I need to get 16 nice looking small signs with town and industry names made to then mount on my layout facia. Sizes would vary from 0.75" x 2" to 1.5" x 5". What do you guys use on your layouts?
Most everything I am finding is for larger signs and pretty expensive.
Thanks,
Marty
You could cut a piece of styrene sheet and get some stick on letters from an office supply or craft store. Another method would be to make paper sign using the font of your choice on your computer and attach it to a piece of styrene or directly to the fascia.
Good luck,
Richard
I make all my own signs all the time using my computer.
I can print any color I need and most any font.
I then cut them to size and then LAMINATE them.
I mount them to the fascia with double faced tape.
If I need to upgrade them for any reason - I can just pull them off the fascia and place the new one on.
I have small signs for Industry names with a colored background (using colored paper) and those are Laminated also.
This way the signs are very thin and being Laminated dang near indestructible !
BOB H - Clarion, PA
If what you mean is labels on the fascia for crews to use and not actual signs, the P touch labeler is pretty hard to beat.
jim
I use a Brother label making machine. (EDIT: Mine is a P-touch like Jim recommended, too)
The new ones have a wide choice of fonts, sizes, etc. They give you a choice of borders, so makes very railroadey-looking signs. The mid-level tape is usually nicely finished and water-resistant if not water proof. Sticks well to most anything. Quick and easy to re-do something if you don’t like it or need to change something. Very handy for other uses around the house. Cheap. Label material is pretty reasonable. Battery life is excellent.
Just for grins, I brought up Wordpad and dummied up a standard Japanese station sign (for my as yet unbuilt Harukawa station.) It took about thirty seconds to get a satisfactory result - for the Romaji lettering. My computer doesn’t support Hiragana (phonetic Japanese script) or Kanji (pictographs) so those would have to be entered by hand.
I can see where an entire sheet of appropriately lettered signs could be printed up, cut up, laminated with stick-on plastic and fastened to the fascia at minor expense and with very little time expenditure.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I have used Photoshop in the past, but since I got my P-Touch labeler, I see little use for anything else. It even makes wrap around wire labels.
I also use my computer to produce signs, mostly for on-layout applications. But, the same techniques can be applied to the fascia:
The “Scollay Square” sign was printed on cardstock using an ordinary inkjet printer. I cut a piece of styrene for the border, and painted the edges to match the color scheme of my subways. I left the center of the styrene backing unpainted, so the glue would have something better than paint to adhere to. Then I glued the sign to the backing, and the backing to the edge of the layout.
You don’t even have to get this fancy. For my control panels, I just print the labels on plain paper, cut them out and put a piece of Scotch Tape over them to protect them and hold them in place. I do recommend a protective layer, either tape or lamination as others have suggested. Over time, fascia signs will get rubbed and smudged otherwise.
I have used Avery envelope labels on occasion. The labels come in different sizes but I picked the largest as you can cut them to size after you have printed on them. In the picture below I printed the label a solid color and then printed the white lettering.
An advantage to the labels is that they are peel and stick.
Hey, Ill have to do the Cold again and get it on level.
Bob
I must also praise the advantages of the P-Touch label maker. It comes in handy for files, boxes (especially small craft boxes), wiring, train car box ends, storage shelves, town names, industry signs, and even wayside signs.
All hail the P-Touch! [bow]
This is the one I have. I bought it at Staples. They have models that are more and less expensive with different features.
http://www.brother-usa.com/VirData/Content/en-US/Ptouch/ModelBrochures/PT2030_Brochure.pdf
Hi Marty
Another idea worth thinking about.
Is to go to a place that does engraving etc. and get them made up about the same size as
club, staff name or other type plastic name badges only without the pin.
They are neat tidy look very professional you can even have colours other than black and white.
if they have holes carefully drilled in them they can be screwed to the facia using track screws
just a thought
regards John
The 2005 issue of Model Railroad Planning had a great article by Jack Burgess on this topic. He uses home-made decals for his station names (plus elevation, plus mile post) on his light tan fascia, so that the information actually looks as though it is printed on the fascia – a great effect! He took care to use a font that looked appropriate for his late 1930s era. Many popular fonts such as Helvetica are fairly recent inventions.
He shows how another guy, Wes Swift, who like Jack also models the Yosemite Valley, actually copied the type face used by the YV for its station signs, and used that font in small “picture frames” on the fascia to actually look like miniature versions of the station signs, another really neat effect (the Santa Fe would be a particularly good prototype for that idea since their signs and type face were distinctive).
The same idea could be carried over for industries that have distinctive logos or fonts for their name.
On my layout, by the way, which models a single town, I was able to find a source that makes replica and almost full size street signs out of pressed steel in black and white, just like I remembered, so each street will have its street sign on the fascia. Those who grew up in that town like I did will have a very clear grasp of where they are.
Dave Nelson
Dave,
I especially like the idea of showing the milepost and elevation along with the station name!
John,
I found a place on the internet that will make the small signs for $3 each, but they seem to insist on only doing “business to business” work. I may try to find a more local place that will do it that I can work with.
Thanks,
Marty
OK, I decided to print out the signs on my inkjet printer. I used photo paper and a wood grain background to match the whole “natural wood” theme of my layout and facia. I’m including photos of the signs as printed out and a sample of two of the mounted signs on the natural wood facia.
Thanks for the advice!
Marty
Looks good.
Can’t wait to see them next month!