Friends - no, allow me to distance myself - associates of mine have a certain, I sometimes think unhealthy, interest in steam railways. (You know the kind: one owns guards van kept on the Nene Valley Railway, another drive trains there and at other places, one even travels to China regularly seemingly, judging by the photographs he posts, for the sole purpose of "train spotting"!)
It didn't come as a complete surprise to me therefore when one posted this link:
Of course the wags in the group have retitled it "Four (Yorkshire)men in a Pond" and this could well sum it up nicely. However, it did make me wonder if the "Cordless Canoe Challenge" wasn't a bit tame for the more rufty tufty types amongst us. How about a steam powered challenge for next year?
Awesome power! I was reading about these home-made engines; the superheat temperature is so high that the steam tube leaving the boiler glows red, and the outside of the stainless tubes and cylinder head are black with oxide after a few runs. The splashing visible behind the boat in the video is very interesting as it appears to show where each blade of the surface piercing prop hits or leaves the water. More videos on youtube.
I don't think I would have the mental stamina to make and develop a whole steam engine, but I do have a Briggs and Stratton which is converted for steam or air and a commercial 3 cylinder air motor. Would a compressed air race be acceptable?
I'll admit to being so fascinated with the performance of the boat in that clip that I spent a good couple of hours reading about the technology they're using. I knew a little bit about flash boilers, as back in the early 70's I worked with a chap who was obsessed with building high performance steam cars and he was using a flash boiler. I had no idea that the steam temperature was so high, though, it seems incredible that these things actually produce the same sort of power per cc as a very highly tuned internal combustion engine .
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