How Steam Locomotives Really Work (Popular Science)
Reviews (85)
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Book arrived promptly and in good shape.
This s a gift and the occasion has not yet arrived.
Steam Engines Explained
I was recently in Ely, Nevada and visited the Nevada Northern Railway National Historic Landmark. It's a working train museum. It is similar to the others, like Sacramento CA, or Carson City NV, or Fort Bragg CA, but a bit more informal. They allowed visitors to climb on their steam and diesel engines and wander through the machine shop. We took the three hour ride and I just had to know how these monsters worked so I bought PWB Semmens book. He's English and the book is, mostly, about English railroads and I thought I'd be disappointed because I wanted to know about American steam engines. It doesn't matter. They're all the same. He begins with the properties of water and steam and moves through all of the mechanisms, boiler, types of coal, valving, levers, everything engineering about steam engines. It's a fascinating story of the development of the steam engine and the iterations it took over the years. Mr. Semmens is a true engineer who loves his profession. He translates the cumbersome mechanisms of the engine in detail onto the page. I read it on my Kindle and had a little trouble with some of the diagrams. In fact, some of the detail was difficult to follow as some of the words have a different meaning in England. But, I got past those issues and enjoyed his enthusiasm of all things steam engines. A good read that requires some attention and thought to envision what he's talking about. If you're thinking of volunteering to work with a steam museum, this is the book to read. It outlines many of the 'how's' and 'dont's' of the steam boiler. A good read.
Great
The book goes into great detail of every system of a steam locomotive. It opened my eyes to how much engineers knew at the time. It's wasn't as easy as building a fire and directing steam; there is so much more to it. Trigonometry played a large part in design and operation. The book will tell you everything you need to know about types, designs, sub-systems, etc. It will also teach you the history of steam locomotives and why they advanced to the point they did.
Great explanatory text that gets into all the details
This is a small paperback that had me spellbound. That's as good as a technical text can be! I carried it everywhere with me, and read it in my spare time. If you love steam locomotives, this is a real page turner. It covers steam engines from the earliest ones (stationary mine engines), to the very last. It is of course a UK book, and thus concentrates upon British locomotives. The candor in the writing is quite refreshing. It clearly admits that a failing of many UK steam locomotives was a "just good enough" mentality amongst the designers and drivers. This meant that the engine drivers in France, and in North America had greater technical knowledge of their machine's working. In the design of the machines in these other countries (e.g. Andre Chapelon's engines) their locomotives were far more advanced and sophisticated than their British counterparts. Nevertheless, the evolution and workings of each of the subsystems of the steam locomotive are examined in good detail. Once you've finished this book, you will have a heightened appreciation of the thought that went into the design and construction of each of these locomotives. You'll also know why drivers and firemen do what they do. This is a superb text, highly recommended.
Serious about Steam
You are serious about steam locomotives and consider yourself knowledgeable about the various types and their strengths and weaknesses, but crave to understand the technical details in more detail. For example, you know what an injector does, but how exactly does it work? How do designers decide whether to use Walschaerts or Stephensons or Bakers valve gear? How does a superheater work and why does it increase a locomotive's efficiency so dramatically? If these are the kind of questions that intrigue you, then this is the book for you. Most of the examples are taken from British locomotive engineering practice, but the principles described are generic. Unfortunately, some of the photographs are poorly rendered and the details described in the text are sometimes hard to see, but the descriptions are very detailed and precise. If the photographs had been better I would have rated this volume 5 stars.
Takes you deep into the whys and hows of the steam locomotive. A must for any railfan!
Although written largely from an Englishman's POV, this book still does a good job of relating the story of the evolution of the British and American steam locomotives. He does a fine job explaining in detail the way things work, and why, yet doesn't become overly pedantic or fall so far into engineering jargon that the layman can't "get it". I learned a lot from this, and will probably re-read it soon. Trained as an engineer, I thought I knew a lot about steam engines, but there's a great deal more to it than I knew. This is a thoughtful book about the evolution of a truly fascinating, amazing machine.
Lots of good information, but...
You better have at least minored in math to fully make use of all the excellent information contained in this book. The only real drawback to this book, at least the electronic version, was the poor quality of the rendering of the plates/pictures. While my math/science background allowed me to essentially skim the information provided I got a lot out of this book.
A Very Satisfying Book
This book is more then I expected. It delves into the details of how/why a steam engine works. It does make the reader think back and dig out his math skills as well as some chemistry and physics. I have learned a lot and have not finished reading. I am also learning why the diesel electric engine has been so successful in replacing the steam locomotive. A recommended reading for anyone interested in the steam era.
Interesting book
I like this book, it is full of tons of information. I kind of feel that it lacks a section giving the very basics at the very beginning. Instead it just sort of launches in, and you have to put it together. It is kind of like having to picture a forest in your head from a book giving lots of minute details about each tree. I would also prefer higher quality graphics and pictures, since I like to really visualize and see mechanical things. The authors understanding of the subject matter is absolutely amazing though, and as far as I know there are no other books like this out there.
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