Hi All,

My lovely fiance is letting me slip the smallest of steam references into our upcoming wedding in the form of the numbers displayed on our tables. I'm trying to locate a correct font that would be similar to locomotive numbers, such as those painted on the sides of cabs. Has anyone made their own decals or stencils and can enlighten me a little?

A couple examples:

MILW 261: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kd0ebp-james/5074669467/

AOSR 1293 (with a bit of vanity thrown in): http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=162624&nseq=3

I'm sure these vary a bit, I'm just trying to find something in the ballpark.

Thanks!

Most likely a variation of Railroad Roman. Look here for several font choices.http://railfonts.com
Hope this helps you.
Rob Sundberg

http://railsimstuff.com/
Several great fonts on this site too.

Yeah, I should have let him know about them as well. Have them bookmarked. Totally forgot about them. And they are free.
Rob Sundberg

Thanks Rob and SR, 'preciate the help.

Hi Tim

According to my book Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives by Omer Lavallee in the section of the book on page 444 Graphics the CPR used Roman Letters and Numbers as of Sept 1920 . Pat

"Roman" is a rather generic term for serifed characters similar to the "font" now known as Roman. The railroads generally used their own unique diagrams for letters and numerals. They were painted by hand, and later with stencils. The RR Roman font previously mentioned gets you in the ballpark for many lines, but the whole concept of standard "fonts" as currently understood is a desktop publishing-era (1980s) invention.

You may also encounter words such as Gothic or Egyptian when reading railroad drawings. These rather generic words do not mean much without seeing the railroad's drawings of the characters.

A number of "restorations" and contemporary shortlines have used off-the-shelf fonts for painting equipment. The results are usually underwhelming.

Best wishes for your wedding.