B&M depots signs: any info?

Hello All -

New member, first time poster. Just curious as I have a few, what's the history of the ubiquitous blue and white enamel B&M train station signs? How old are they? When where they made? When did they stop making them and affixing them to depots? Who made them? Thanks in advance.

Chris

Hi Chris,

The signs were produced by the Baltimore Enamel and Novelty Company between the late 1800s, when they invented the process for porcelain signs and auto license plates, until around 1920 when cheaper products became available. Of course, this time period encompasses most B&M station construction or upgrading.

FWIW, their value depends on condition and the relative importance of the location name. I own one of the two signs for Bretton Woods.

PBM

Hey Chris,

Over the recent years, I have been trying to locate and photograph as many B&M depots as possible, and often times this includes finding the old blue station signs as well. Even if the station is gone in a location, often times the sign can still be found in the area, like mounted to a firehouse or historical society. There was probably a period in the 1930s or so, when every location on the sytem had one of these signs, and they're always fun to find now.

Happy Hunting!

Hi guys, thanks for the info. B&mguy, I do the same thing - travel around and photograph the existing stations. Or in many cases, where they used to stand. I also look for the existing stations signs too, usually bolted to somebody's house or barn. I've found Ossipee, Eliot, Jewett, OOB and just recently Great Works this way. I know they were designed to be outdoors but I feel they are just rusting away if not brought inside.

Best,
Chris

Identical signs could also be found all over the Maine Central system as well.

Chris, just curious, where did you located the signs for Ossipee and OOB? I've have been wondering for awhile if those signs still survive.

Thanks!

Route 101 in Elliot ME. On the barn is OSSIPEE and on the garage is ELIOT (one L) About 1 mile east of Route 256

The correct spelling of the town is Eliot with one L. http://www.eliotmaine.org/

B&Mguy wrote:Chris, just curious, where did you located the signs for Ossipee and OOB? I've have been wondering for awhile if those signs still survive.

Thanks!

Hi, as has been noted, the Eliot and Ossipee signs are on 101 in Eliot. OOB and Jewett are on a barn right across from where the South Berwick depot once stood. Main Stream is there too but man is it hammered. I've never seen so much enamel loss. The owner of the Eliot sign told me he cleaned out a house of a deceased man years ago who just went around to various stations decades ago and asked if they wanted to sell the station signs.

Chris

Although Elliot has two L's the sign has only 1 L. Like Moltonborough and Moltonboro. Names change

Blame Samuel F. B. Morse and his practitioners for that. In the drive to reduce dits and dahs, "borough" would become "boro" or sometimes "boro'." Although stations sometimes got named in honor of nearby VIPs, if there was a way of reducing the amount of code transmitted by altering the station name from the municipality name, it would be done. One example would be "West Lebanon" morphing into "Westboro."

I always wondered about that. In Maine, Scarborough was known as Scarboro for a while, specifically the period of time you're describing. Eventually it became known as Scarborough again. In other places, the change became permanent: Vassalborough is now Vassalboro. The non-"ugh" spelling is the correct legal name of that town.

Thanks for the info!

musehobo wrote:Although Elliot has two L's the sign has only 1 L.

I'm pretty sure it's always been Eliot with one L. The sign is correct.

http://tinyurl.com/abouteliot

MEC407 wrote:

musehobo wrote:Although Elliot has two L's the sign has only 1 L.

I'm pretty sure it's always been Eliot with one L. The sign is correct.

http://tinyurl.com/abouteliot

There's a photo of the Eliot depot in "Downeast Depots" with the sign having 2 "L"s in the 1890s. It was later changed to 1 "L".

I'm looking to find the value of a Baltimore Enamel Novelty Co sign that was made for a Boston Maine train station which I have restored. It's in pretty good condition with a few spots of enamel gone....Can anyone give me a ballpark figure??? Thanks!