1930s "Southern" Font

Baldwin 2-6-2T LYN shortly before delivery to the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, September 2017

Does anybody know of a (preferably free) downloadable PC/Internet font that is close to this?

 

This superb font-matching website is usually useful in these situations, for me with that image it suggests Colt soft, Colt, and Clarendon FS as the top 3 matches.

 

Brilliant - Just the info I was looking for. Thanks for signposting that great resource!

 

WhatTheFont is another similar resource - it suggested Colt Medium as the top match...

 

Wasn't the original font called "Expanded Egyptian" ?
It was used for the post-deregulation Ipswich Buses fleetname too, as the MD at the time was originally from Bournemouth and is a Southern fan!

 

I think it might be called "Egyptian slab serif" which was used by the GWR for loco nameplates. The only reference I can find is in Railway Design since 1830 by Brian Haresnape.

Cheers, Neil

 

I think any reference to Egyptian is more a descriptor rather than a specific font AIUI.

 

"Egyptian" was a reference to a family of similar style fonts typified by matching width verticals and horizontals and most usually slab serifs - ie the ends of the letters were small rectangles rather than curved, according to a couple of books I have on typefaces. They were developed from early C19th display fonts. Several fonts were called and sold as Egyptian by their makers, however.
My guess is that it is "Clarendon" - the slightly different widths of the uprights "U" seem to be typical of that font. I haven't heard of "Colt" - if that is a more recent typeface than the 1930s the SR wouldn't have been able to use it!

 

I was just looking for an approximation of the SOUTHERN font for use on a website I'm updating, so COLT medium is probably what I'll use although the foot of the R is a little different. I'm not sure that Clarendon looks anything like it though? [UPDATE - I've had a look at some of the other Clarendon versions - you could be right! ]

Thanks for all your input.



.