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We used to have steam-powered cars. What happened to them — and will they come back?
FreeThink ^ | April 9, 2023 | By Matt Benoit

Posted on 04/10/2023 10:56:50 AM PDT by Red Badger

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To: the OlLine Rebel

The Big Boy locomotives were outrageously big. They had to run on a special grade of track; otherwise, they’d smash the track’s web.


121 posted on 04/10/2023 4:29:48 PM PDT by GingisK
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To: crz

Big cylinders? Nobody said that sort of engine had to be small. Those big reciprocating engines in ships come to mind.


122 posted on 04/10/2023 4:34:18 PM PDT by GingisK
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To: SunkenCiv

Uh hum...we also have ball and roller bearings now. Babbot bearings predate those confounded new-fangled things.


123 posted on 04/10/2023 4:38:57 PM PDT by GingisK
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To: the OlLine Rebel

Nukes can produce quite a lot of force. Once.


124 posted on 04/10/2023 4:39:45 PM PDT by GingisK
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To: GingisK

I can’t believe roller and ball bearings are that new. I’m sure they were used plenty more than a century ago.


125 posted on 04/10/2023 4:43:41 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.)
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To: GaltAdonis
Those are real beauties! Bigger than all-get-out as well. It sort of stunned me when I saw one up close in the Saint Louis Railroad Museum.

The cylinder is 24 inches in diameter, giving 452 square inches. It operated at 250PSI, resulting in 113097 pounds of thrust at stall. There were eight cylinders, for a total of 904779 pounds of thrust. That is 452 tons of thrust. It will get the job done.

126 posted on 04/10/2023 4:46:59 PM PDT by GingisK
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To: crz

The Titanic did not have turbines. It was strictly piston.


127 posted on 04/10/2023 4:47:03 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.)
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To: GingisK
"...It will get the job done..."

.

Plus a bit more as well.
(And then some.)

128 posted on 04/10/2023 4:58:04 PM PDT by GaltAdonis
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To: the OlLine Rebel

Wanna bet?

How much?

5 grand?


129 posted on 04/10/2023 5:03:32 PM PDT by crz
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To: the OlLine Rebel

I got 5 grand that says the titanic had a turbine in it.


130 posted on 04/10/2023 5:04:11 PM PDT by crz
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To: the OlLine Rebel
The idea dates back a very long time; however, only in the late 1869s did metallurgy advance enough to carry heavy loads. So, they were used in clocks and other light load mechanisms to reduce friction. The patent granted to Jules Suriray in 1869 was for bicycle bearings. The patent for tapered roller bearings was issued to Timken in 1898. In 1907 the first self-aligning ball bearings were introduced. WWI saw a surge of research into bearings.

Ball & roller bearings that can take heavy loads are a recent development.

Railway locomotives up into the 1940s still used Babbot bearings.

131 posted on 04/10/2023 5:04:44 PM PDT by GingisK
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To: GingisK

I just challenged OlLine Rebel that the Titanic had a turbine in it.

I will bet him 5 grand that it did have a turbine in it.


132 posted on 04/10/2023 5:09:06 PM PDT by crz
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To: crz

I did not realize.

There was a turbine, strictly to turn the central screw.

But yeah, the entire system was not based on turbines as the Lusitania/Mauritania were, IIRC.


133 posted on 04/10/2023 5:16:32 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.)
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To: GingisK

:^)


134 posted on 04/10/2023 5:37:16 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: HamiltonJay

“Ever seen a boiler explode?

Doesn’t take much to figure out why they disappeared.” [HamiltonJay, post 108]

In the late 19th century, an external combustion engine was developed that used naphtha as both the working fluid and the fuel, for smaller watercraft.

After a number of boiler explosions, laws were passed requiring a licensed engineer to operate conventional steamship powerplants. Finding trained personnel at affordable salaries was difficult for smaller commercial shipping operations, and recreational boat operators; some entrepreneurs got around the laws by using naphtha.


135 posted on 04/10/2023 6:04:31 PM PDT by schurmann
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To: Red Badger

The steam I want is from LIBERAL HEADS when I drive my F350 pulling a 25 foot boat. 🤓


136 posted on 04/10/2023 6:28:37 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Guns don't kill people, LIBERALS DO!! Support the Second Amendment...)
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To: the OlLine Rebel

“But yeah, the entire system was not based on turbines as the Lusitania/Mauritania were, IIRC.”

That is true. BUT, here is the thing. They did all that back then.

BTW, did you know that it took just about 18 minutes for the Lusitania to sink? I did not know that until a few years ago.

I hate to say this but..electric will be the way to go as far as vehicles..in the future. They’ll figure it out. That is, if we dont all kill each other off first in a war.
We will see fusion reactors soon and then things will change fast.

We are to old for this shit hey? I will go with a 1929 or 30 chev or ford any day. I dont care what make of car it is, if its the late 20s or 30s I love em. 50s and 60s also.

The guy I do some work for bought a 60s cat dozer. Wont have any problem with anyone stealing it. Its got the pony motor on it and these kids these days have no idea how to start them.


137 posted on 04/10/2023 6:34:19 PM PDT by crz
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To: GaltAdonis

It gave me goosebumps. Like seeing a time machine rolling in. I don’t know if they’ll run it this year. here is the web site for the steam locomotives.

https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/


138 posted on 04/10/2023 6:38:38 PM PDT by wyokostur
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To: the OlLine Rebel

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/stationary-steam-engines-corliss-and-others—413979390725690191/

My dads steam engine. My brother took over the mill and ran that engine until 1985 when the mill burned down and destroyed everything.

That engine ran from 1938 till 1985 and before that it was in a canning factory in Carney Mi.

It ran two sawmills. One upstairs and one downstairs and ran two 8 hour shifts during the war years.


139 posted on 04/10/2023 6:44:46 PM PDT by crz
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To: HamiltonJay

When my wife was a teenager, a pressure cooker did!....................


140 posted on 04/11/2023 5:08:31 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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