Great Northern Railway Linotype

[Leon Wood]

I believe the "shiny canister" in the photo is part of the fuel supply for the gas-fired crucible, although I am not familiar with the specifics of what might have been used prior to the advent of portable propane cylinders. Could this be an acetylene-fired crucible and mouthpiece burner, such as were used on early motor vehicles for running lights? Leon Wood

[Dave Hughes]

Thanks very much for your input, Leon - and welcome to the Metal Type forum.

I think you're probably correct about the purpose of the cylinder at the back of the picture.

If anyone else wants to speculate, here's a link to the picture:
http://www.metaltype.co.uk/photos/photo133.shtml

[Mechanic]

Here we ar looking at the back of the Linotype from the press room. Photo was taken the same day. Picture of photo engraving can also be seen on the website below. No
cylinder? It must be behind the photographer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3738805903/in/photostream/

[Dave Hughes]

Excellent stuff.

In view of the above, I have now ammended the original Metal Type article:

http://www.metaltype.co.uk/photos/photo133.shtml