Close to where I am the ISIS [1] neutron source [2] notoriously used a lot of second hand stuff when it was built. It is a tremendously successful science facility despite the fact that some parts date from the 1950s [3] [4].
I was told that some electrical equipment that had previously helped power the London Underground; I have never been able to find a source for this but I desperately want it to be true.
I studied physics in college. One of the more surprising things I learned was just how much scientific equipment was bought and sold via eBay. And we aren’t talking like run of the mill high frequency generators. No, it was specialized stuff like high field density magnets with cryo chambers, helium 3 systems, etc.
I briefly worked on an experiment at Fermilab (FNAL) that was trying to measure the birefringence of the vacuum (QED theory states the vacuum is birefringent in presence of magnetic field). Key to the experiment were the final 2 remaining magnets from the SSC (Super Conducting Super Collider). There was much donated equipment, some of it repurposed from experiments at SLAC and elsewhere within FNAL. Gotta say those folks at FNAL really knew how to stretch a dollar.
I was told that some electrical equipment that had previously helped power the London Underground; I have never been able to find a source for this but I desperately want it to be true.
[1] Named in the 1980s [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISIS_neutron_source [3] https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/Inside-the-ISIS-linear-par... [4] https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/ISIS_AR_2017.pdf picture on page 4