01/09/2026
During the course of removing components for the Great Engine Project, the engines continued to give up their secrets...
A number of tooling marks were found in concealed areas showing how the original engine builders hand-chiselled components on site to get them to fit. Also found were evidence of steam pipe feeds to piston rod lantern rings (a device to stop air being drawn into the cylinder), long since disconnected, alongside plenty of cigarette packs, matches, match boxes, crisp packets and chocolate bar wrappers all stuffed down convenient holes! These were recorded and a selection removed for preservation in our archives.
As always our thanks go out to Arts Council England and the Department for Culture Media and Sport whose grant funding, through the Museum Estates Development Fund, has made these works possible.
