British Railways (London Midland Region) totem, Sudbury

Totem station sign, British Railways (London Midland Region), enamel, maroon, from Sudbury Station, Staffordshire.

Station name signs varied in look and style depending upon the company that owned the station. At the height of the railway building boom in the nineteenth century, there were over 100 different railway companies, and a singular approach to signage was difficult. As companies merged first into four then into one in 1948 when the railways were nationalised, clear, regular name signs became easier to implement.