Hello there, and thanks for visiting! For more info
on me and my inventions, check out my introduction &
other website. The pages listed here
will provide further coverage of my interest in
steam cars and other unusual things. The main
purpose of this website is to provide a public
gallery of my steam car graphics, including lots of
classic steam car material available nowhere else on
the internet. However, I do plan to run a number of
articles on other topics in this website.
To start, here are a few of my favorite steam
car images.
The Stanley steam car engine, in 4" bore x 5" stroke
and 251 cubic inches displacement, is the classic
steam automobile engine. Actually, I think that the
above picture is of the slightly earlier version, in
3-5/8ths bore -- never mind the caption. Think of this as the "350 Chevy of
classic steam cars".
The Stanley brothers rather conservatively rated
this engine at "20 horsepower" (it would produce up
to 100 hp on temporary overload). They also
produced "10 hp" and "30 hp" engines, with equally
conservative ratings and boilers to match.
In case you're new to steam cars and are thinking of
a road locomotive with some guy shoveling coal,
forget it. Steam car boilers and engines fitted
right into regular, ordinary-looking automobiles,
ran on ordinary fuels, and often you couldn't tell
that it was a steam car except that it ran so
quietly. They also get about the same fuel mileage
as gas cars, have great acceleration, and run
amazingly smoothly. Most steam cars were built from
around 1900 to 1925-30, and plenty of those are
still on the road. There have been several projects
since then to get new steam cars on the road, with a
few dozen newer vehicles successfully added to the
steam car population, and I am working on such a
project right now. For more on this, check out my
other website.
The Famous Baker Boiler
Floyd Clymer's Steam Car Scrapbook says of this
boiler:
"Several years ago the Baker Steam Car was built at Pueblo, Colorado. An illustration of the boiler used is shown here. Many steam car enthusiasts felt that the Baker Boiler was an exceptionally good one. It was a water-tube boiler, built in four sections -- each section a separate and distinct unit which was assembled -- yet each section functioned individually. Baker contended that with his boiler, efficiency was materially increased, and scaling and choking of tubes was eliminated, and the boiler was easily cleaned. The boiler was controlled by positive and dependable automatics. -- Clymer."
A few people who have owned and operated these
boilers have told me a slightly different story!
However, the Baker boiler did the job, and is
certainly an interesting design. Having studied
factory blueprints of the unit, I can attest that it
would be a bear to build one of these today. Among
other things, Baker used about 4 different sizes of
tubing, and there was enough welding involved to
keep a certified welder busy for days.
Reportedly the sole surviving Baker steam car is
currently undergoing restoration.
For more information on the Baker boiler and the
Baker steam car, check out "Steamy Dreamer" by
Barbara P. Baker (Grand Junction, Colorado:
Centennial Publications, 1995).
Lest ye think that steam cars are strictly
antiques, gaze upon the noted SES boiler of 1974, an
ultramodern product from the era when steam cars
were being investigated as a solution to the air
pollution problem. In the late 1960s-early 70s, it
was not at all certain that gas car exhaust could be
successfully cleaned up. But it was well known that
steam cars, with their hot, continously-burning,
low-pressure combustion chambers (technobabble for
"firebox"), could burn fuel much more cleanly than
the cooled, pulse-fired, oily, high-pressure
cylinders of a gas or diesel engine. Since then,
there have been great improvements in
internal-combustion pollution controls, but steam
cars can still run cleaner today.
Alas, with the total focus on clean emissions in the
late '60s-early '70s, fuel mileage was completely
overlooked, with the result that experimental steam
cars of that era got worse fuel mileage than
comparable gas cars. Then the 1973 oil embargo hit,
fuel mileage became the number-one issue, and the
steam car projects of the time were "Dead On
Arrival".
The SES steam car was one such project. However,
its very efficient boiler was not to blame, and it
was an impressive design. It measured only 16
inches diameter by 20 inches long, weighed only 110
pounds, and produced enough steam to run an engine
at about 130 horsepower, plenty to run a large
luxury sedan with excellent performance.
In the picture above, air is drawn in from the left
towards a VW Beetle cooling fan at the right. On
the way, it passes a pressurized fuel nozzle which
sprays fuel into the oncoming air. The fuel/air mix
then passes through the fan, turns around, and blows
back toward the left, burning as a compact mass of
flames at a cone-shaped perforated-metal flameholder
denoted by the dotted lines. Hot gas from the
combustion flows over plain tubes (small circles)
and then over finned tubes (large circles) before
exiting the unit as (superclean) exhaust. One of
the tricks used was to run the boiling water through
a coil of tubing right next to the flames, picking up
tremendous heat from a small surface area, and
cutting the size and weight of the boiler
tremendously.
As in all super-lightweight boilers, fire and water
controls were difficult to design and tune.
Reportedly the 1970s electronics which were used to
control this boiler filled several large cabinets.
Today all that equipment could be replaced with a
tiny computer.
Brow Steam Car Engine/Axle Mockup
Here are 3 photos of a motion-test mockup of the "B142" steam automobile engine/axle unit which I am designing and building. The mockup was successfully completed and motion-tested in March, 2002 -- pump construction now underway. Update: Pump frame has been completed (pictured here), and 4 pictures of the complete mockup rig have been added.
(Updated, 8-27-2003)
Meet The Team!
The alleged research and development team working hard to bring you "the steam car of the future". A bit of halloween humor, courtesy of Brow Motors.
The World According To America
Many of our friends from other countries have expressed a lack of understanding of current U.S. foreign policy. This should clear it up.
New Locomobile Steam Cars Now In Production!
The folks at Modelworks International in England are now manufacturing roadworthy replicas of the 1901 Locomobile steam car, in kit form. The first kits have now been delivered, and are being assembled. Lots of illustrations and information on the Locomobile steamers, info on the Modelworks project, and links to one builder's pages. Check it out! If you've ever wanted a running steam car, this is your chance!
(Updated, 11-4-2005)
The White Steam Car Throttle
A biggie sized scan of a couple pages from the 1909 White Steam Cars instruction book, Models M & O. If you ever wondered how steam cars control the flow of steam to the engine, here is a picture of one type of valve used. Stanley steamers used a somewhat different valve. Not sure what type of throttle valve my steam car will use, but I am leaning toward using the Stanley type as it seems easier to fabricate (note the screw threads in the White throttle). You'll have to scroll around this megascan to get the whole picture, but the detail is worth it.
(Added, 8-29-2003)
The Stanley Steam Car Throttle
And for comparison, here is a rather grainy picture of the throttle used in the Stanley steam car.
(Added, 8-31-2003)
Two Interesting Boilers
Here are some drawings, photos, and descriptions of the Field boiler (a finger-tube boiler) and the Rider boiler (a J-tube type boiler), in scrapbook scans from the 1903 edition of J.E. Homans' classic "Self-Propelled Vehicles". If you are interested in designing and/or building your own boiler, these might provide some ideas or inspiration.
(added, 1-22-2007)
Lee Nelson Hall Jr's Engine Ideas
Unusual steam engine ideas from Lee Nelson Hall Jr. of West Virginia.
http://www.geocities.com/inventor_92102
