Think push-along scooters are just for kids? Try mounting a 125cc engine on the back wheel, and think again! A few posts ago, I talked about Brooklands, the world’s first purpose-built motor-racing circuit. In its day, it was a thrill-seeker’s dream, but ordinary folk could go along for a test-drive too. Ninety years ago, you might just have caught a glimpse of one of these little beauties powering up the banking: The ABC ‘Skootamota’ was one of the earliest motor scooters […]
David Rooney was Keeper of Technology and Engineering at the Science Museum and curator of Mathematics: The Winton Gallery.
It’s all going on in the world of lorries this week. A haulage firm is trying to introduce a ‘super-lorry’ that’s 30 feet longer than a conventional articulated truck. Latest news is that the police have blocked it, but it’s a fast-changing story which I’ll be watching with interest. You can see footage of the double-articulated device on the BBC website here. I’ll keep my own thoughts on this 83-foot monster to myself. Instead, check out the world of heavy […]
Having written last week about my singular inability to ice-skate, my eye was drawn today to this poster in the National Railway Museum’s collection: The caption reads ‘Watch your step on our platforms this winter… Leave the skating to the profesionals’. Wise words. Having said that, if I saw a briefcase-carrying penguin skating along the platforms at London Bridge station, I think slips and falls would be the last things on my mind…
It’s that time of year again. Temporary ice rinks are springing up all over the country. There’s a popular one at the Natural History Museum, for instance, and there’s a useful ‘top ten’ rundown in The Telegraph. What’s not to love? Well, whenever I’ve been foolish enough to agree to have a go, it seems as if everyone else on the rink is related to Torvill and Dean whilst I resemble a new-born Bambi on a bad day. As I struggle round, […]
David Rooney, Keeper of Technology and Engineering, uncovers more about Malcolm Campbell a British racing motorist who broke land and water speed records in the 1920s and 30s.
Keeper of Technology and Engineering David Rooney takes a closer look at the Triumphs in the Science Museum collection.
David Rooney, Transport Curator, takes a closer look at the ‘Whippet’ cycle, introduced in 1885.
Transport Curator David Rooney explores the long history of the hybrid vehicle.
Transport Curator David Rooney discusses the BMW MINI E trials and the potential for it to join the likes of the curiously-shaped G-Wiz electric car on our streets.
David Rooney celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Concorde’s first flight.
Transport Curator David Rooney celebrates fifty years of the Mini.
Transport Curator David Rooney takes a look at the history of the vehicles used to deliver the mail.