Everything about this rather fabulous mechanical route selector – a unique piece created to build interest and publicity for the eventually-cancelled rail project – just screams early 1970s modernist design. From the gaudily coloured stripes on the case, to the tightly-spaced sans serif typeface, to the very name itself: “Futuroute” – literally the route for the future! Although I keep wanting to pronounce it as “futuro-route” rather than the intended “futu-route” for some reason…

The unit is now part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester, and is apparently every bit as clunky to operate as it looks.

For more information on the Picc-Vic project, check out the Wikipedia entry, or Chapter 3 of the Infra_Manc exhibition catalogue (PDF).

Source: Tim Dunn/Twitter