Re: diesel engines

Paul,

IIRC, the first real diesel may have been an Ingersall-Rand boxcab for the CNJ. The CB&Q Pioneer Zephyr may have been the first 'diesel' powered passenger train. Most previous attempts were gas-electric 'doodlebug' cars that had a gasoline engine in them.

Jim Bernier

Paul Mccann wrote:

No.

I thought LBJ's beagle died years ago.

Salvé "Jim Bernier" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@nospam.hotmail.com...

This may be true for the USA however the first diesel loco was a shunter (switcher) in Hull docks owned by the Royal Navy, 4 hp and c 1880 I believe, the first diesel electric was a swedish unit, 1902 I think but I'm not sure.The RN loco was an oil engine and rather earlier than herr Doktor Diesel's invention, so it might not be strictly speaking a diesel, but then Dr Diesels engines never worked anyway :) ( started by compressed air)so modern disels may not be Diesels either :D Beowulf

The important design feature/concept of a Diesel engine is that it is totally compression ignition in normal operation. The RN loco you are talking about used a separate chamber maintained at a high temperature in conjunction with compression to create fuel mixture ignition, a rather hit and miss system that severely limited the rev range and hence the practiability of such motors.

Regards, Greg.P.

"Gregory Procter" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@ihug.co.nz...

I stand happily corrected :) Wasnt it called a robinson oil engine or something like that? bit of a mouthful, diesel is so much easier :) though not a tasty...... Beowulf

Robinson sounds familiar - I have a book from the period (well 1890s) with some statistics of available British engines and diagrams/details of a Tangyes engine. One has to turn a blowtorch on the bulb chamber attached to the combustion chamber until it nears red hot to get the cylinder contents to ignite. Because of the volume of the bulb chamber the compression ratio can never be sufficient for the mixture to compression ignite but I think the theory is that the small connecting aperture becomes close to invisible at normal operating speed.

Salvé

This type of engine known in Sweden as a "Kulmotor" is still in production , albeit for fishing boats they have a very distinctive sound you can hear every piston stroke ! the factory that made this type of engine closed down in the 40/50´s and stood as left, then in the 90´s it was reopened as a living museum and produces spares (1 Employee........) for existing motors of which unbelievably there are many, both world wide and in Scandinavia, its a VERY reliable motor(no electrics) BMW also made them for their farm tractors, I must find out where this factory is :) Beowulf

What the heck, my ex-father-in-law (now dead, and I miss him) had a 1935 Seabird yawl (good sea-keeper - cramped cabin, but a helluva keel - a North Sea inspired boat) with a one lunger gasoline engine that even at full bore just chugged along, every detonation in it's long, long stroke separately audible like an old tractor, or 1/6 of an Austin Healy 3000 motor. (What's the difference, you ask? Nil.)

Dear sir, No, I never heard of a dog named 'Hthat'. Most of the time you want a name you can yell and be heard with. Like 'Hey you'...that's a good one. Of course then you have your dog chasing after anybody who says 'Hey you'.

As far as God having anything to do with railroads, I presume the invention of matter and existence would fall into that category, yes. I mean, shoot, it would be pretty difficult to make a 28 D 81/8 diesel engine without the atoms to make the iron from, don't your think? Cordially yours, Gerard P.

Dear Steve, A bit like a Panther motorcycle then :) 600cc single cylinder........ Beowulf

You may be thinking of the "Lanz Bulldog" built from 1934 to the 1960s. There was one on a neighbouring farm when I was a teenager. It was started using a cartridge like a shotgun shell. The motor had to be extremely solidly constructed and has a huge flywheel to convert the slow cylinder impulses into continuous motion. I think the only thing that will destroy such motors is a flawed casting, although probably sinking to the bottom of the north sea would slow them a little.

The Austin Healey/Westminster motor was built more heavily!

There was nothing like a Panther motorcycle motor!

Otherwise known as "the proctologists' friend"?

What does SV: mean?

Sports Vehicle

Salvé skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@nap.mtholyoke.edu...

This is the swedish version of ms's thingy (I live in Sweden) and sv is short fro SVAR which means answer, ie swer in answer is the same word as svar... :) Beowulf

Salvé "Gregory Procter" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@ihug.co.nz...

Rolls Royce built boxer steam motors :) ie Sentinel , used in locos and lorries up to the 70´s I believ!

Beowulf