Logos on the Railways

[Dai.]

Hello! I like to design in my spare time, it's a fun way of letting creativity out, but one thing I seem to struggle with, is railway logos.

Now I notice Network Rail, have the two tracks in their logo, but what is the best logo you've seen on the railway? I wanted to just have a look through the current and past logos because RailUK has a brilliant logo but doesn't scream railways, so I tried remaking it, just for fun, it turned out terrible but I've attached it.

Is it too much like Network Rails? Or is this the road everyone takes?

Ps, sorry Mojo and other admins for taking the name for the creation, but I couldn't think of anything else.

 

[ainsworth74]

My personal favourite is BR's logo (in any of its various guises not just the one here):

I like it because it's simple and and quite clever. Also because it's just come symbolise the railways in this country, you show nearly anyone that symbol and they will know its to do with the railways. I also like it for its longevity, its lasted longer than anything else logo/livery wise of BR's in everyday use to this day (at least I think so).

Your logos are good but they are probably a bit too much like NR's really.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It is good fun looking at SNCF's logo for TGV services upside down...

 

[4SRKT]

The BR logo was indeed the best. Simple, iconic, as Ainsworth says clever, and still in use after more than 45 years. I also like the NS logo, which is clearly derived from the same idea.

The old NIR logo is similarly simple and effective IMHO, but not as clever. The original unslanted version is still in use on roadsigns pointing to stations in Northern Ireland though, nearly 30 years after NIR stopped using it, and almost 10 years since they stopped using the more 'up to date' version.

 

[pendolino]

My personal favourite is BR's logo (in any of its various guises not just the one here):

I like it because it's simple and and quite clever. Also because it's just come symbolise the railways in this country, you show nearly anyone that symbol and they will know its to do with the railways. I also like it for its longevity, its lasted longer than anything else logo/livery wise of BR's in everyday use to this day (at least I think so).

Your logos are good but they are probably a bit too much like NR's really.

There was a small but great exhibition of the work of the Design Research Unit at Cubitt in Angel recently. As well as their work for Watneys, Ilford and other 70s corporations, DRU did much to develop a corporate image for BR; the exhibition included promotional material and the BR Corporate Identity Manual, fascinating and nostalgic stuff!

The exhibition's on tour, at Tate St. Ives at the moment, then Liverpool and Nottingham later in the year.

http://cubittartists.org.uk/index.p...&module=eventsmodule&src=@random475992152d537

 

[sprinterguy]

The BR double arrow logo is certainly the design that has demonstrated the greatest tenacity over the decades, becoming a popular icon that identifies Britains’ Railway network to this day, fifteen years after the company the logo applies to ceased to exist! It’s a very pleasing design that is universally accepted.

My favourite is the range of Roundell designed BR Trainload Freight sub-sector logos. One standard design, that used a simple range of colours and shapes to allow easy identification of each sector of Trainload freight.

 

[OuterDistant]

How about the late 80s/early 90s depot decals? I thought they were class!

 

[sprinterguy]

How about the late 80s/early 90s depot decals? I thought they were class!

Too right, the depot plaques were a spark of absolute genius, one of those things that really helped to demonstrate a bit of pride in the railways.

 

[flymo]

Just a question about Gateshead, I think it closed in the early 90's - did it ever have a plaque like those above?

 

[rail-britain]

Just a question about Gateshead, I think it closed in the early 90's - did it ever have a plaque like those above?

No, as by that time their locos had been transferred away
In 1987 and 1988 they were reallocated to IM or CD
However, the depot remained open until sprinters took over the TransPennine service

 

[yorksrob]

The double arrows are the best.

I also like the Network SouthEast route logo's, although this list doesn't appear to have the Marshlink one unfortunately:

http://www.nsers.org.uk/index.php/photos/album/2.html

 

[gedj2]

I particularly like the BR arrows of indecision, Sub-Sector freight logos and Toton depot plaque, all fantastic examples

 

[Hydro]

The BR arrows are utterly timeless. I don't think they will ever die. Even Crossrail uses a variant.

Depot plaques, and the NSE route logos are fantastic also, I've never seen all the depot plaques lined up for comparison until now. What a way to inspire a real sense of pride and belonging to a job. The NSE ones instil a sense of local service, like these were "your" local trains.

 

[Tom B]

It always strikes me as amusing that in a world where all companies - railway ones included - spend a small fortune on "brand identity" and other such tat; yet if you were to ask a man on the street to draw a "railway logo" he'd probably draw the double arrows, and if asked who was responsible for the railways he'd probably say "British Rail".

 

[LE Greys]

How about the late 80s/early 90s depot decals? I thought they were class!

I'd love someone to explain the origins of some of these. Most seem to make sense, being references to something local, but why a seagull at Saltley? It's just about as far from the sea as you can get in Britain. The Canton Goat, Leicester Panther and Thornaby Kingfisher puzzle me as well.

 

[krus_aragon]

Canton Goat

That'll be the welsh goat. See, in example, the mascots of the Royal Welch Fusileers.

 

[LE Greys]

My personal favourite is BR's logo (in any of its various guises not just the one here):

I like it because it's simple and and quite clever. Also because it's just come symbolise the railways in this country, you show nearly anyone that symbol and they will know its to do with the railways. I also like it for its longevity, its lasted longer than anything else logo/livery wise of BR's in everyday use to this day (at least I think so).

Your logos are good but they are probably a bit too much like NR's really.

When first I saw this, I didn't see railway lines or arrows, I saw a combinations of the letters N (the arrows) E (the parallel lines) and X (the crossing lines. I thus called it the "NEX", hence large logo livery being "big Nex livery" and so on. Is that just me being weird, or does anyone else see the same thing?

 

[Rhydgaled]

You've mentioned the BR arrows logo, and NSE, but BR came up with some other great logos too. INTERCITY Swallow for example, does anyone know if the font is available anywhere? The INTERCITY was retained under Great Western trains on one end of each coach for a while. Another great BR logo is the Alphaline one:

Ok, it took Wales&West to actually apply it to the trains, as shown above. Again, I'd like the font for that if anyone knows where I can get it. Finally Wales&West and Wales&Border's own logos (which were kept insignificant next to Alphaline) were good too.

Oh, the kingfisher logo, if you look at the logo differently it looks kind of like a shark (the fish the kingfisher has caught is the shark's tail).

 

[LE Greys]

That'll be the welsh goat. See, in example, the mascots of the Royal Welch Fusileers.

So who gets the Welsh's goat (boom-boom)!

I really ought to have known that.