1926 project of high speed passenger train with steam turbine air propeller

1926 patent for a high speed passenger train with the air propeller. There were many projects like that, but this train had a steam turbine drive for the aircraft propeller and steam condenser.



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This drive train can also be used in high speed air boat.

Interesting! One problem sometimes encountered with these steam turbine vehicles was that the turbines were repurposed from stationary or marine applications. This meant that they had babbitted bearings and forced oil lubrication -- which worked fine in their intended role. When put on a land vehicle, however, they tended to jounce harder and pull gee forces around turns -- something that the bearings were never intended to cope with. And so, you would wipe bearings out prematurely. Undoubtedly, this is why ball, roller and tapered roller bearings find their way onto mobile gas turbines today. It would have been easily possible to fit these into steam turbines in the past -- in production models -- but would have been a bear to retrofit them into existing units for demonstration purposes.

Hi Novice,
Nice to hear from you with your wonderful concepts. I must admit at first I thought that the vehicle was propeller/air driven. I had to download the picture and zoom in to see what really is going on.

I would say that my first impression was incorrect. Knowing a little how you work, I can see your play...I like it!

Anyway, the system is a steam turbine - electric propulsion and uses traction motors to drive the wheels. The big propeller, electrically driven, is really to provide super air flow for the steam-to-air condenser. I think the proportions are correct. It really requires an enormous amount of airflow and surface area to provide good condensation with this method. No doubt that this had serious water retention requirements.

You know after reviewing all your posts, I come to the conclusion that steam-to-feedwater heat exchange is a far better method than steam-to-air. However, I would still use steam-to-air after the steam-to-feedwater. My steam powered scooter uses steam-to-feedwater exchange. It is one of the main reasons that the scooter goes as well as it does.

Kind regards,
Rick