Midland Railway Bridge notice

Safety notices have changed considerably since the early days of the railways. This notice from April 1875 warns users of the bridge of the dangers of ignoring weight limits for railway traffic.

The text of this notice reads:

This Bridge (which is a Bridge belonging to the Midland Railway Company) is insufficient to carry weights beyond the ordinary Traffic of the District, and the Owners and Person in Charge of Locomotive Traction Engines, and other ponderous Carriages, are warned against passing over the Bridge, and will be held responsible for any damage"

This sign quotes a legal statute regarding trespassing on the railways and warns of the consequences of ignoring the law.

It reads:

7 Vict. Cap. 18 Sec. 238 Enacts "That if any person shall be or travel or pass upon foot upon the Midland Railway without the license and consent of the Midland Railway Company, every person so offending shall forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding Ten Pounds for every such offence."

Notice is therefore hereby given that all persons found trespassing upon this Railway of the Works thereof will be prosecuted. June 1899