The Midland Railway crest

Home Trails Arrow up

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY ASSEMBLAGE TRAILS
"The Family Trail"
Stop Nine: The Shadowless Lamp

Around the corner and heading back on ourselves, looking on the left side ('C') in the Metal area.

A view of the tall lamp lying on its side in the display cabinet revealing the burner arrangement

Stop 9

Where: C5 green

What: Shadowless lamp

Material: Tin plate & brass

Why: The Midland Railway employed hundreds of draughtsmen working on detailed drawings of new locomotives, or new buildings, or any number of intricate engineering challenges. To work they needed bright light but of course the sun doesn’t always shine. In the age before electric lighting the burner of a conventional oil lamp hanging over the drawing board would cast a shadow onto the draughtsman’s work. The lamp we see here was specially designed by Ross Atkins Co. of Birmingham with a special burner assembly that had three wicks so that no shadow was cast.

Ref: RFB13844

A better view of the lamp standing up