Historic museum rail car damaged by rain (From York Press)

Dynamometer car at the National Railway Museum damaged by rain at Railfest

11:03am Saturday 1st September 2012 in News

AN historic piece of rolling stock at the National Railway Museum has suffered up to £10,000 of damage due to wet weather at the Railfest event earlier this year.

The Dynamometer car, which was used to monitor the record run of steam locomotive Mallard in 1938, was damaged due to being outside in the torrential rain in Railfest last June.

A spokesman for the museum said: “The Dynamometer car suffered some water damage due to prolonged exposure to the unexpected and very severe wet weather experienced during Railfest.

“The damage appears to be concentrated in the grained paintwork surface of the exterior panels. The paint was applied as part of restoration work undertaken in the 1960s. There is also some water ingress in the carriage interior.

“Immediate action was taken to minimise damage during Railfest as soon as the issue was identified. This included installing aquasacs to absorb water and prevent it spreading. The car was also brought into the museum’s paint shop to enable it to dry out thoroughly immediately after Railfest. It remains in the paint shop.”

The museum said it was undertaking a full assessment of the damage.