Zephyr

The first thing I wanted to do when I started to think about fonts was to make a train that would couple together as you typed. I now have three of those. The second thing I wanted to do was make a font of the typeface used by Chicago Burlington and Quincy on their Zephyr trains (known as Zephyr Gothic). It took a little while, but here it is.

In 1936, American transportation was forever changed by the introduction of the Pioneer Zephyr on the Burlington and a similar train on the Union Pacific. The two new trains were small and sleek, they were the first streamliners. They looked like a rocket ship out of Buck Rogers. They were a major break from the traditional steam train with blunt and heavy cars. The railroads were trying to recapture business lost to the Great Depression, the automobile and the up and coming air plane. No expense was spared, the trains were stylized inside an out. Even the lettering.

Within a few short years, all of Burlington's passenger trains were lettered in the Zephyr typeface. The most famous train to use this typeface was the California Zephyr. Three railroads pulled the CZ from Chicago to Oakland, the Burlington, Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific. The other two roads also used this lettering on their cars.

After poking around for references for this font, I discovered that a number of other railroads used the same lettering. It would seem that it was more of a Budd lettering that a Burlington lettering (Budd built the Pioneer Zephyr). Both Chicago Rock Island & Pacific and Florida East Cost used this letterface for their cars. There were also a number of cars built for foreign countries that were lettered using this letterface (e.g., Brazil and Portugal).

I used Portrait of a Silver Lady by Bruce A. MacGregor and Ted Benson; CZ-The Story of the California Zephyr by Karl R. Zimmermann; and the Illustrated Treasury of Budd Railway Passenger Cars by James W. Kerr for reference photos to design this font. I would also like to thank the owners of the Silver Lariat (California Zephyr Railcar Charters) for their help in finding reference material.

I still haven't gotten around to learning how to kern. A couple of registered users who received an advance copy of the font complained that "SILVER POTATO" did not look right. The spacing was all wrong between the "LV". So, I have tackled the worst kerning pairs with my knuckle head kerning. (rail fans should get that one... sorry)

Font Formats: Font ID: 51428

Directory: Deco/WilhelmKling

Zephyr font, all of its accompanying files and train icon are �1994 Benn Coifman. (that looks so nasty now that I typed it) Revisions: 1.1 The original (1.0 was used for the pre-release version) In CZHeralds font, "a" = WP herald, "jkl" = CZ logo (note that the order is important)

If you use this font in publication or on a product, please let me know. It is always interesting to hear the clever uses people have had for my fonts. (I would also love a copy of your publication for my scrap book)

NOW FOR THE "ASKING FOR MONEY" BIT, AKA, THIS IS SHAREWARE:

You are free to use (play with, throw at the cat, etc.) this font for one week after receiving it. If you like it and decide to keep it, you should send a US $10 "shareware" fee to myself at the address below (for international users, see item 4 in "The Fine Print"). Please include a brief note describing where you got this font, what you like about it, and what you would like to see in the future.

If you just have to have the full collection of my train fonts (see "Product Ad"), send a couple of FORMATTED 3.5" HD disks (Two HD for Mac, or One HD for IBM recommended) and a SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE to the address below. (I hate to format disks and you will be sure to get the right machine, Mac or IBM, this way)

I do not want to send any of my customers into bankruptcy, if you are honestly poor, (i.e., you ain't gonna support the American way and my education) please send a post card (the weirder the better) describing where you got this font, what you like about it and what you would like to see added to it.

THE FINE PRINT:

WHY SHOULD YOU SEND IN THE SHAREWARE FEE?

Well, I am releasing this font in it's entirety. I put a lot of hard work into this font. I have also gotten a lot of pleasure from it. Ignoring all of the capitalistic angles, your shareware dollar will speed up the development of new train fonts and help me afford new font tools. My goal is to at least break even.

Only 39 people have registered my shareware products since I first released them ten months ago. There are a lot of expenses that go into these fonts. My font editor cost almost $300. Then there are the little expenses like ink cartridges (you wouldn't believe how many ink cartridges I go through) and paying for a mail box. Oy! And you want to talk about memory... 40 Meg of hard disk devoted to fonts and icon development.

I would love to purchase the latest version of Illustrator and produce more clip art. I could also use more disk space to keep these toys in.

BENEFITS OF PAYING THE SHAREWARE FEE:

Enough of what shareware fees do for me, what will they do for you!? I will spend less time on school and more time on producing shareware. You will also be entitled to a peek into things to come. If you send a disk (or two) along with your payment, I will give the Demo font that includes all of the odd characters that haven't quite found a home yet (including a number of steam engines!). In addition, I will rush you out the most recent versions of my fonts and icons. I might even toss in a couple of pre-release fonts.

GIVE IT TO YOUR FRIENDS, RAIL FONTS MAKE GREAT BIRTHDAY GIFTS (GRIN):

YOU WANT YOUR CAR (OR DREAM CAR), LOGO OR HERALD ON YOUR KEYBOARD? I am willing to do custom work, as my time allows, at reasonable rates. 

Benn Coifman
ASUC Box 624 # 4510,
Bancroft & Telegraph
Berkeley, CA 94720-4510
USA
--Please include your e-mail address with all correspondence-- (very handy for notifying you of new releases) zephyr@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu or zephyr@uclink.berkeley.edu