The Bluebird Project

Over 600 today....
https://youtu.be/EKvdcjSufZ8

So, moving on from there, and accepting that making condensers work on locomotives is problematic, I still wonder why no one spannered a turbine in there then simply threw away the steam as with the standard reciprocating machinery of the day. They did: the LMS “Turbomotive” used a non-condensing t...

Why was the steam turbine never used in trains, then? It was certainly small enough and more efficient. The steam turbine was in fact often experimented with in railway locomotives (not “trains” please -a train is the rake of carriages or wagons that a locomotive draws). Issues of cost, complexity ...

Seems like train development stopped and marine stuff carried on. No, steam locomotive development never stopped; just about everything that could have been tried to improve performance and efficiency has been tried at some stage with varying degrees of success. In the end though, it all boils down...

captain sparkle wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:06 am How about "the biggest steam train in the world" on the rails again - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJPVhtQFeQ

Nice.

“My understanding is that you fill your loco up with coal and water, light a fire and once everything is hot and pressurised away you go. The steam passes through several expansion stages then is blown up the spout to make the fire draw. Is that correct?” Indeed it is. The rest, however, is flawed (...

Anybody else watching the Bloodhound updates on YouTube? 491mph, without breaking sweat. Impressive stuff....
https://youtu.be/mrerP1ae6A4

Am I just very cynical, or am I correct in thinking that 477mph in a wingless 1950's aircraft is pushing neither the boundaries of speed nor technology? If you're very cynical, then so am I. I think NAE will either... 1, quietly go away and never achieve anything, 2, be put out of business by Blood...

Jessi Combs’s record attempts in North American Eagle have ended tragically:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-us-canada-49504222

Fair enough.