# Which type font looks best for locos?



## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Trying to avoid work, I have been experimenting with type fonts, trying to decide which is typical of lettering used by say, D&RGW, C&S and other turn of the century railroads?

I chose these two, as marked, but anyone have any other ideas? 

T&E
1 2 3 
engravers MT 
T&E

1 2 3
Times New Roman


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

Joe - The vast majority of the work I do uses good ole' Railroad Roman. Times New Roman is a good substitute.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Yep, I'd agree. Railroad Roman is a must have font.

Here's a free download version:

Railroad Roman


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## pfdx (Jan 2, 2008)

Railroad Roman is not a free font. It's creator has a lot of time and energy into it's development and he continues to create new fonts.

It is available on it's offical website

RailFonts.Com

There are now several versions of RR Roman and many other railroad specific typefaces available.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

This is another commonly used font for railroads, particularly in and around Pennsylvania/Ohio/West Virginia, etc. I've not yet found a font that matches exactly, though Railfont's "Pennsylvania RR" (I think that's what it's called) comes close. Naturally, I discovered _after_ I had created the artwork myself. 

One bit of warning with the RR Roman--it's a L O N G font, most versions I've seen have the letters twice as wide as they are tall. If you're using software such as Illustrator or Photoshop that lets you warp fonts to your heart's content, then you'll be fine. Otherwise, don't expect to fit a long name on a typical tender. 

Later, 

K


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks guys. K, I don't think length will be an issue ans I'm not sure as I would ever spell out the entire name, which means "Towels on floor" in Spanish or some other lanuage I don't speak. My wife thinks it's silly, but I like the initals. BTW, since we're talkin' floor, which is a flat surface, I think the railroad's slogan should be "The Flat Line."


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Joe........ I have Railroad Roman and RRRoman in a file that I can send you. They are free fonts and come in a Zip Folder. Send me you email address and I'll upload them to you.

[email protected]


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

I also find Engravers MT and Times New Roman useful. I guess there are other fonts which would be suitable to the railroad and era modeled.

For notices signs etc. there re many other fonts that have mysteriously appeared in my Microsoft Word drop down font menu. Some are:


Durango normal, Saloonext, Showguide and Wanted Poster Cafe. There are many more to view.


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## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

I down loaded the RR Roman and was very disappointed in the smaller "Y". Also between the Engravers MT and RR Roman there is no kerning between the "V" and "A" in Pennsylvania. 

Not sure how to paste the example in here.


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Richard Weatherby on 13 Sep 2009 04:44 PM 
I down loaded the RR Roman and was very disappointed in the smaller "Y". Also between the Engravers MT and RR Roman there is no kerning between the "V" and "A" in Pennsylvania. 

Not sure how to paste the example in here. 
What did you expect for a freeware font? The payware version (link also posted above) is a lot better, but then again it is not free.




If anyone is ever looking for very good freeware railroad fonts, Pete Willard has kindly created several great font sets specifically for Microsoft Train Simulator repainters but they also work great whenever you need a railroad style font.


Pete Willard Railroad Fonts Page 1 


Pete Willard Railroad Fonts Page 2


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

...Engravers MT and RR Roman there is no kerning between the "V" and "A" in Pennsylvania... 
Do your artwork in Illustrator, Corel Draw, or similar vector-based illustration program. Then you can slide your letters around to suit. The other advantage is that once the lettering is vector based, you can scale it for whatever you want to scale it for. Just for grins once, I scaled my EBT lettering down to Nn3. If anyone wants decals or dry transfers in that scale, you can letter an entire fleet of hoppers on an 8.5" x 11" sheet.  

Later, 

K


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