed. I know what you mean about different versions of Helvetica. Those CRDB road sign fonts are pretty rough. K-Type's Transport http://www.k-type.com/?p=626 are much, much better. Did I also mention that I collaborated with Keith of K-Type to develop Enamela, a digitisation of the typeface used on vintage Post Office/Telegraph Office signs, many of which still remain? Shameless plug http://www.k-type.com/?p=2487 Oh yes, I have. Margaret Calvert has revised Rail Alphabet, and is now called New Rail Alphabet. It costs £megabucks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Those CRDB road sign fonts are pretty rough. Yes, I think he says as much at the top of the page. Anyone tried them out for modelling purposes? The small size of the model may mean those versions are OK for that purpose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krusty Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 It's very similar to Helvetica 65 Medium, but it's not Helvetica 65 Medium. I always understood that the BR typeface was derived from Univers 65. The numbered Helveticas AFAIK only came in with Helvetica Neue in the early 1980s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-gog Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I always understood that the BR typeface was derived from Univers 65. The numbered Helveticas AFAIK only came in with Helvetica Neue in the early 1980s. Force of habit I'm afraid - I tend to think of the weights in terms of numbers. But anyway, it's based on Helvetica Medium. It's not Univers by a long, long way. Take a look at 1, 5, 7, and G. Rail Alphabet's don't look anything like those in Univers, but are very much closer to Helvetica Medium. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.