This is a post written by Museum Volunteer Philippa Beesley.
Volunteering in the National Railway Museum’s Conservation Department is exciting, challenging and essential for professional development. Despite being a qualified objects conservator, the work involves the new challenge of large objects of a technical nature. There is also the chance to deal with ethical issues such as operating stock.
A current project involves the conservation of three ‘0’ gauge railway wagons, all of which have suffered areas of damage or loss. One of these is a London Midland & Scottish Railway 12-ton open wagon. The model wagon has a wooden body and underframe; interestingly using materials similar to its full size counterpart.
As part of the national collection the procedure includes written and photographic analysis of the current condition. Issues identified with the LMS wagon include surface dirt on the interior base and the loss of four structural component areas. This affects the appearance, rather than the stability of the object.
The conservation proposal considered to what extent replication of components is appropriate. This depended on materials available and the object’s proposed function; in this case likely static display or storage.
The final treatment included cleaning with a conservation grade sponge and the removal of splashes of paint. The majority of work was in the replication of missing structural components which were fabricated in metal before being adhered to the model and colour matched accordingly.