Great Eastern Railway S56 Class Passenger Tank Locomotive, 1904

This small locomotive is typical of a Victorian or Edwardian small tank engine, used for various duties on the British railway network - from shunting in yards, to hauling good trains, marshall larger passenger trains at main stations, or hauling suburban passenger services. This locomotive, number 87, was built in 1904  and is of the S56 type, nicknamed 'Buckjumpers' designed specifically for passenger work (when amalgamated into the London & North Eastern Railway in 1923 they were redesignated the J69, which they are better known as) for the Great Eastern Railway, one of 20 of the same class built in 1904 - for more information on the class, see this link to the superb LNER website - http://www.lner.info/locos/J/j67j69.shtml

This class of locomotives operated a highly intensive suburban passenger service out of London's Liverpool Street Station, hence the destination board on the front of the locomotive

Briton Car, 1914

In 1909, the Star Engineering Company, a Wolverhampton based car manufacturer, bought the Star Cycle Company, it's own parent company, who were making a range of low priced cars since 1905 under the Starling name. These low cost Starling cars were then discontinued, and replaced by cars made under the Briton name by the Briton Car Company, differentiating the name from the more prestigious Star name.

This 1914 built 10-12hp Briton 4 seat Tourer was restored by the Black Country Living Museum Vehicle Volunteer Group, who completed the restoration of this rare vehicle in July 2011. For more information on Briton cars, including a large number of period photographs and images of the Briton factory, see this superb webpage http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/Briton/Briton.htm

Humber Ladies Autocycle, 1913

To cater for Ladies wearing skirts who wanted to enjoy motorcycle, Humber produced this 'Ladies Autocycle', using methods identical to those used in ladies bicycle construction to allow for their clothing - a drop frame allowed easier access and the facilitation of a skirt, and a clothes guard over the rear wheel and chain drive minimised the risk of clothing getting caught

Aeronautical Roller Map, 1911

Maps were, and still are, essential for aviators. In an open cockpit, with a confined sheltered space just enough for the legs, torso and arms of the pilot and occupants, opening a large map is not practical, and so one of the earliest navigational aids to early aviators was this, the roller map. A relatively thin but long map would be in a box with two rollers, so as the pilot flew along, he could roll the map to show his present position and planned route - this meant that maps had to be prepared for specific routes, but was still an ingenious device and very practical. This roller map shows the course from Hendon, north London, to Harrogate, north Yorkshire, and was used by one of the competitors in the July 1911 Daily Mail 1010 mile circuit of Great Britain Air Race

Blackett's Aerophor, 1910

This unusual looking device is an example of the Blackett's Aerophor, a portable breathing apparatus (the name 'Aerophor' is derived from the Greek term for 'air carrier'). It uses liquid nitrox to enable the wearer, using a mask, to breathe properly when breathing the normal air where the wearer is would be hazardous, and was widely used by mine rescue teams where the air may be dangerous to breathe, possibly with no or too little oxygen. It was invented by Colonel VE Blackett in the Durham area in 1910.

It was filled immediately before use with five and a half pounds of liquid nitrox which contained at least 50% oxygen in a heat insulated tank, and at the bottom of the backpack contained a canister which was filled with two pounds of either potash or soda. The front of the Aerophor, which from what I can gather is on the right side of the apparatus in my photograph, was the breathing bag

London & North Western Railway Horse Drawn Omnibus

Now just the passenger compartment body on display at the Midland Railway Centre, this was once a horse-drawn omnibus, owned by the London & North Western Railway, based at Birmingham New Street Station and used for onward travel from there. The black and white photograph shows an identical Omnibus based in London for transporting passengers betwen the main railway stations. This Omnibus body was found in a Coventry garden, and is a very rare survivor. It is typical of similar Omnibusses that would have served large railway stations in the late 19th and early 20th Century

Premier Cycles Metal Sign

Midland Railway Crane, 1905

Sitting sadly derelict and awaiting restoration (which I hope will come) at the Midland Railway Centre in Derbyshire are the remnants of this crane, built in Derby in 1905 for the Midland Railway Engineers Department

Watch Captain Scott and Dr Wilson with Nobby the Pony, 1912

2012 sees the 100th anniversary of the deaths of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and the rest of the Polar Party after reaching the South Pole, beaten by the Norwegian team under Amundsen. This clip from the film 'The Great White Silence', by Herbert Ponting using film footage taken during the Expedition, shows Captain Scott and Dr Wilson, both members of the Polar Party, with one of the Ponies used to haul sledges, Nobby

Standard 30hp Roi de Belges, 1907

The Standard Car Company was founded in 1903, but this 1907 built example is believed to be the oldest surviving. When built it was exported to Australia, discovered in a barn on a tobacco farm in the 1950's and brought back to Britain in 1959 and restored by apprentices working for Standard which was still in business at the time. The body style is known as 'Roi de Belges', which means 'King of Belgium', named after a type of body commissioned by the King of Belgium which became a popular body style afterwards. This Standard 30hp is now in the Coventry Transport Museum which has a large collection of early motor cars