In the third of a series on the railway plans we hold at Dorset History Centre, Jenny Barnard, the Conservator here at Dorset History Centre details the problem of conserving the large railway plans we hold.
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The railway plans present a complex conservation challenge due to three main aspects: their size, the material from which they are made, and their historic method of storage.
Challenge 1
The plans are drawn on large sheets of paper, which fall into two size categories; roughly 55 x 75cm and 51 x 125cm. Each plan can contain anywhere from three to 76 sheets of paper. The plans are landscape and the pages are sewn together down the short, left-hand side.
Challenge 2
During the nineteenth century, when most of the railway plans were produced, there was a revolution in paper making. Originally made from cloth rags, paper was expensive to produce but incredibly good quality, however by the mid-nineteenth century advancements in manufacture meant paper could be made from wood pulp. Whilst much cheaper to produce, the resulting paper was very acidic; degrading and becoming brittle over time. The majority of the plans are made from this type of paper.
Challenge 3
The plans have been stored rolled for many years and when they are opened, the tightly rolled paper is very springy, which has resulted in multiple tears that run the length of the sheets. There is also often a thick layer of soot and dust on the cover from their historic use and storage.
The plans are now safely stored in the repositories at DHC, but they remain in their original rolled and damaged state, making access difficult for researchers. This project will see the cleaning, repair, flattening and repackaging of all 132 plans to make them available to the public.
To understand the scale of the project and to inform a plan-of-action, a survey was carried out to assess the condition of the railway plans. Each plan was graded from 1-4.
1 good condition,
2 surface dirt with some tearing and compression damage:
QDP(M)/R3/81, London & South Western 1864
3 significant damage with detached pieces and areas of loss:
QDP(M)/R3/12, Southampton & Dorchester 1845
4 the plan is actively deteriorating and requires immediate treatment:
QDP(M)/R3/69, Poole & Bournemouth 1862
Of the 132 plans, five were given a grade 1 (all five had been treated by a previous conservator), 72 were allocated a grade 2, 52 were given a grade 3, and three were a grade 4.
Due to the scale of the project a volunteer was recruited and trained to help clean and repair the grade 2’s. In our next blog we will meet Clare and learn more about her invaluable work. Look out for upcoming blogs where we explore how to conserve grade 3 and 4 documents.
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This is part three of an eight part series of blogs on the work we are doing to conserve the railway plans.