Museum of British Transport, Clapham 1971

Old railway signs on display at the Museum of British Transport in Clapham in 1971, arranged in a dense wall-mounted panel of enamel, painted and printed notices from Britain’s railway past. Among the most eye-catching are the large Worcester Railway Notice, several stern Notice as to Trespass boards from companies including the Great North of Scotland and Dundee & Arbroath Joint Railway, and a striking warning that propping up wagon doors for coal weighing or loading was strictly prohibited. At the top right, a wonderfully severe hotel notice warns that any servants found in the basement would be handed over to the police, while the long white board beside it sets out the tolls for Tuckton Bridge. It is a fascinating snapshot of the way transport museums once displayed industrial ephemera, turning everyday rule boards and warnings into artefacts in their own right.