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| Mill engine |
We visited London's
Science Museum recently and an had unexpected Steampunk adventure! As soon as you walk in you are greeted by a gallery about the history of steam power including displays and working models of steam engines from the first engines right up to the horizontal Mill engine.
They have a working Mill engine and believe it or not, some Mill engines were used right up until the 1970's!
Walking around the other floors, we found a gallery dedicated to the history of watch making in London with large displays of pocket watches from private collectors as well as examples of large case clocks and tower clocks.
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| 18th Century Pocket Watches |
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| 19th Century Pocket Watches |
We also saw a large gallery about the history of time keeping with displays of more pocket watches as well as the tools of the trade and working enlarged version of the 3 main types of escapements used in pocket watches.
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| Tools of the Trade |
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| Escapements |
At the back of this area, there is an original speaking clock from the 1970s. It has 3 separate systems working together and is surprisingly large for something so simple - it really is a feat of engineering!
But the creme de la creme had to be the working Difference Engine No. 2 complete with printer built to tolerances achievable in the 19th Century from
Charles Babbage's original designs.
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| Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 |
There is even a section on the technology through the centuries, the
picture on below is for the 19th Century and would not be complete
without a
Penny-farthing.
Overall, the Science Museum is really worth a visit for any Steampunk as well as anyone interested in the history of technology although strangely for a Science Museum it wasn't very, for want of a better word, sciency.
