Beech Grove Decal Shop

Hello to all;

From my understanding the new wave decals on Amtraks equipment were made at the Beech Grove Decal Shop. Does anybody know the dimensions of the decals that appear on the AMD-103 locos and the side of the remanufactured AEM-7 locos?

Thanks for your help.

You mean... The blue *paint*, right?

No, I believe he's talking about the logos and numbers, which are usually applied separately as large decals.

Lately there has been growing interest in custom-painting scale models into this scheme, which means we need to make our own decals for the logos - manufacturers can't currently produce them because of licensing issues. What he's basically trying to figure out is which font size to use, and how big to make the logos...

Incidentally, it's been mentioned elsewhere that Amtrak's new typeface is called "Frutiger," which resembles Verdana but is distinctly different. I'm not sure how to obtain a free copy of this font, though...it might be worth the investment to just purchase the font package.

Click on the link below. Then scroll down to the first article.


http://www.nationalcorridors.org/df/df02232004.shtml

I see now, thought he meant "wave" as in the paint scheme done on the locos themselves. You got the font right, here's some specific demensions.

Frutiger

Official sizes...

8" Frutiger 55 Roman 412 pts
29.36" Frutiger 55 Roman 3,028 pts
7.5" Frutiger 55 Roman 645 pts
18" Frutiger 55 Roman 3,028 pts

Thanks for replying everyone. Let me try to clarify what I'm looking for. I have a picture of the logo thats on the side of the AMD-103 loco. If I know the actual size of the word "Amtrak", I can scale the picture down to HO scale.

It appears that the word Amtrak and the wave logo are applied seperately. So I'm looking for the dimensions of the word Amtrak on the AMD-103 loco. The same applies to the AEM-7 loco.

Any info would help.

Thank you.

Hmm, if you're trying to print decals directly from a photograph, I don't recommend it. Today I discovered that I do have a font that seems nearly identical to Frutiger: Humanist 777. It came with some software I have, so I don't know if it's available for free on the web. All the numbers look dead-on, and I'm guessing the letters are as well. Last summer I made a set of decals to letter an Amfleet II coach into the new paint scheme, using modified Verdana, but I updated the artwork to the new font and it looks much better. I guess I'll have to re-decal the numbers, but otherwise my car looks fine.

I was also trying to prepare artwork to renumber my Acela power units a while back. I changed those to the new font, and while I'll have to check the sizes, they now look much more accurate. I have the Acela and 'wave' logos as well, traced from images on Amtrak's website, and assuming I know what size to make them, I can easily scale them, since my artwork is in Adobe Illustrator. Following that, I put together a number jumble for AEM-7ACs, including the numberboards.

Given the sizes that F40PHR231 (Chris Fussell?) has provided, tomorrow I'll get out my scale ruler and some photos so I can check the dimensions against an HO scale model. Right now I'm undecided whether or not to paint a P42 into the new scheme, but I do plan on modeling and painting an AEM-7AC at some point - I've got the roof detail mostly figured out.

So, LIRR272, email me again tomorrow and I'll let you know if I make up my mind on the correct sizes. BTW, the capital "AMTRAK" above the wave logo is apparently a different font. I made mine by deforming a font that had a similar structure. Frutiger is just for the numbers and miscellaeous lettering, like "Coachclass" on the Amfleets.

Someone recently mentioned the exact PANTONE shade of the new Amtrak blue on a mailing list. I guess I should go look that up...

Edit: it's PANTONE 302, which supposedly translates to CMYK 100,30,0,50 or RGB 0,81,125 and approximately to #00517D in HTML hexadecimal code. So I was pretty close with my artwork...

Alex Stroshane

Alex,

We definately need to talk. I was hoping someone was going to model an AEM-7 AC unit with all the correct roof details. So I would like to share some ideas about how to model one.

I personally am not making the decals, I don't have the right printer. What I planned on doing was taking the photo and sending it to a decal maker so he can do it. In fact, he can do it better than me and I'm not famliar with all the software to change fonts nor do I have the capacity to do so. He suggested that if I knew the dimension of the word Amtrak he can scale it down to make the decal. Have you made the white wave image thats applied on the nose of the loco as well?


F40PHR231 (Chris)

You laid out the dimensions of the numbers, where exactly are those numbers place on the loco?

Alex,

We definately need to talk. I was hoping someone was going to model an AEM-7 AC unit with all the correct roof details. So I would like to share some ideas about how to model one.

