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You have a time machine and you can go back to the 50s/60s and save one Engine. Which would it be ?

Discussion in 'Steam Traction' started by toplight, Dec 21, 2017.

  1. MellishR

    MellishR Resident of Nat Pres Friend

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    The Douglas Self site suggests that the main reason for the lack of success of the later version with mechanical transmission "was simply that turbines are only efficient at or near one design speed. This is fine in power-stations, but not in a locomotive where mechanically-coupled turbines have to run at very variable speeds." That problem would be much less with electric transmission, so it seems strange that the earlier version, which had electric transmission, was rebuilt into the mechanical transmission version.
     
  2. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    Bristol Queen or Manxman anyone??

    upload_2018-1-11_11-27-21.jpeg [​IMG] upload_2018-1-11_11-29-54.jpeg
     
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  3. ghost

    ghost Part of the furniture

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  4. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

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    Did Bulleid see this when he was younger?
     
  5. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

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    The Beyer-Ljungstrom locomotive seems to have been the most successful British condensing turbine loco. But maintenance (and construction) costs were still excessive and it didn't manage any better economy than a conventional locomotive.
    [[​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2018
  6. Cartman

    Cartman Well-Known Member Account Suspended

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    The only one of these various experimental designs which seemed to work was the turbomotive and that wasn’t enough of an improvement to be worth the hassle
     
  7. nine elms fan

    nine elms fan Part of the furniture

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    I thought that as well, from the middle to the rear it looks like Bulleids turf burner in Ireland.
     
  8. nine elms fan

    nine elms fan Part of the furniture

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    Sorry to go off thread... Sally B.jpg
     
  9. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    Pity it wasnt tooled up and airborne over that incident that @The Green Howards reported with an Audi.....................
     
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  10. Bill Drewett

    Bill Drewett Member

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    I'm picturing something like this 1987 advert...

     
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  11. LesterBrown

    LesterBrown Member

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    Do you mean middle to the front, that photo is a rear 3/4 view, it ran condenser leading.

    I can't work out any way the driver can see in front, or behind, without leaning out of a cab side window.
     
  12. clinker

    clinker Member

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    I've been told that the Footballers in particular suffered from an amount of 'Partisanship' in the respect that. for example 'Arsenal' recieved far less care and attention at Stratford that 'West Ham United' did. Also been told by an ex Stratford fireman that B17's were top heavy leading to their rough riding. Bill Harvey and Kim Malyon did a lot of work on the rear axleboxes and springs at Ipswich in an attempt to improve matters.
     
  13. 61648

    61648 Member

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    Whilst I can understand that point, I think the best photo I can recall seeing of a clean B17 on shed at Stratford was of Arsenal, IIRC, the photo is published in one of John D Mann's excellent East Anglian series of books published in the early 1990's.

    For fairly obvious reasons it is one of my favourite photos of a B17
     
  14. johnofwessex

    johnofwessex Resident of Nat Pres

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    Thinking about it, what about bringing one of the ex LMS Jackshaft Drive shunters back from Italy?

    A true pioneer which we dont have any examples of in the UK
     

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