Telegraph Instrument Preservation Editorial

GM OPS-

This discussion of wear and tear on telegraph instruments brought to mind
one of my pet peeves with regards to key collecting:

Destruction of the historical value of antique instruments by sand blasting,
painting, and replating !

How many times have you seen a key, sounder, or relay polished to the point
where ALL of the original laquer and/or plating has been removed ?  Even worse
are the cases where the owner went after them with steel wool, scratching
the surface and rounding off all of the precisely machined corners.

Some guys like SHINY BRASS and the first thing that goes through their
minds after acquiring a rare telegraph device is attacking it with steel wool
and other means of destruction.  Even worse are the dealers doing this who
have no intention of collecting-- they only wish to "pretty up" the device in
order to make a quick sale.

I believe it is forbidden in the coin collecting hobby to polish mechanically
or chemically lest the value of the coin be seriously degraded.  I wish people
had this same perspective with regards to telegraph instruments.

The current trend in historical collecting is to attempt to "preserve" the
artifact.  This means the original painting, laquer, plating or whatever must
be retained.  To repaint/replate is essentially a remanufacturing process.  A
"remanufactured" device is no longer representative of the original
manufacturing material and processes.

The preservation process simply attempts to arrest further degradation by
preventing corrosion, oxidation, termites etc.  Removal of accumulated dirt,
grime, grease etc. is OK as long as surface finishes are not removed as well.

Of course no one is going to object to massive restoration of basket cases.
 In these cases, the restoration should be documented so that the next owner
will be aware that the instrument was remanufactured at some point in time (in
most cases it will be obvious !).

73 KF5N (Landline FA)

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