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RE: (erielack) Logos

My take on the logos:

* The DL&W folks will shoot me, but I always thought the "rectangle" DL&W logo was, well, kinda boring. Not overly inspired to me, but perhaps that fits with the conservative nature of the railroad.

* Dan Biernacki once told me that the Erie logo was perhaps the "perfect" railroad logo back in the steam era. No other logo captured the name of road so well. (of course, I'm sure it helped that the road's name was only four characters long ;)   I would have to agree with Dan on this. How many other roads had a logo with their name on it in 3-foot high letters??? It was simple, stood out, and the contrast between the diamond and the circle added visual interest.

* The EL logo was a stroke of genius, IMHO. The bold/contrasty Erie diamond/circle with a clever "E/L" in the middle, done in a bold Gothic typeface. Even as a kid I thought it was the neatest thing. Prior to the EL logo, there weren't very many "progressive" looking logos out there (save the CN one), and I feel that, like the CN logo, the EL logo is still contemporary to this day. 


Michael Sheehy commented on the "worm" logo of the CN being "very 70s."  That logo was designed in the 1950s (!), and the designer commented it would still "look contemporary" 50 years from now. Guess what? He's right. Today, the CN logo has a fluidity and modernity that few current-day logos have. We've already discussed the new BNSF logo ad nauseum, and CSX's logo is... well, not a logo! NS's horsehead does show some creativity, and UP's logo is just classic - simple, powerful - but IMHO does seem a bit dated.

The EL logo compared to roads Rick mentioned:

* O&W - That was also a pretty good logo, but in my mind it reeks of "art deco", and don't know how well it has weathered since the 1950s.
* Chessie - Very creative logo, but busy

The other roads Rick mentioned tended to have very complex logos (GN - the early one, WP, ACL) that would invariably have been simplified (GN did it!)


The EL logo was a classic - clean, bold, eye-catching and visually interesting.

	- Paul

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