Read on Twitter
It's #TimelapseTuesday again and this week we have a lovely 2 minute locomotive cleaning for you, as well as a little thread on the object's story. 1/8
In the film Alex, one of our Conservation team at the National Railway Museum, is working in the Museum’s Great Hall cleaning this locomotive - the Furness Railway steam locomotive 0-4-0, No 3, made in 1846. 2/8
Due to the domed shape of the copper firebox (characteristic of Bury engines) the class came to be known as the “Coppernobs” with No. 3, the survivor of the original four, later referred to as “Old Coppernob.” 3/8
Old Coppernob had a long working life on the Furness railway. It was withdrawn in 1900; most members of this standard type had been removed from service far earlier. (pic shows Furness railway with another engine) 4/8
In the early 1900s Old Coppernob was preserved and placed on display at Barrow Station. It remained at Barrow until 1941 when it was moved to Clapham Transport Museum – later becoming part of the National Collection. (pic is Coppernob on display in a glass house in Barrow) 5/8
Before moving to Clapham, Old Coppernob suffered during a German air raid over Barrow-in-Furness in 1941. The shrapnel damage to the distinctive copper firebox casing can still be seen today. 6/8
Alex is using a dry microfibre cloth on 'Coppernob' to gently remove any surface dust and dirt. Dust sticks to the cloth which is then itself cleaned. 7/8
A full clean of a locomotive like this one takes 2-3 hours in total. Each locomotive at the museum has a surface clean like this every 3 months. With over 100 in the museum, that's a lot of cleaning! 8/8
