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Fairbottom Bobs

Fairbottom Bobs is a Newcomen-type beam engine that was used in the 18th century as a pumping engine to drain a colliery near Ashton-under-Lyne. It is probably the world's second-oldest surviving steam engine. The engine was installed at Cannel Colliery at Fairbottom near Ashton-under-Lyne around 1760 or 1764. It became known locally as Fairbottom Bobs.

Preservation
Fairbottom Bobs is preserved at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The engine and its site were considered antiquarian by the end of the 19th century. Photographs of the site taken in 1886 showed it in a reasonable state of preservation. When Henry Ford was collecting exhibits for his new museum in 1927 a major theme for the museum was 'Americana' but he also sought older industrial archaeological exhibits from Europe. His agent, Herbert F. Morton, found the engine although it had been derelict for a hundred years and was in poor condition. Its owner Lord Stamford gave the engine to be preserved in the museum. The engine and its masonry were dismantled and re-assembled in the museum. Its wooden beam was too rotten to be preserved and a replacement was made. Its wagon boiler was also acquired by the museum but the engine is now displayed with a haystack boiler from another engine, similar to one believed to have been used originally. Some features on the Fairbottom site remain in situ including the chimney base. Archaeological digs took place in 1982, 1990 & 2000 to investigate the remains. == Notes ==
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