Archeologists dig through dirt to bring the past back to life. Engineers can dig through geometries and contours to bring the industrial past back to life. These days, engineers and historians are using 3D CAD software to preserve history and recreate products that no longer exist.

The concept is called “industrial archeology” and it has been illustrated by William L. Gould of Fallbrook, CA. Like other industrial archeologists, Gould spends his time studying and recreating machines, parts, vehicles, and buildings that may have vanished, been destroyed, gone obsolete, or perhaps never existed at all. The practice combines art, history, craftsmanship, and, in a new twist, computer-aided design.

“Although the power of CAD has redefined the notion of craftsmanship, CAD is a powerful tool to recreate objects that have disappeared or exist only in a would-be inventor’s sketches,” says Gould, who is also a medical device and consumer parts designer.

Using SolidWorks design software, Gould created full-color 3D CAD model of the 1879 Mason Bogie, a steam locomotive, originally built by the Mason Locomotive Works. He rendered the locomotive in SolidWorks and PhotoWorks software and today it exists again as a 3D CAD model with hundreds of discrete parts. It is available as a fine art lithographic print or a set of plans in exacting detail.

The original Mason Bogie is considered one of the most beautiful locomotives ever built and often dubbed “the Swiss watch of trains.” The largest single user of the colorful locomotives was the Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad.

Gould modeled the locomotive as it appeared early in service with an elegant color scheme based on consultation with historians. This is the first time it has been seen in color since its creation in 1879. The only existing real-world Mason Bogie — a much later, different style than the original 1879 — is maintained in mint condition and operated at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI.

Gould, who prizewinner in the SolidWorks World 2006 Design Contest, credits the SolidWorks package with giving him what he needed to complete the project. “Using SolidWorks, we can create any form we want, whether it was conceived yesterday or 180 years ago,” he says. “SolidWorks makes the reconstruction aspects of industrial archeology a piece of cake.”

Gould says he will tackle other industrial archeology projects in hopes of supplying documentation service and animations to museum curators and exhibit designers. His dream, however, is a “virtual museum”, an online museum filled with historically accurate cyber models and faithful recreations of artifacts that no longer exist.

“Museums are just beginning to use 3D CAD for industrial archeology,” Gould says. “For me, the whole concept is very important because in many instances museums have document collections but lack the corresponding artifact. You solve a mystery when you design products from an inventor’s sketches to see if they would really have worked. To a historian, that answer is gold.”

More information on SolidWorks software and industrial archeology is available at www.solidworks.com or by calling 800-693-9000.