Railroad Fonts; a listing.

[PerRock]

I've started a listing of various Railroads & the typefaces they use for their branding. It will probably never be a complete list. However I'll try and keep it up some. I will be trying to stay as true to the actual branding as possible so not all typefaces I list will be available to you; if it isn't I'll try and supply a suitable alternative. Most of these fonts are commercial.

Feel free to suggest other Railroads to investigate. AMTZ Forum post:
​http://s4.zetaboards.com/amtkz/topic/9444989/

For a railroad I haven't gotten to (yet) a good rule of thumb if they use a sans serif typeface is to try one of these three: Helvetica, Gil Sans, or Frutiger.

Key
[Square Brackets] indicate a suitable replacement. (Parenthesis) indicate font face (Roman, Black, etc) or other notes. ?? indicates that I'm still researching.

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Amtrak Pre IVb/V: Helvetica (Bold)
Amtrak Post IVb/V: Furitger (55/Roman)
Amtrak California: Times New Roman & Helvetica
ATSF: ATSF Cooper [Cooper Black]
BNSF: Clarendon (old) Helvetica (new)
British Rail (Blue): Rail Alphabet [Helvetica]
British Rail (Pre-Blue): Gil Sans
Cascades: Bodoni (Book)
CP Pullman: ??
CP Modern: Helvetica
CSX: CSX Lubalin Graph [Lubalin Graph Bold]
DB: Helvetica
DSB: Rail Alphabet
East Coast & National Express East Coast: Gil Sans
Eurostar (old): ??
Eurostar (new): Gil Sans
Ferroviaria Italiana: Futura
Intercity (BR): Frutiger & ??
London Underground (TfL): Johnston
Network Rail: Helvetica
NS (Dutch): Frutiger
NS (US): NS Helvetica [Helvetica]
Railtrack: Brunel
Thalys: Thalys Conga Brava (Custom) [Conga Brava]
Union Pacific: Union Pacific City Of (Custom) [City Of]
VIA: FIP Typefaces (exclusive to Canada) [Helvetica]

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Downloads:
Frutiger, Helvetica, Gil Sans, Bodoni: http://www.linotype.com
Rail Alphabet (publicly New Rail Alphabet): http://www.newrailalphabet.co.uk/
Johnston (publicly as Johnston Underground or Underground Pro): http://www.p22.com
Clarendon: http://www.faces.co.uk/
Cooper Black: http://www.microsoft.com
CityOf: http://www.railfonts.com/
Lubalin Graph: http://www.itcfonts.com/
Conga Brava: http://www.adobe.com

 

[PerRock]

I just have to say I love the auto-save feature. It just saved my caboose...

peter

 

[Retro00064]

The font that Union Pacific uses is awfully similar to the "Eagle" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(typeface)) and maybe even the "Novel Gothic" typefaces, if one of those isn't the actual font that UP uses.

Regards,

Zachary.

 

[zp423]

CSX uses Lubalin Graph Bold for the logo and helvetica for numbering
For Norfolk Southern try NS Logo Here http://www.railsimstuff.com/fonts2.php and http://www.railsimstuff.com/fonts3.php both the Southern Fonts Here
For Wheeling And LAke Erie Impact is used for numbering but im unsure of the font of the logo The Rio Grande Font here http://www.railfonts.com/cgi-bin/font_shop/fontshop.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=page8.html dosent exactly Match
Thanks For the List Peter,
Zman27

 

[PerRock]

All those fonts from Railsimstuff aren't the actual fonts used by the railroads. They are copies made by someone else and hence why I won't include them in my list.

peter

 

[whitepass]

In the U.S. you can not copyright a font but you can copyright a font name so a lot of fonts have more than one name.

 

[Euphod]

Well, you're a real font of knowledge, aren't you Peter?

 

[PerRock]

Graphic Designer by trade.

I've updated the forum post. http://s4.zetaboards.com/amtkz/topic/9444989/