In a past post where I got my soldering iron out and starting installing DCC Decoders into Hornby locomotives from the early 2000s you might have seen I had taped down the pantograph while I was working on the Locomotive.
The pantographs on these old locomotives, unlike the modern versions were made of metal, and were actually designed to be used to power the locomotive if your layout included active overheard wires. Not a feature you see on modern locomotives!
They’re actually quite fragile – and sadly one of my recent eBay purchases arrived in the post with a broken main arm (as you can see in the photo at the top of the post). The photos on the listing showed it to be intact, and it appears to have not survived the journey in the mail. Thankfully the seller offered to remove one from another loco and send it down. So a repair is possible.