Large Scale Sticker Sheets

Back when we first published those graphics, almost everyone had dial-up internet, so downloading large graphic files took forever. So it made sense for J. Powell and I to separate our graphics into small files, and provide instructions for resizing and using them.

Now that label technology has advanced, and people have faster internet speed, we realize that it will be most convenient for most of our readers if we just give them a few sheets with more pre-sized graphics than they'll probably ever need or want. (If you need a specific graphic in a different size, you can still go right to the Business and Station or WT&W Ad Sign Exchange page and use those files.)

New Label Technology

By now, most people have DSL or know someone who does. And full-page, weatherproof, color-printer-friendly labels have been around long enough to prove their usefulness. has become available. You generally have to spent $50-$60 up front ordering, say, a pack of 100 labels, because the local business supply places don't carry them. But if several friends or a club can go together, that makes them .50 or .60 a sheet.

Because I produce a lot of graphics, I bought a color laser printer on closeout a couple of years ago. The replacement cartridges cost more than the printer, so I'm not saying this is what everyone needs. But if someone in your club or family has a color laser, or if you can talk the folks at your copy center into letting you use weatherproof labels in their color laser printer, that may be the way to go. That said, I have friends who have had decent luck using this sort of graphic with ink jets, assuming that they buy appropriate labels and protect the finished product with UV acrylic spray (something I recommend for these labels as well).

For my color laser printer, I use the full-page labels from Onlinelabels.com, product ID OK176LP. It's about $50 for 100 sheets. The label is made of polyester. You can't use vinyl labels in a laser printer - they'll melt and do very strange things to the mechanism.

OnlineLabels.com also makes a vinyl version for inkjets. OL176WJ, about $60 for 100. I haven't tried it, but friends have found similar labels useful with their inkjets. You can't use the polyester labels with most inkjets - the ink won't stick.

Other "Gotcha's"

Both kinds of labels will eventually fade outside - about as fast as the printed stickers that come with your building kits. Here are the "gotcha's."

• Labels in deep shade fade much slower than labels in direct sun.

• Darker labels seem to fade much slower than lighter ones. I'm wondering if the extra pigment adds additional UV protection?

• ALL labels will hold up to weather and UV better if you spray them with clear, UV-resistant acrylic spray (I use the Krylon that Walmart sells). As far as I can tell this should at least double the life of the label.

Note: Putting these in .pdf format it makes the labels tend to print at full size. However, you may want to do a "print setup" or "print preview" first and make certain that they are printing at the appropriate size.

What If I Need a Different Sized Image?

If you need any of the images in these files to be a different size, the easiest way for most people is to:

• Go to our Business and Station Signs page or our archive of James Powell's WT&W Ad Sign Exchange page, and find the file that contains that image.

• Download the file you need.

• Pull the file into Word or whatever word processor program you use and resize it there.

• Print right from your word processing program.

So here are the full-sheet "collections" of our most popular labels:

New Boston and Donnels Creek Business and Station Signs

NB_n_DC's Business Signs - Mostly created or "borrowed" to detail the businesses on our New Boston and Donnels Creek railroad.	NB_n_DC's Station Signs - Mostly created or "borrowed" to detail the stations on our New Boston and Donnels Creek railroad. The Fort Tecumseh and Rocky River signage fit Piko "Red River" stations.

Revised Signage for Trashbashed Fisher Price and PlaySkool Storefronts

The small horizontal rectangles go over the doors on the apartment buildings. The largest sigage goes on the top of the building - you'll remember I glued the roofs of these on "backwards," leaving an open place for signage on the front. The medium horizontal rectangles go over the store window. The vertical rectangles go over the left side of the building where there "ought" to be a window but there isn't. I didn't do all six of these because I had actually cut windows into a couple of the FP storefronts.

Obviously, these buildings are getting very hard to come by now, but there's no reason you can't use these signs to liven up your own buildings.

The signs to the right were designed to help finish my PlaySkool Sesame Street storefronts. The small horizontal rectangle goes over the door of the apartment building. The small vertical rectangle goes in the flat space over the right window of the storefront. The larger horizontal rectangle goes underneath the window. Again, these buildings are getting very hard to come by now, but there's no reason you can't use these signs to liven up your own buildings.

Favorite Signs from J. Powell's Collection

J. Powell's Business Signs 1 - A compilation of favorite vintage signs from WT&W Ad Sign Exchange page. For scalable (jpg and gif) versions of these signs, click here.	J. Powell's Business Signs 2 - A collection of favorite vintage signs from WT&W Ad Sign Exchange page. For scalable (jpg and gif) versions of these signs, click here.
J. Powell's Mini-Posters - A collection of favorite vintage signs from WT&W Ad Sign Exchange page. Yes, I know these are tiny, but Powell was mostly supporting HO scalers, so these signs were fine for his target audience. Still, you may find something you can use even for larger scales. For scalable (jpg and gif) versions of these signs, click here.	J. Powell's Coca Cola Sheet - By request, here is a selection of J. Powell's Coca Cola signs, in a fairly large size. For scalable (jpg and gif) versions of these signs, click here and scroll down to "Ad Sign #5"

Other Miscellaneous Resources

• Our Curtains and Shades resource page has full-page curtain graphics you can print to make empty buildings look a bit more "lived in."

• Our Temporary Building Fronts from Recycled Plastic page includes presized storefront images you can use to create "downtown districts" for temporary, seasonal, or public display use. I've been using these with my color laser and the Onlinelabels.com OK176LP labels to very satisfactory effect.

Other Signage Resources

• Our Business and Station Signs page has resizable versions of the signs on this page, as well as additional signs.

• Our archive of J. Powell's WT&W ad sign exchange! has resizable versions of the signs on this page, as well as additional signs.

• Ande Rooney's vintage sign collections on Amazon should help you find some unique images, especially if you're good with graphics software. We have three links because some signs come up under different links.
  • Ande Rooney Porcelain Signs on Amazon
  • Ande Rooney Railroad Signs on Amazon
  • Ande Rooney Toy Train Signs on Amazon

Stay In Touch

Have a great season, and enjoy your trains. Especially enjoy any time you can spend with your family in the coming days,

Paul Race
www.FamilyGardenTrains.com