Friday Facts and Fotos
Friday 22nd September 2023 FFF 61.
Identifying old machinery !
Early models of machines still in use today are usually easy to identify. However, when a machine performed a process that was discontinued decades ago, identification is much harder. Some might remember the photos we published in January this year of a machine which still exists in east block in the Newport workshops. It has recently been identified for us as a horse hair combing machine. It is right down the back of 11 road east block southern extension which at one stage was part of the upholstery shop.Horse hair used to be the stuffing inside thousands of seat cushions which made wooden seats more comfortable to sit on. The seat, armrest, and backrest cushions in loco cabs and in guards vans also used horse hair. That is why it is so important to keep all that old machinery that is still at Newport – even if presently no one can identify it. So much of our cultural history is tied up in work practices and processes that are no longer in use.
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