BR sign points the way to a rainy day
THE combination of a BR London Midland Region ‘To the trains’ direction sign and an outdoor seating parasol sent an unexpected message last month to Heritage Railway contributor Geoff Courtney.
After yet another warm day with no sign of rain, he propped the parasol against the wall of his railwayana den, expecting to use it the following day.
Geoff, the magazine’s railwayana specialist, takes up the story: “I looked out of the window the next morning to see it was raining quite heavily, which was a welcome relief after such a long dry period that resulted in our lawn looking like it was composed of straw rather than grass.
“When the rain eased I went outside and noticed that the parasol had folded in such a way that it obscured the sign’s letter ’t’ in the word trains, resulting in the sign pointing ‘to the rains’, which it certainly was.
“Who needs the Met Office when a railway sign can forecast the end of a drought?”