Maudslay Beam Engine  – The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

The Newcomen Society lobbies for the conservation of key items of technical and Engineering history worldwide. The Society has campaigned for the retention of The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Australia, one of the world’s leading science and technology museums. The New South Wales Government spent five years planning to redevelop the site, which stands on a former tramway power station and disperse the collection. Engines on display include an early house-built Bolton & Watt rotative beam engine of 1785 from Whitbread’s Chiswell Street brewery in London (due to feature in the Society’s Journal soon) and a Maudslay beam engine shipped to Australia in 1837.

The Newcomen Society lobbied the Premier of New South Wales, The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian; the President of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Professor Barney Glover; and the Chair of the Select Committee examining the Powerhouse Museum Project, The Hon. Robert Borsak. We are delighted to report that Gladys Berejiklian announced on July 4^th that the Powerhouse Museum would remain open! See announcement in the Sydney Morning Herald.