The British team in America have achieved a record speed of 139mph in their steam car 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)
Congratulations to them! 
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I'm sorry, but why the congratulations ?
its taken 100 years to beat the record by 12%, Why? what with all the advances in technology, composite & alloy materials, this is the best we can do?
Then gets worse, the car that set the 1906 record was 'tweaked'; and would have beaten the record 2 years later by at least 15%, if not for bad conditions, ending up in the destruction of the car, before it could complete the reverse run?
Steam technology is limited and has not advanced greatly since the early days of steam railway development. It was slowly advanced during the 'great days of steam', but due to engineering limitations with essential items such as wheel bearings, lubrication of motion, and critically the ability of the boiler to generate the steam required, saturated initially, then superheated, the development took time. Indeed it was only in 1904 that 4-4-0 3440
City of Truro is
reputed to have achieved 102.3 mph, which was not officially equalled until 1934 when Gresley A3 4-6-2 4472
Flying Scotsman held over 100 mph. Another A3 2750,
Papyrus, achieved officially 108 mph for 12.3 miles in March 1935. Then finally the steamlined (streak) Gresley A4 4-6-2 4468
Mallard hit and officially held 126 mph in 1938, but causing severe mechanical damage.
Roller bearings, advances in boiler and flue technology, and even mechanical stoking (try firing a hungry boiler with sufficient coal to maintain steam for even a prolonged 100 mph run, let alone 126 mph!!) all helped to raise the average speed of a steam locomotive, but in essence the technology then had severe limits even with much experimentation, and in came the (eventually) super efficient diesels then electrics! Investment in steam development effectively ceased in the 1950s, with just a few later attempts at using later technologies to advance its cause, but to no avail.
So we come to a steam car which is working on the technological theory of the 19th century (heat water to produce steam and create motive power through mechanical means), but as a university student project of using an advanced turbine with 21st c. fuels, on a limited budget, trying to attempt pushing the limits of the land speed record from 127 mph to..........well they achieved 139 mph!! All with the inherant limitations of steam technology with albeit a 21st c. flavour!
I personally think they have done a fantastic job, and actually proved to me that "steam" could still be developed to provide motive power around the land if blessed with the latest technology. But the will and money must be provided, far more than just a uni with a few sponsors can give! That is why it has taken 103 years to break the old record, due to a lack of will, money and technology in those years to do it. But even so the British Steam Car Challenge (only founded in 1999) is still aiming for a speed of 170 mph!!
8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)
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Topic: British Steam Car Success (Read 2245 times)