The original versions were hand painted, and the one we have in Silverton, did not use stencils. The sign presently on the station is modern in that vinyl letters are used--the only thing about the current sign that matches the original one is that it's not maintained very well. See my photos:
[
www.flickr.com]
These vary from location to location and the time period installed. The hand painted ones are more interesting, and somewhere the depot location in Silverton lost some elevation according to the current sign.
Fritz