ONE wonders about the future of the railway system when the operators do not appear to even know where their own stations are.

I have a picture of the sign put up at Staveley station on the Oxenholme to Windermere line to help travellers getting off the train understand their whereabouts.

I doubt, however, that the map of Newby Bridge Halt on the Lakeside to Haverthwaite Railway will be of much use to them.

The Lakeside-Haverthwaite is not even a part of the rail network, although I recall how way back in the 1980s Peter Parker, the then railways minister, on a visit to the steam preservation line admitted that BR had made a mistake closing it down.

The Ulverston-Lakeside link to the national network could have been converted into a steam route with high tourist potential, he said.

That was an interesting day as the minister arrived by car from Oxenholme rather late and somewhat flustered.

We found out later that he had actually got on the wrong train earlier in the day and, too embarrassed to pull the communication chord, had scribbled out notes asking for the train to be stopped, screwed them up and thrown them out of the window as his train rushed through stations.

Surprisingly it worked.

I am also told that until recently there was a poster at the foot of the ramp at Oxenholme station advertising places to visit. It waxed lyrical about the joys of Abbot Hall Art Gallery and Museum then told travellers that the nearest station was Liverpool.

Now a piece of paper with Kendal written on it has been pasted over the top.

SAVE THE FROGS...

THREE large frog warning signs have unaccountably hopped it from Stainton village.

The triangular red and white metal signs were funded during the Millennium year by a community grant from Marks and Spencer, says parish clerk Julie Knowles.

At a meeting of the parish council Coun Alan Bobbett suggested that she made a plea via this column for their safe return, although why he should think The Way I See It is compulsory reading for frog sign thieves is beyond me.

"The replacement costs for these signs would be in excess of £200. A hefty sum for such a small parish, but we would like to continue to warn motorists and protect our frogs from going splat," says Julie.

OK lads, hand them back before village frogs croak.

QUEUE QUERIES...

CAN anybody explain to me why the traffic lights at Kendal Town Hall are still in operation?

Allhallows Lane has been closed for two weeks, yet traffic still queues in Highgate on the red light patiently waiting for nothing at all to come out.

Stuck in that queue the other day I was immediately behind a double-decker bus with a huge advertisement for the Sellafield Visitor Centre on the back.

"How will you react?" asked the slogan and underneath in the dirt someone had scrawled: "Probably grow two heads."