Preserving Technology - Conservation Services Thomas A. Troszak, Conservator
Conservation of large artifacts and the management of decay
As a conservator, I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of large technological objects including: operating steam locomotives, railway carriages and equipment, steam traction engines, steamboats, stationary steam engines and boilers, historic mills, machine tools and many other types of historic industrial and scientific equipment. All of these objects are considered to be industrial artifacts.
What are industrial artifacts? All industrial artifacts, large or small, were originally tools, machines, or structures used in the growth and evolution of a society, or an industry within that society. All were built with the primary intention of performing useful work. The vast majority of physical objects used by a technological society are created, used for their intended purpose, and then the materials of their construction are either discarded, or are recycled into new objects. Occasionally, individual pieces of technology are taken aside from this process, after their original purpose has been fulfilled. Individuals or groups take an interest in preserving these objects, and the objects are then designated as artifacts of historic interest.
The Management of Decay. During the many years that I have been involved in the long term preservation and restoration of large industrial artifacts I have come to the conclusion that the terms preservation and conservation are often misused, or misunderstood. Now, I mostly refer to my work with large historic objects simply as "the management of decay". I have formulated some basic principles that I believe to be true:
The Management of Decay
1. All physical objects, including artifacts of historic significance, are subject to the laws of entropy and are undergoing a constant process of physical degradation.
2. Sunlight, oxygen, water, gravity, and human interaction are the most significant accelerators of decay. Objects, which are still in active use, degrade more rapidly than objects that are not still in use.
3. The role of the conservator is to treat every object of historic importance with the intent of prolonging the physical existence of the object, while preserving it's historic integrity so that the educational or aesthetic value of the object may be utilized to the greatest extent possible.
4. No physical interaction with any historic object is truly reversible, so think before committing to action.
With these principles in mind, the issues and intended purposes for the preservation of large industrial artifacts can be honestly debated and clarified.
Approaching the conservation of railway equipment in a museum environment. Despite the imposing size or complexity of railway artifacts, many familiar museum conservation laboratory techniques can still be used for treatment, if a logical approach is taken. For example, small chips of paint can be taken from the surface of a large object, and examined in a laboratory to determine a plan of action. Some novel approaches to treatment may need to be adopted where it is necessary to save time or cost, provided that the quality of the work is kept up to ethical and common sense standards.
Any proposed conservation treatment can be broken down into some basic steps such as these:
1.Perform a visual inspection of the object.
2.Pursue historical research using photographs and/or written records, if available. Seek oral testimony about the use of the artifact, if any users or observers of the artifact are living.
3.Create a photographic and written documentation of the object in the current state.
4. Formulate a treatment plan and proposal for stabilization and exhibition of the object.
5. Perform the stabilization and/or repairs as per the proposal.
6. Create a photographic and written documentation of the treatment and results.
Thomas A. Troszak 47 Panola St. Asheville, NC 28801 USA Telephone:828.713.7828 Fax: 828.251.1112 Copyright 2003 Thomas A. Troszak All rights reserved.