I personally am not making the decals, I don't have the right printer. What I planned on doing was taking the photo and sending it to a decal maker so he can do it. In fact, he can do it better than me and I'm not famliar with all the software to change fonts nor do I have the capacity to do so. He suggested that if I knew the dimension of the word Amtrak he can scale it down to make the decal. Have you made the white wave image thats applied on the nose of the loco as well?


F40PHR231 (Chris)

You laid out the dimensions of the numbers, where exactly are those numbers place on the loco?

Alex,

We definately need to talk. I was hoping someone was going to model an AEM-7 AC unit with all the correct roof details. So I would like to share some ideas about how to model one.

I personally am not making the decals, I don't have the right printer. What I planned on doing was taking the photo and sending it to a decal maker so he can do it. In fact, he can do it better than me and I'm not famliar with all the software to change fonts nor do I have the capacity to do so. He suggested that if I knew the dimension of the word Amtrak he can scale it down to make the decal. Have you made the white wave image thats applied on the nose of the loco as well?


F40PHR231 (Chris)

You laid out the dimensions of the numbers, where exactly are those numbers place on the loco?

Alex,

We definately need to talk. I was hoping someone was going to model an AEM-7 AC unit with all the correct roof details. So I would like to share some ideas about how to model one.

I personally am not making the decals, I don't have the right printer. What I planned on doing was taking the photo and sending it to a decal maker so he can do it. In fact, he can do it better than me and I'm not famliar with all the software to change fonts nor do I have the capacity to do so. He suggested that if I knew the dimension of the word Amtrak he can scale it down to make the decal. Have you made the white wave image thats applied on the nose of the loco as well?


F40PHR231 (Chris)

You laid out the dimensions of the numbers, where exactly are those numbers place on the loco?

Sorry my last post was posted three times. It came up as a general error so I didn't know if it was posted.

Haha, I count 4 times for that post...

So like I said, I got out some models and drawings today, and 29.36" seems to be the correct height for the large numerals on the P42s. Also, 18" is dead-on for the numbers on the AEM-7AC along with the Acela. The 7.5" or 8" looks like the numberboards of the AEM-7AC, although those are Helvetica and not Frutiger, or maybe that's supposed to be the numberboards and/or rear numbers on the P42s.

Regardless, I adjusted my artwork and printed out a test sheet (on regular paper) for the AEM-7AC. I think I have all the logos sized correctly, and here's a low-res sample of what it looks like:



This really is low-res, and not fit for printing. My actual artwork is high-quality and can be scaled to any size. Also, the numberboard numerals should be white, but they're black here so you can see them. And I might revise the number jumble a little, there should probably be an extra 9 and maybe a couple other digits too. The idea is that there should be enough lettering for two units, with your choice of roadnumbers.

And BTW, K&S sells some etched-brass mesh that is perfect for building all the resistor grids on the roof, since it matches the molded grill on the model. Are you thinking of an early AEM-7AC or late? They have different roof details.

For the P42s, I haven't looked at the sizes for the logos yet, but I can probably make a good guess. I don't have a 'set' of artwork for those yet, just a couple of numbers in the right size. But I do also have a set for the Acela power units, since I'd like to renumber mine, and the Bachmann font is too bold anyway.

Send an email to [email protected] and we'll talk some details. I was thinking of getting inkjet paper for most of the set, and just using my Alps printer to do the white numberboards. Hmm...maybe we could even consolidate the various sets onto one sheet, since I do have numbers/logos for the Amfleets as well.

Of course, the only issue is the use of Amtrak's logo...Walthers apparently has exclusive rights for commercial use on models, but I wonder if custom decals would be exempt...?

Alex

I wanted more p42s in phase V scheme to go with the 207 that came with my set. None were available that I could afford so I had a shop make me some decal like "AMTRAK "(over the logos) and numbers (he was even able to make the white nose emblem). Its not a true decal but very close, it's more like automotive pinstriping and can take any clearcoat. The blue is a tad darker than the pro built 207 but I think more like the prototype under most lighting conditions. I'm very happy with how my consist looks going down the track. I have extra sets if interested. Jim([email protected])

Amtrak provides its artwork for free if you know where to look. Download any Amtrak PDF schedule... open the PDF file in Adobe Illustrator- if you have the Fruitiger fonts installed, you're all set. The Amtrak logo, the numbers, they are all there for the picking. You can then copy and paste the artwork you need into a new document to create decals.

-otto-