It started with this photo. We were going for a nice walk around the village of Rowsley in Derbyshire, when I spotted this sign fixed to the front gate of a private house. Intrigued by its history, I took a quick photo and enjoyed the rest of the walk, followed by a nice cup of coffee and a cake at the Cauldwell’s Mill cafe.

After uploading the photo to Flickr, I noticed the very subtle LNER lettering at the right-hand edge of the sign, indicating its origin on the railways. A quick search established that there were a few of these signs about, so the obvious thing to do was to set up a group for them.

Thus was born the Forty Shillings Fine group on Flickr. Every so often, I do a quick search to find new pictures of such signage, and invite the photographer to add their image to the group. Maybe one day, someone even less popular at parties than myself will find a valuable use for this collection of photos…

I am not a trainspotter or railway enthusiast (other than having an appreciation of the engineering involved in early steam engines). I do not own a model railway and am not able to answer questions on engines or railways. If anyone has one of these signs they no longer want, let me know!

This photo is a derivative work of this shot by Ben Harper, used in accordance with the photo’s licence.