Logos and Lettering

 Getting back into the swing and moving some things forward. One of those projects that I have been looking forward to is customizing a couple private railroad operations. One is the Ojitas Mine Railroad, which provides a fair amount of traffic for the layout. This takes cars from a short hidden staging location to interchange at Rosita. I plan to have the Ojitas RR own a few 70 Tonners and a caboose or two.

Ojitas means "small eyes" in Spanish, so I set about looking for a suitable logo. A few google searches turned up a plethora of options. I settled on one, albeit it was in multiple colors. Not being one that wanted to spend much on decals, I used some color manipulation software to create a pure black and white image.

I kinda like how it turned out. Pulls in the "ojitas" concept while carrying the idea of a rugged southwest mining operation. And simple enough to suggest a cheap corporate look.

The other operation is the newly completed Halcon Cement plant. Not a railroad per se, but they own in-plant trackage serviced by their own switcher. As such, some kind of logo was needed. This will not only be used on the switcher, but also for trucks, equipment and other elements in that operation. 

Halcon was selected as it suggests a reference to Holcim, the largest cement company in the US, but also different enough to not be, as well as meaning hawk in Spanish, again a reference suggesting the southwest. So off to google some images. And once again I came across a suitable logo. To be sure, a bit more difficult since hawks are a very common logo theme, as well as a popular sports mascot. I ended up settling on one that looks 'corporate' enough to look professional, but simple enough as to be used by a bottom-line company like a cement manufacturer.


Next step was to get them printed onto decals. I have to admit. As much as I have spent on decals, I probably could have bought a printer by now. But I also know myself enough that I would probably low-ball the printer and then be frustrated with the results. At the advice of several in the model RR community, I reached out to Matt Welke at Circus City decals and Graphics for some GNW decals in the past. Was very impressed with the results. So I contacted him about this project. He was more than helpful in coming up with ideas. He even laid out the decal concept on a graphic of the proposed engines:

Pretty snazzy, eh?!

Once we agreed to the font, size and layout, he sent over a proof sheet. A nice thing about custom decals is we could get a variety of logo sizes on a sheet. This will be great for lettering everything from the railroad equipment to the pick up trucks.

If you are interested in custom decals, I would recommend reaching out to Matt. He is easy to work with, puts up well with my tweaks and changes requested, and puts out a quality product. No, I did not get a discount on this to post my experience, nor am I tied in any way to Circus City. I am just happy with his service.

Circus City Decals & Graphics

Matthew Welke

Email: mwelke@CircusDecals.com

Website: www.CircusCityDecals.com

Facebook: Circus City Decals & Graphics

(By the way, I have since learned that Circus City does not charge any different for one-color decal sheets than for multi-color. I don't think I would have changed anything, but good to know.)

Next time: Part 2 of the decal saga!




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