Enthusiasts will probably know a lot of the techy stuff, but even they may not know the individual history of every machine...
True; the general stuff is often googleable, but only the owner (or previous owners) will usually know the life story of that example of an engine, pump, generator, or whatever they're showing. An information board only needs to be made up once, so there's no real excuse for not putting at least some basic details of the exhibit on display.
...and there isn't time to talk to all the owners, even if they weren't busy fettling :-)
It would certainly have taken me all day and more to talk to every one of the stationary engine exhibitors at Prestwood, let alone the steam and other vehicle exhibitors. Strangely, a few of them can get quite grumpy at having to put down their mug of tea, fag, paper or whatever, get up out of their deck chair and come to the fence, or climb off or out of their vehicle, to talk to someone who asks them a question. Thankfully, most that I've spoken to are keen to talk about their exhibits.
One lucky day, many years ago, I even got a go at steering a steam roller around a rallyfield - it takes quite some effort to turn the steering wheel on one of those machines!
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True; the general stuff is often googleable, but only the owner (or previous owners) will usually know the life story of that example of an engine, pump, generator, or whatever they're showing. An information board only needs to be made up once, so there's no real excuse for not putting at least some basic details of the exhibit on display.
It would certainly have taken me all day and more to talk to every one of the stationary engine exhibitors at Prestwood, let alone the steam and other vehicle exhibitors. Strangely, a few of them can get quite grumpy at having to put down their mug of tea, fag, paper or whatever, get up out of their deck chair and come to the fence, or climb off or out of their vehicle, to talk to someone who asks them a question. Thankfully, most that I've spoken to are keen to talk about their exhibits.
One lucky day, many years ago, I even got a go at steering a steam roller around a rallyfield - it takes quite some effort to turn the steering wheel on one of those machines!