Gallery: Newcomen Engine replica on show at Black Country Living Museum
A replica of an engine which forms a critical part in engineering history is back up and running over the summer holidays.
A full-size copy of the first successful steam engine ever built, the Newcomen Engine, is operating at the Black Country Living Museum.
John Allen, 90, who was an important figure in getting the replica first installed, said: "It was the first sort of automatic operating engine.
"I proposed it and got the museum involved and people from Manchester and London. We all agreed it was a good thing."
The museum's engine got an Institution of Mechanical Engineers' Engineering Heritage Award in November 2012.
The awards have also been given to Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast and the E-type Jaguar.
The steam engine was given a £40,000 facelift in 2011.
The engine was by Thomas Newcomen, in Devon, in 1712. It could be said to have helped all later types of steam power used since.
