D.M.&N. Railroad Company Font

[MinnType]

Hey all, I'm a bit stumped on this one! I'm not sure if there was ever a digital font made for this but I'm really interested in the numerals on these old train cars (D.M.&N.). 

I've attached a few images found online for reference.

Any clues or similar fonts would be extremely helpful! Or other images are helpful too as I may turn this into a type-revival project if nothing shows up.

Thanks!!

[George Thomas]

Have you looked on railfonts.com? They may have something close.

Pre-1970 most train signage was hand-painted by sign painters and there was so much variation among railroads that yours may not have been done yet.

 

[Riccardo Sartori]

There are innumerable typefaces in this octagonal, no curves style, which is still used for sport jerseys, military signage, and college sweatshirts, among other applications.

Each one has its quirks and specific details, but the numbers in your samples are wider than most.

Based on that, you could be interested in United Serif Semi Extended or Super Duty, or Fontstruct.

download at MyFonts

 

[MinnType]

Thank you, George! It's a rough website but a great resource. I'll see what I can find.

 

And yes, Riccardo, you're totally right. There are many octagonal sans-serif fonts out there but finding one with the character seen on the trains is what I'm looking for. Your example "super duty closed sharp light" is an excellent base if I decide to make the numerals on my own—which is most likely what I'll be doing for the project I'm working on.

 

I figured they must have all been hand painted but the "3" on all of the pictures I'm finding is almost identical picture-to-picture. They must have been working from some sort of stencil.