Union Pacific Painting and Lettering
Union Pacific Gothic (Sans-Serif) Lettering
This page was last updated on January 28, 2009.
From research completed in early 2000, the first use of Gothic lettering:
- FEF-1, 4-8-4, UP 800-819, July to September 1937
- CSA-2, 4-6-6-4, UP 3915-3939, August 1937
- CD-05, after July 1937, before October 1939 (CD-05-C was completed in July 1939)
- CD-06, after May 1939, before December 1940 (CD-06-C was completed in September 1939)
- CD-07, after September 1939, before April 1940 (CD-07-C was completed in December 1939)
The photos taken in 1939 in Kratville's Streamliners, p. 125, show two of the add-on units.
A Jack Thode photo taken in April 1940 shows CD-07 with gothic lettering. A Dick Kindig photo of LA-4 at Denver on May 28, 1939, shows the name board reading CITY OF LOS ANGELES and it is gothic, a smaller version than later nameboard size letters, 6 inches versus 8 inches. (Jim Ehernberger via email on September 26, 2002)
The gothic lettering on steam power on the first paint jobs was different than what was later applied. To a trained eye, the numerals used in the early versions of gothic were somewhat narrower. (Jim Ehernberger via email on September 26, 2002)
The two streamlined steam locomotives for the Forty-Niner (UP 4-6-2 2902 and 4-8-2 7002) were finished with gothic lettering in April 1937 in time for the train's first run in July 1937. According to Kratville's Streamliner book (p. 257), both locomotives were modernized in 1936 (month?). Photos of both locomotives just before getting their streamlined shrouds show them with gothic lettering. So, maybe, gothic lettering was first used on the two modernized locomotives in 1936, then made standard for the rest of the fleet in March 1937.
Apparently, the first use of gothic lettering on the Streamliner fleet was when the City of Denver units were renumbered from M-10005 and M-10006 to their CD numbers in June 1937. As yet, research has not found any photos of the CD units without gothic lettering.
Before research started, it was thought that the change from Roman (serif) to Gothic (sans-serif) on diesels coincided with the change from Leaf Brown to Harbor Mist Gray in 1940. Research has found this is not a true statement.
Dick Harley wrote to the UP Modelers discussion group on July 27, 2005:
UP first used the 'Gothic' (sans serif) style lettering on steam locos in 1936. At that time, the lettering had a slightly elongated "O" and "C" (and some other letters) and a narrow style of numbers, noted by ovals in the centers of 6, 8 or 9. This style lettering can be seen on new CSA-1 and FEF-1 locos. Before 1936, UP used Common Standard 'Roman' (serif) lettering. In mid-1939, many of the letters and numbers were changed, most notably to a circle "O" and "C" and circular centers to the 6, 8 and 9. In 1956, the "O" and "C" were again changed to an oval shape, which is different than the 1936 shape. A few steam locos were painted with this style, but not many steam locos were repainted after 1956. That shape is what is on 844 and 3985 today.
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