Modern Steam
AN ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ALTERNATIVE TO DIESEL TRACTION
BENEFITS OF MODERN STEAM
One man operation for steam locomotives
Remote-controlled steam engines for ships
Light-oil firing with clean and spark free combustion
High thermal efficiency of engine and boiler
Modular concept
Modern manufacturing allows for exchangeable parts
Latest bearing technology reduces maintenance and protects the environment
Electric preheating device enables unattended heating up of steam boilers
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news and information
SS SPIEZ: COMMISSIONING OF THE STEAM BOILER
The brand new steam boiler of the screw steamer SS SPIEZ has been commissioned at the BLS shipyard in Thun as from March 9 to 11, 2020. By means of its electric preheating device located next to the boiler in the boiler room, the boiler was previously preheated electrically to 8 bar. In the afternoon of March 9 the oil burner has been ignited for the first time, followed by the usual commissioning and test procedures.
More...NEW PRODUCTION OF BOILER SAFETY VALVES FOR STEAM LOCOMOTIVES
The Pop-type boiler safety valves, which were first produced in an improved form for the new rack-and-pinion steam locomotives built in 1992 /96, are also produced for other steam locomotives as required. In the meantime, more than 30 valves are in use in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Now a further series is being produced. Interested parties can join this order and benefit from the resulting lower prices.
More...Installation of the new steam engine for SS Spiez
Hardly arrived at the shipyard, the new steam engine was installed in the engine room of the screw steamer. Photo Roger Waller
More...New Steam Engine for Screw Steamer SS Spiez delivered
On September 16, 2019, the new steam engine was shipped to the BLS shipyard in Thun, where it arrived safely the same day. Shortly before, on September 12, it was again operated with steam for customers, see video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EmvZid8Hm0
More...Oil Firing of Steam Locomotive "Heidi" improved
When the Na-class steam locomotive 14A of the Australian Puffing Billy Railway had been converted to oil firing, much progress has been made regarding the elimination of the occasional "rumbling" noises. These findings have now been applied to the oill firing of "Heidi". Before this little conversion it was possible but rather tricky to avoid the rambling. The picture taken by Georg Trüb shows the test train on September 11, 2019 between Zernez and Samedan.
More...Neues Buch zur Baureihe 52
Das kürzlich erschienene Buch zur Geschichte der Baureihe 52: https://eisenbahnfachbuch.de/buecher-vorbild/bildbaende/207/kriegslokomotive-k52 enthält auch drei Kapitel von Dipl. Masch.-Ing. ETH Roger Waller zu den 52-ern mit Wellrohrkessel, über den Rollenlagerumbau der auf Fahrwerken der Baureihe 52 basierenden Klimaschneepflügen und der Modernisierung der…
More...SUCCESSFUL TEST OF THE NEW STEAM ENGINE FOR SS SPIEZ
The all-new steam engine for the screw steam ship SS Spiez of Lake Thun nears completion and has recently been sucessfully tested on compressed air and steam, see: https://youtu.be/e1MtoExDfhQ
More...VEHICLE RUNNING STABILITY OF DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE TYPE EM 831 GREATLY IMPROVED
In 1989 the Swiss Federal Railway SBB ordered three prototypes of 0-6-0 shunting Diesel locomotives type Em 831. These locomotives had initually been designed for a speed of 80 km/h, but insufficient vehicle running stability enforced a reduced speed limit of 60 km/h. At that time seemingly no one found a solution to improve the running stability and consequently, no further locomotives of this type have been built. When the locomotives were phased out by SBB, the Swiss firm Stauffer bought the lot and asked DLM, if it were possible to modify the locomotives for higher speed. This was successfully done with a few moderate modifications. The tests showed a stable running stability up to at least 93 km/h and the Em 831 are now officially approved for 80 km/h.
More...Engineering Contract for new Paddle Steamer on River Rhein
A Swiss society named Pro Dampfer intends to build an all-new paddle steamer for service on the river Rhein between the Swiss town of Schaffhausen to the German town Konstanz on lake Constance. No doubt the new paddle steamer will be popular with tourists enjoying the beautiful landscape along the meandering river, free of motor noise and exhaust emissions, but the project is also interesting from a pure technical background. As a world first, so we think, the new paddle steamer will be fuelled with local wood pellets, resulting in a CO2-neutral operation. However, the calorific value of wooden pellets is much lower compared to fuel oil, requiring an optimized steam engine. DLM now has to do the engineering for the entire drive: fuel, firing, boiler, steam engine, auxilliaries and paddle wheels.
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