'Oo Nicked The Regulator 'Andles?

The current ME review by Roger Backhouse of Glasgow's "Riverside Museum", reminds me of visiting it - and the sailing-ship moored alongside - a few years ago.

Reminds me to, of an oddity.

Look carefully at his image (Photo 10) of the cab of the NBR locomotive... What is missing?

Same with another locomotive in the display, but not with the SAR one as I recall, perhaps because its regulator handle is less prominent.

I would love to know who removed the regulator handles, and why. I can think of no logical, sensible reason!

.

To be fair, this Transport Museum's curators do seem to understand what they are showing, despite some branding-consultant type re-naming it to hide its identity; and the exhibits carry reasonable explanations - not perfect but better than some I could mention. Blushing are you, NRM York, and Bernard Lovell Telescope "visitor-centre"?

'

The one exhibit that didn't ring true to me is the Ruston & Hornsby traction-engine. (Roger's Photo18). I don't know its history prior to arriving on the Clyde bank but it looks to be a general-purpose tractor vaguely converted to showman's trim, perhaps by a previous preservationist. Adorning the eaves with lamps is a preservation fashion not true to commercial travelling-fair life - but also, this engine has no dynamo and no sign it ever did! It seems to have had a hard life though - the tyres are quite severely worn.

Can I say not only what a good detailed review it was but also what an excellent museum it appears to be? If I ever am up that way I will be sure to visit.

Oh, indeed Jon. I'd certainly go again.

Possibly to stop them getting yanked back and forth by the visiting public and crushing people's fingers or damaging the mechanism? Or being stolen and sold for scrap if made of brass/bronze as some were?

Perhaps they have been stolen for scrap...

Metal theft is a constant problem in the UK; power cables, heritage cast-iron road signs, man-hole covers, safety critical railway signalling wire, garden gates, model steam engines, you name it - gone.

Never happened in the good old days, apart from lead off Church Roofs! and anything else not nailed down. Scrap metal has always been closely associated with criminality, including London's famous 1960's Torture Gang.

Dave

Lovely lads the Torture Gang! Nailing victims to the floor, ouch.

But the South Africans have raised the stakes in the metal theft game, taking away railway tracks 5 and 10 miles-worth at a time. That was after stripping thousands of miles worth of signal and overhead power cables already. So much so the railways are struggling to continue running all across the country.

And if you leave your car parked too long unattended you will return to find the catalytic converter has been offed and sold for scrap platinum or whatever they contain these days.

Edited By Hopper on 19/06/2022 11:58:41

Dave -

All the other fittings, much more obviously of bronze, are there; and a discrete stud and nut would have prevented visitors trying to move the handle. The footplates are closed against entry anyway, I think.

In that case it's to stop knowledgable Model Engineer's firing up the locos and taking them for a run around the museum. I've seen a documentary about it - 'The Titfield Thunderbolt'

For those who have any copper pipe, a recent price scrap was £7.60 a kilo ! Noel.