LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For the first time in over a century, the "heartbeat of the Titanic" has been reunited.
This year marks 113 years since the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg.
On Wednesday, curators of TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition at the Luxor unveiled a new artifact that has been added to the Las Vegas collection: a Kilroy stoking transmitter.
The transmitter was located in the ship's engine rooms and sent time signals to boiler room crews, guiding them on how long to allow coal to burn before shoveling in the new load.
"It was really important for us to bring this particular artifact to Las Vegas because in the exhibition, we already had one of the stoking indicators that was in the boiler room, the other component, the other half of the system that this would have communicated with," said Tomasina Ray, President of RMS Titanic, Inc. and Director of Collections. "By bringing this here, we're reuniting the two pieces for the first time."
She added the transmitter also powered the telegraph system, the lights on the ship, and the pumps.
The artifact is also unique because there was only one on the entire ship.
"The stoking transmitter was in the engine room near the breakup and thrown in the debris field [when the ship broke apart]," Ray said. "As it sank, the solid metal sides collapsed under the pressure and you'll see that when you look at this piece. It's an amazing testament to the trauma of the sinking."
The piece of machinery laid at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for decades until RMS Titanic, Inc. conservators found the piece between the bow and stern during an expedition in 1994.
The transmitter was in storage for years under "tightly controlled conditions" due to how fragile the piece is.
Earlier this year, conservators began the preservation process to try to bring the transmitter back to life. That included desalination, stabilization, and manual restoration to remove corrosion.
"[This is] something with so many mechanical components, something with so many complicated materials," Ray said.
You may not know this but Clark County has ties to the Titanic.
First-class passengers Virginia Estelle McDowell Clark and Walter Miller Clark were traveling on the "Ship of Dreams" as a belated honeymoon trip. Clark and his brother, U.S. Senator William Andrews Clark, built the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad to facilitate shipments between Los Angeles and Salt Lake. The midway point of the route was in Nevada, creating Las Vegas and later resulting in the naming of Clark County.
Walter didn't survive the trip. However, Virginia did.
The exhibition has previously featured items that belonged to the couple including gambling chips, an 18-Carat gold locket engraved with Virginia's initials, a cuff link made of Ottoman Turkish coins, and a brass shaving stick canister.