Posted by jerry on January 18th, 2009 — Posted in Journal, Steam
The National Museum of Australia has a fully operating paddle steamer – the PS Enterprise – which is open to the public. It is operated by volunteers and they have done a great job of keeping this 130 year old vessel in good shape.
The vessel is 17.3. long, 8m wide and has a net tonnage of 42.7 tonnes – so the fact that the vessel only has a shallow draft – essential for a river boat.
The paddle steamer, made of river red gums, was built in Echuca and launched in 1878. It plied its trade up and down the Murray River. It has operated as a floating store, been used as a houseboat and as a fishing vessel. In 1988 the vessel was recommissioned by the National Museum of Australia after a through overhaul and restoration at Echuca in South Australia, and transport overland to Canberra. It is a great piece of Australian heritage. It was acquired by the NMA in 1984 and has been cruising Lake Burley Griffin for the last 20 years.
Here are some detail views of the engine – a 12HP twin cylinder double-acting steam engine which drives the paddles via a chain drive. The vessel operates at around 50psi pressure, but can run on less. The boiler is a fire-tube boiler with exhaust steam providing extra draft for the fire. Top speed is around 5 knots (9kph). It is wood-fired. The feedwater pump takes water from the lake for use in the boiler, and the water is regularly tested for impurities – acidity, calcium etc as part of the conservation plan. And the boiler undergoes annual certification for safety.
The donkey engine generates reserve power for the batteries to keep lights and communications working.
And here is the galley – where food is cooked for the crew and the kettle is on for coffee – perhaps the true ‘engine room’!
The Steam Car Club of Great Britain has a wonderful step-by-step article on how Paul Brodie of Flashback Fabrications built a couple of replicas of Sylvester Roper’s 1898 steam bike. The article gives details of boiler construction (pages 7-8), and the feed water pump (page 4) which is driven by an eccentric on the opposite side of the rear axle from the main drive. The throttle valve is covered on page 5, while the fire box is covered on page 10 – a modernised version could run a gas or pressurised kerosene burner in that space. The steam assembly is on page 13 showing how the power system comes together to make a complete bike.
The completed steam bike replica[photo adapted from Steam Car Club of Great Britain]
And here is a video showing the bike in action
This is a very detailed write-up and well worth visiting the Steam Car Club of Great Britain – and while you’re at it, why not join up too! The site, run by Jeff Theobold, has loads of information about steam cars and other steam bikes.
Posted by jerry on December 19th, 2008 — Posted in Journal, Steam
Back in October 2007 I wrote about a little-known steam motorcycle built in 1917 by William Taylor, based on an FN. Thanks to some detective work by one of my readers, an article turned up in Model Engineer Vol 1 no 7 about this very motorcycle, which provided some interesting technical details from someone who was evidently very familiar with the bike.
The frame was indeed from a Belgian FN (Fabrique Nationale) – the frame looks like that of the 1914 285cc model which was shaft driven. The FN company began life in 1899 as an arms manufacturer, later turning to bicycles and then motorcycles.
The engine was likely a Wachs as I mentioned in my original blog post. The engine was a single cylinder double acting engine with 2 1/8″; bore and 2 1/2″; stroke, directly coupled to the tailshaft (the bike was originally shaft driven) using a reduction gear of 6 1/2; to 1.
The boiler was 9″ x 12″ comprising 120 1/2″; of seamless copper tube, running a pressure of 500psi. The boiler feedwater was run through two water heaters, producing superheated steam. The burner was kerosene (parafin) fueled and had a simple pilot light. The exhaust was condensed by a surface condensor and the water fed back into the boiler, with any un-condensed steam being exhausted to the air.
The tank slung above the engine and boiler was divided into two, containing fuel and water, with the fuel being delivered to the burner under pressure.
According to the contemporary report, the bike could sustain 25mph, with higher speeds available in short spurts. The bike was heavy for its power and tended to underperform against its internal combustion contemporaries. And the burner did not behave well in high winds. In addition, as the reviewer noted “The rise in steam pressure on a sudden stop did not make one feel at ease in the saddle”!
So the bike was a one-off experiment – and the candidness of the reviewer usefully noted the bike’s shortcomings as well as its virtues.
The British steam car challenge – dubbed ‘Inspiration’ – has taken a further step forward with dynamic tests of the car running independently entirely under its own …um… steam. This is a video of one of its first ever runs – a low speed dynamic test to ensure all the components function together to make a drivable car.
In the process the support team is learning new skills, including how to ‘launch’ the car. A team of 6 people is involved. The sequence of operations involved in checking, filling and starting the car requires coordination, timing and teamwork. Each step is a step closer to achieving the ten-year goal of this team to break the world’s speed record for a steam car, last officially set in 1906 at just over 127mph.
This team has displayed remarkable tenacity and overcome enormous financial and engineering difficulties to come up with the turbine-driven car seen above. They hope to establish a new world record next year.
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Geoff Hudspith, UK inventor and steam enthusiast has built a steam powered gramophone to play records at the various steam fairs he attends.
Powered by a small Stuart single cylinder double-acting steam engine, the gramophone took four years – between other projects – to complete. Water is fed into the boiler by a hand pump and an injector, and then heated by kerosene. The gramophone is fairly standard with the speed regulated by spring weights and the exhaust steam is cleverly vented through the sound horn.
Here is another view of it at a steam fair in Denmark
This is the ultimate in steampunk entertainment!
Here is a different gramophone powered by a stirling hot-air motor. This one is a Paillard “Maestrophone No. 205” gramophone manufactured in Switzerland between 1910 and 1914.
