Longmorn Distillery Lamps Restored

Recap

A post back in November 2022 was about two locomotive lamps that had been donated to the Railway - you can view this post here :- November 2022 Blog Post.

Two traction-engine style lamps were donated.  They were originally fitted to the McLaren locomotive of 1898 that was used at Longmorn until Queen Anne arrived in 1948.

The Lamps as Donated 

The image below (taken in the early 1950s) shows where the lamps would have fitted on the McLaren locomotive. 

Lamp Brackets either side of Smokebox

 

The lamps were made by Eli Griffiths of Birmingham who were trading from 1870.  They could date from the arrival of the locomotive in 1898, or they could have been obtained later.  They are obviously of some age.

Makers Plate on the Burners

 

One of the lamps mainly needed cleaning and repainting, and was the subject of the 2022 post.  However the second lamp needed some major tinplate repairs to restore it, but these repairs have finally been carried out and both lamps are restored.  No attempt was made to straighten out the various dents as these are part of the lamps' history, but they are now fully working servicable lamps.

The Second Lamp 

The lower part of the lamp was badly corroded on three sides, likewise the bottom plate and the guides for the paraffin burner.

The Rusty Parts Revealed

 Patch pieces for the sides were produced as well as a new base and guides.  These were made of 0.5mm tinplate and soldered on.  Although the tin plating on the rest of the lamp had largely disappeared, it was possible to shot blast the metal and apply solder using an acid flux.

New Tinplate Parts

 

Folding the Edges on the Baseplate

Lower Side Patches Soldered On

The hollow handle was rather moth-eaten, so it was decided to fill it with epoxy resin as this would prevent water ingress and ensure no more internal corrosion could take place.  The corrosion holes were taped over and a hole was drilled in the top to allow the resin to be poured in.

Moth-eaten Handle

Epoxy Resin Poured In

The oil lamp inserts did not have their original wick burners, but two were obtained from old BR paraffin lamps.  These needed the making of and additional brass ring to fit the BR burners.  New wicks were obtained.

Burners and Locking Ring

 

Once the repairs had been carried out, the lamp was painted with two coats of grey 2-part epoxy primer and sprayed with several coats of gloss black.  The inside of the lamp was sprayed with reflective silver paint.  The lamps have two reflectors (one for each glass) made of thin copper foil - they may have been silvered in the past but any coating had been lost.  Spraying the whole interior silver should improve the light output.

Lamp in Grey Primer

Both Lamps Restored

 

Burners Lit

Where Next

For the moment the lamps will be kept with Queen Anne as part of the Longmorn collection, but it would be nice to find a more accessible way of displaying them.