Many engineering firms were established in North Lanarkshire from the mid-1800s onwards, attracted by the iron and steel industries and good transport links. Firms such as Motherwell Bridge and Alexander Findlay and Co exported buildings, bridges, cranes and other items all over the world.

Star objects include a unique collection of boilermaking machinery from the works of Thomas Hudson and Company, a colliery winding engine by Murray and Paterson of Coatbridge and a huge Weir boiler feed pump from a First World War battleship.

From the collection: