Delightful facsimile (and wonderful present); especially appreciate the x-height of the name aligning with the symbol in the ‘catering’ double arrow, although I have a feeling the Rail Alphabet may not have featured in the original due to limited availability in hot metal type back in the day

Lovely cover, show us the map too :)

Here in Lancing there is a fine Network SouthEast sign on the signal box which has been battered by the elements—sun, wind, salt—and it looks beautiful because of it :)

Gorgeous and crazy, look how the main carriageway isn’t even depicted vertically on the sign and the half has a solidus at 60° (no solidus today) just as the arrows are cut at 60° (rather than today’s 45°); Margaret Calvert’s Transport working hard since 1958 though :)

I understand the point of adding a hook to the lower case ‘l’ but would love to know the rationale about making the leg of the R straight; I don’t think these minor changes to Rail Alphabet 2 certainly justify the existence of a new typeface called ‘Rail Alphabet 3’

Always thoroughly enjoy these informative articles by the @danielhwright.bsky.social on @thebeautyoftransport.com; this one, reflecting on the recent unveiling of the GBR (Great British Railways) brand, is both measured in its objectivity and thorough in its scope…

Time to add all the signage to D213’s layout what better reference than this gem from @doublearrow64.bsky.social

That symbol is making me want to use the item 🤢

That’s quite a lot of symbols 😬

Not come across the ‘Travellers-Fare is Quality’ tagline before (I was only five or six years old at that point); interesting that it is set in Univers not Rail Alphabet (or Helvetica) like the actual logotype (compare and contrast)

I am certainly fond of Edward Johnston’s Underground type but this printed poster (presumably letterpress) shows the typeface falling apart due to lack of kerning; see especially ‘STATION’ and ‘MONDAY’—AT (and TA) and AY combinations especially clunky here #kerning #keming

Lovely photo but imagine adulterating a brand new tug in Roundel’s carefully devised Railfreight livery with a badly drawn kingfisher decal (especially as there was a perfectly good cast aluminium depot mascot plate) #Thornaby #Village

One for railway station and/or history lovers, this new initiative from @danielhwright.bsky.social is already a thing of distinction and will only improve further with age…

Naturally it’s in my book (see my pinned post) in the chapter called ‘Getting in shape’; it was an early addition from 1966 (superseded in 1977j and indirectly came to mean ’warning’ although the version on your sign has been finessed (see rounded inner angles compared to original points)

Nothing like a bit of signwriter's Rail Alphabet; just look at those bizarre extenders on the t’s!

Can’t be doing with it all centred…

This ill-conceived sign is one of the worst in the world Capitals are aggressive, harder to read and just HORRIBLE to look at, a mixture of upper and lower case is also undesirable Split the legend before ‘THE’ and there would be a massive saving on materials too

The Altrincham interchange where Greater Manchester buses link with overhead electric services of British Rail. From Buses magazine, November 1978 - Pic: J. G. Glover

This ‘hyphen’ looks even more like a centre point; nice line art though

Not sure that the lozenge version belongs inside #outsidein

Agreed, fabulous fleet; but imagine putting the symbol *after* the logotype and not even lining it up with the x-height (yellow roof also on a hiding to nothing with push-pull operations) @garethdennis.uk

Your buttered toast hyphen looks rather narrow, almost like a centre point

Design Research Unit would be a beautiful name for a baby girl

Also love the way the symbol aligns with lower case x-height (as Design Research Unit and Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert intended)

Serious attention to detail here, looks fabulous and the symbol (Rail Symbol 2) at 2.3m wide is (a) very big, and therefore (b) very stunning, alongside Calvert and Kubel’s Rail Alphabet (used here in its Bold weight)

It’s the Warning Yellow and black window surrounds that I like (but with relatively small symbols); it’s all very 37610

Do you mean the name Staples Corner has nothing to do with office stationery? I’m sure there was a Staples there when I was a teenager, presumably named—perhaps indirectly—after the mattress company?

Live scenes from Macclesfield…

Beautiful Barking

I haven’t got it, if that’s what you mean!

Triple arrow, anyone?

Some notes on the design of the Inter-City 125 logotype (and the rationale for the dodgy chubby symbol version)

This is just a fascinating, knowledgeable, and occasionally withering survey, telling the story a #Ukrailways icon. So glad I bought it!

‘Arrows of desire’ is a rather different animal, 210 x 210mm softback with 96 pages of historical design analysis and cultural commentary, dealing with sectorisation and privatisation (i.e. the 50+ years since the lion’s share of the Manual was published) the-modernist.org/products/arr...

Rail symbol socks available from the Design Museum Shop… designmuseumshop.com/collections/...

Banner unfurled at Ibrox (Rangers) on Thursday night… www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

Just going to pop this here for the maths boffins… #RailSymbol2 #Pythagoras

Some of the biggest symbols from the British Rail era were those attached to the funnels of the shipping fleet (Currently on eBay www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28691109...)

There always used to be a relationship between the parallel tracks of the symbol and the lowercase x-height; this is nonsense (just like making the whole symbol the same as cap-height, which makes the symbol too small) Suppose it’s Rail Alphabet 2 so could be worse :)

5 November 1979 & the new winter timetable for British Rail's East Coast Main Line between Scotland, NE England & York & not long fully operated by the HST 125 train sets. #railways #transport @doublearrow64.bsky.social ↘️ flic.kr/p/2kguRbg

Lovely Flame Red and Pacific Blue accents #RailAlphabet

When I’m not thinking about railway-related design, I’m usually immersed in multi-script typeface design; here’s my latest offering—Aeropa PE—available now from Rosetta Type…

‘Special’ indeed :) (Note the first generation ‘Danger overhead live wires’ sticker)

This sign uses principles from the original Wayfinding Design Manual; cap-height vertical alignment gives an u&lc legend that sinking feeling plus the symbol is rather small relative to the name (the cap-height actually sits below halfway on this particular sign!) (Photograph: Jason Carthy-Torbitt)

I could be wrong but I think TfL probably treat these green signs (e.g. ‘Fire exit’ etc) as a different animal from general wayfinding/information; it’s also a bit odd that there is no obvious ‘Way out’ sign (which could be different locations from any fire exits)

Style versus substance :)

This is gorgeous and strikingly unlike the SBB clock, which I had as an app back in the day (this should also be an app)

Okay, whatever people think about "GBR" this is actually staggeringly good branding work.

On my way back north after attending the unveiling of the new rail clock at London Bridge; the timepiece is all at once disarmingly simple and delightfully ingenious…

Love this pillar (totem) signage treatment at London Euston, very clean and clear