doublearrow.co.uk
@doublearrow64.bsky.social
British Rail Corporate Identity 1965-1994
And a lovely Merseyside map for good measure; has the look and feel of a Bernard Slatter creation but no attribution on the map itself…
Mike@mikeyashworth.bsky.social · 20h agoMerseyrail diagram from December 1983 with the note of the change of name from Preston Road to Rice Lane station from 14 May 1984. #merseyside #railways #map #liverpool ↘️ flic.kr/p/2std2Qn
Green barbed wire, anyone? #Merseyside
Mike@mikeyashworth.bsky.social · 11h agoWhat a straightforward design delight. The cover to the Merseyside Transport north & south division bus route map of 1984 with the hand pointing the way as well as indicating where to unfold the map. It also shows the Merseyside PTE's 'barbed wire' logo, along with the cuff, in Verona Green.
There is an almost identical photograph (featuring the tasteful steel rail symbol) in ‘Arrows of Desire’ (see pinned) which I took the moment the BBC were announcing the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (midday, 9 April 2001), albeit it was before Harold Wilson and the fountains
Joe Brown@joebrownlondon.bsky.social · 4d ago#OnThisDay 179 years ago one of the most elegant station buildings in the country opened at Huddersfield, Grade I listed and designed by James Pigott Pritchett. Described by Sir John Betjeman as "the most splendid in England"... hard to disagree. Tim Green buff.ly/h3ND83I
Not for the first time, red chosen here when a white symbol would have been much more effective; during the fabrication of Wayfinding v3, I argued that a red symbol should only be used on a white background but it was never cast in stone #contrast #colourblind
alan@spacexecadet.bsky.social · 4d agoOkehampton Interchange with prominent @doublearrow64.bsky.social Image Mike Reddaway Avocet Line Rail Users Group. It's not on the ALRUG line but a near neighbour.
As far as I can tell, Rail Delivery Group never used the correct version of the Rail Symbol and I’m afraid this ad is no different (even the National Rail logotype used a knock-off); this one looks like the negative version but I’m not convinced that it’s even that 😩
Frazzle@frazzle1.bsky.social · 5d ago@doublearrow64.bsky.social saw this monstrosity at Farringdon Crossrail station. How can they approve these ads where the symbol is so obviously incorrectly proportioned?
I remember when these monitors went up @doublearrow64.bsky.social. So high tech to my eyes, in their bright yellow cases. Photo from The Sheffield Star.
Complete array of AC traction at Crewe this morning: 90002, 87002, 86101, 89001, 90001 with lots of dodgy Falcon Grey
Hard to believe that the Up Fast at Crewe still has wooden sleepers in 2026
Common sense has begun to prevail, in that the GBR 720s on the Anglia region appear to have a plain middle coach; how much longer before GBR realise that the ‘glitch‘ is also redundant on coaches 2 and 4? If only the red had extended down the length of the train
1965 edition of the British Railways yearbook showing the organisation on the change of the cusp to British Rail - already seen here on the uniform of the telephone user. #railways #transport @doublearrow64.bsky.social
Not sure I‘d appreciated how much bigger the ‘Scottie dog’ was compared to the BR symbol; I thought that might be Eastfield depot ‘building their part’ (every depot seemed to want to do that to some extent), or perhaps because it was primarily intended for use with revised blue (‘large logo’) livery
Miles and Chains@miles-and-chains.bsky.social · 2w agoA dreary day in the Glasgow suburbs sees 26024 taking rest outside the shed at Eastfield TMD. Always loved the sound of these little locos, with their Sulzer 6LDA28-A power units. #Class26 #EastfieldTMD #BRCW #BritishRail #BRBlue #Trainspotting
Shiny; happy people :)
Miles and Chains@miles-and-chains.bsky.social · 2w ago‘The Miller and Grange’ charter sits at the stops at Kings Cross, like so many other HSTs have done over the years. Difficult not to reminisce seeing this iconic machine in this livery in the capital. The @125Group should be rightly proud of what they’ve achieved. #HST #InterCity
Never really thought that running-in boards needed a symbol, doesn’t add anything to the message whatsoever #LessIsMore
Just back from Cardiff. Can confirm that TFW signage is ‘sub-optimal’. 😉
Euston Arch: overrated
Joe Brown@joebrownlondon.bsky.social · 2w ago#OnThisDay 189 years ago the London & Birmingham Railway opened from Euston to Boxmoor (near Hemel Hempstead). The Euston Arch was demolished in 1961 and is a poster-child for the 1960s destruction of railway history in the name of modernisation. @ltmuseum buff.ly/PPZAuJq
Not sure the Railway200 logo was a ‘good thing‘, even if they did use Rail Symbol 2 (and ignored the basic design guidance at the same time 🙄)…
If only it was paint, vinyl is a scourge
jwmurphy@murphytweets.bsky.social · 3w agoThe best money to be made in the UK is repainting trains!
Genuinely thought this was AI; bewildering decision to put the crummiest version of all the Great British Railways logos on the front of the train 😩 Looks super messy, fighting with the set number
I wish we would have a bit more nuance in the AI debate. It's true that it can't do everything that is claimed, but it is also doing genuinely impressive things in some areas (maths being the one I'm familiar with)
So the efficacy of AI currently relies on the 5% (or less) of archives that have been digitised being the good 5% As for creativity (the groundbreaking type), pretty sure that still requires original thought and can’t be conceived from what has gone before then summarily and illicitly pinched
Amalia S. Levi, PhD@amaliasl.bsky.social · 3w ago📢 Once more for the people in the back: - Most [more than 95%] of archives have not been digitized. - Most of humanity's knowledge and memory is *not* reachable by LLMs. - Believing that AI can provid you with comprehensive, definitive, "intelligent" results is folly.
@gawuffy.co.uk just seen your Electrababy at Donny (looking slightly the worse for wear if I’m honest)
Complete with Highland Stag, blue Scottish Region ‘Thurso’ totem and small locomotive numbers to ‘add interest’! flic.kr/p/2jMQDPM (Gavin B, August 1988)
Miles and Chains@miles-and-chains.bsky.social · 3w ago37419 Parked at a very cold Kyle of Lochalsh. I seem to remember this was a Sunday when there was no service, so the train didn’t leave until Monday morning. Stranded in Kyle…I can think of worse places! #Class37 #LargeLogo #HighlandRail #KyleOfLochalsh #Trainspotting
The APT [-P] must have blown minds on 1980, not least for its proto-InterCity livery; I used to wait eagerly for it to come through Rugby on the 1630 Euston–Glasgow Central service in 1984/5, usually at about 1725 #beast
Mike@mikeyashworth.bsky.social · 4w agoHigh Speed Central line : British Rail's APT 370 007 at London Underground's Ruislip Depot as part of an Open Day event in July 1980. @doublearrow64.bsky.social #railway #london (Pic: Nick/Flickr) flic.kr/p/pAaQSG
Thomas Ableman’s article gives plenty of food for thought If the overarching brand distinctive is ‘one unified/integrated railway network’, then *everything* must dance to that tune (from ticketing to rolling stock ownership)
The Beauty of Transport@thebeautyoftransport.com · last mo.On the general nonsensicalism of branding GBR-liveried trains with ex-TOC identifiers (GBR Southern / GBR South Western with presumably more to come), Thomas Ableman's recent article on the subject is well worth a read. www.freewheeling.info/blog/gbr-nee...
