Learn Garden Railroading Steam Engine Operations

Live Steam Operation:  1. Steam Operation  2. Boiler and Firebox  3. Pistons and Cylinders  4. Cylinder opration  5. Valve Gears  6. Walschaerts Gear Roundhouse Frequently Asked Questions  [home]

The Steam engine was the beginning of a new industrial era in the second half of the 18th century. James Watt invented the steam engine between 1768 to 1782, after this, there were various other power engines on the market. The steam locomotive was developed in the early 1800s to improve speed of the carrying of goods on tram ways. The principle of the steam locomotive has remained the same since the early 1800s:

Use the energy stored in coal, wood or some other fuel to boil water in the Boiler and generate steam under pressure. Use the energy now in the steam to drive a piston down a cylinder. Arrange for some valves to admit the high pressure steam and exhaust the spent. Convert the linear motion of the piston to a rotary motion to drive the wheels. Add some more bits of mechanics so the process is automatically repeated.

The high-pressure steam for a steam engine comes from a boiler. In the very early days a boiler was simply a container with a fire under it. This is very inefficient way of transferring the heat from the fire to the water.

1. Steam Engine Operation

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