Conrail Logo

LCJ,
thats very interesting!
I have been photographing Conrail trains since 1983, and in all that time, I NEVER considered it as 2 rails!
its amazing how we get an idea in our head, and never think about an alternative!
I have always pictured the logo as one rail with one wheel,
the upper straight line being the top of the rail.
the bottom straight line being the bottom of the rail.
the inner circle being the wheel resting on the rail.
and the outer circle being the outside diameter of the flange..

I NEVER saw it as two rails and two wheels!
cool!
I wonder which way the designer of the logo was thinking?

I always assumed the 25% chunk is taken out of the wheel(s) to make it look like a "C" for Conrail.

its a very cool logo actually!
an excellent example of well executed graphic design..

Scot

scottychaos wrote:I wonder which way the designer of the logo was thinking?

If I live to be 150, I doubt if I'll ever know what anyone is/was thinking. All I do know is that the original description, from the designer, was about wheels and rails (both plural).

scottychaos wrote:I always assumed the 25% chunk is taken out of the wheel(s) to make it look like a "C" for Conrail.

I believe you may be right about that. For a while there in the early years, though, we were't too sure it didn't signify broken wheels on stub-ended rails.

Many don't remember just how close the company came to liquidation or nationalization -- clever logo notwithstanding.

ok i get it, thanks guys. It was the inner and outer rings that threw me off.

In 1990, Conrail had the first fifty-unit order of C40-8W's (CR 6050-6099) delivered in the railroad's standard paint scheme. All the others got the ConRail Quality stencils.

Here's a pic of then-new C40-8W's 6055 and 6051, taken in 1990:



Looks kind of funny without the "Conrail Quality" logo and ditch lights, although some might digress...

I just vividley rember seeing the C40-8W's with the standered logo I was never rilly into takeing Photos of trains at the time I wish I had started takeing them sooner if I had knowen what was going to happen to them.

And might I add that the paint looks really good as it's going to be, as probably in a few years it will turn pastel blue...

It's obvious that CRail won't have a future as a graphic designer when he finishes school.

Aside from the steel wheel on steel rail explanation, you could also look at it as a diagram of a switch track. the straight lines are the normal route, the curving "c" is the reverse route. At any rate, it's a logo, a symbol with no literal meaning. Sometimes you don't need to see "it."

Does anyone know what ad agency made the Conrail logo?

-otto-

Siegal & Gale

Is Siegal and Gale presently in business? Have they designed other railroad logos?

I remember (during the late 1970's) seeing Conrail SW series switchers still in Penn Central black, with a small, italicized CR stencil. In fact, there were still quite a few locomotives around with the Penn Central logo. Later, I would see many Conrail locomotives in the royal blue with the familiar "wheels on tracks" scheme, without the "Quality" stencil. A couple of locomotives began to show their original New Haven orange through their blue paint over time.

BTW, emd_SD_60 - -love your thumbnail image-- uhhhh, huh,huh. Huh,huh,huh.... uhhh....... trains are cool....

Yyyyeeha.... FIRE!! FIRE!!!

A little Yahoo got me http://www.siegelgale.com/ there vary much alive and well. The link dose not work but any ways just type in Siegal & Gale in your search web box and you'll come up with a few web pages for the same firm in New York and in LA.

Try: http://www.siegelgale.com

Sumtimes speling rilly dose cownt.

Good info, thanks guys!

-otto-

one little typo e and a are next to each outher on my key board.

Looking at this, it could be interpurted as ( The inner wheel and the line, being the judson bar of a steam loco ), and ( The outter being the wheel, and the rail ). And the can opener, showing 270 degrees, or 3/4 ths, may mean that CR now comprises 3/4's of the regional rail service.. (That part is just a guess, and may be way off base as I have no facts to back any of this up... Just pure conjecture). I realize this an old post, but I came accross it and just thought I'd submit that for further scrutiny.

Jim.