Retro-engineered DMU on WSR

In a surprise move by the West Somerset Railway, a DMU driving car has been re-engineered to run on steam.

http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery8a.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2011/06/290611_1_fph

The WSR is no stranger to controversial projects, having already converted ex-GWR 'Large Prairie' 5193 into a 2-6-0 tender version - a might-have-been Mogul - now re-numbered 9351.

Following the successful rebuild and launch of the Steam Railmotor at Didcot, WSR engineering staff have been working in secret at their workshops in Williton to convert Class 115 Driving Motor Brake Second (DMBS) no 51852 to run on steam. A photograph appeared recently purporting to show this vehicle on its way to Bishops Lydeard and onward transport to the Dean Forest Railway but in fact the shot was taken nearly two years ago when it was taken to Williton.

Apparently its 2 Leyland diesel engines were removed, to be replaced by 2 power units from Sentinel DG4 steam waggons. After many adaptations, the existing gearboxes, transmissions and control gear were re-used. Steam is provided by 2 Sentinel vertical boilers, converted to oil firing and mounted in the two former toilet compartments in the rear of the car.

The picture shows the single car on an early morning test run from Williton to the carriage sidings at Westridge. Staff along the line were said to be 'bemused' to see the vehicle, normally belching blue exhaust, wreathed in steam instead.

 

Must have over-slept. Is today really April 1st?

 

:flock:

funny AND smoky............like your brai I suppose! (it's a compliment!)
regards:whoo:
noel

 

Or.
Exclusive McLaren Spyshot.. Lewis Hamilton's comment about the Red Bull being on rails going round corners seems to have hit home with the design team. The 2012 challenger gets in some shake-down testing after being fitted with traction tyres.

 

They must have converted it in double-quick time as I think it's the DMU I travelled on a few weeks ago and it still had its diesel engines!:madgrin::madgrin:

While not believing the original post for one millisecond, I'm nevertheless looking for a technical reason as to why the DMU couldn't be converted to run with Sentinel steam lorry bits. Can anyone help with suggestions?? !!! I'd put the vertical boiler(s) in the guard's compartment, though, not in the toilets. Then it would be easy to provide the toilets with a hot flush. In fact the safety valves could be plumbed so the steam exits through the toilet pans.

 

Amazing what can be done with a magic wand!

 

Mmmmm... of course Sentinel got closer to this concept than most think, the Egyptian railcars at Quainton Road illustrate this:



Funny, while I was looking for that image I also found this:

http://www.aqpl43.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/egypt/egypt.htm

Who said the last 2-2-2-2s were built by Webb?!

Foxy

 

The Ecclesbourne Valley have one too .......

 

A credit of the source for the piccy would be appreciated.........!

 

Oh! Pooh! Sorry about that.... should have tagged it when I loaded it, damned if I can re-trace my steps now but will continue to try to....

Foxy

 

Sentinel did actually build some steam railcars. See: http://www.lner.info/locos/Railcar/sentinel.shtml

 

Yes, guilty as charged m'lud.

The very first poster to reply to my spoof story saw right through it. By way of explanation, I was intrigued by the original photograph which was taken by Fotophile69 and posted by WSW on his excellent unofficial WSR website. See http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/galler...6/290611_1_fph

It has brought forth some very interesting replies and yes, I was aware of the ex-Egyptian Sentinel railcars at Quainton Road. The link (above) to the development of the Sentinel railcars supplied to the LNER I found particularly fascinating, so thanks go to The Decapod for that!

Retro-engineering an internal combustion engine has already been done but I don't know how successful it was. When I was a teenager I worked during my summer holidays on a farm in mid Devon. I met an eccentric old guy who, if asked to describe his profession on a CV, would say "engineer and inventor". He lived alone in a run-down house with several ramshackle outbuildings attached. The whole property was littered with unfinished projects. He earned a paltry living by making doll's house furniture but I could tell that his passion was for engineering.

One of his projects involved the engine from an old car which sat forlornly in one of the sheds. I think it was a 1950's Humber. He had dismantled the engine and worked some engineering wizardry on it so that it could run on steam pressure instead of by burning petrol. I forget the details but he had heavily modified the valve settings and welded in lots of additional pipe runs. If my memory serves me correctly, I think he had borrowed a friend's traction engine to supply steam for testing purposes and he seemed confident that, once finished, it would propel his car.

I've no idea what he was planning boiler-wise, maybe a Stanley Steamer type of flash boiler. Equally, I don't know how he would control things like cut-off and lubrication but I'm sure he had a plan for that!

Does the land mass once known as Great Britain contain characters such as this anymore? Or has our elf 'n' safety, PC-mad society bred a nation of wusses?

John.

 

I'm afraid the link doesn't work.

 

http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery8a.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2011/06/290611_1_fph

Steve

 

Cheers, I know I have said it many times before but why is it that many posted links do not work on this forum?

 

There is someone around (not sure if in the US or Australia) with a working 6 stroke hybrid internal combustion / steam engine. Strokes 1 - 4 are a conventional 4 stroke i/c engine. Then on stroke 5, water is injected which turns to steam with the residual heat in the engine and produces another power stroke, and the steam is exhausted on stroke 6.

The advantage is fuel efficiency, because heat that would otherwise be wasted through the cooling system is instead turned to useful work. The engine itself is also lighter, as effectively it needs no external cooling system. The downsides are lubrication / corrosion problems, and the fact that you need to carry round a tank of water of broadly similar mass and weight to the fuel tank for the water injection.

Tom

 

To answer your question, if you look what happens when you post a long link address, the forum software shortens it in the text to keep the forum posts readable.

- Like this "http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/galler...6/290611_1_fph" from the post that you quoted. The three dots show it has abbreviated the text that leads to the link.

- In the original post, the shortened link is associated with the full link and so works. If you quote that post, it still works.

- But if you copy and paste a section of text that includes the shortened link, it doesn't.

So, rule 1, don't copy and paste a link that includes dots within it to show it's been shortened. Rule 2, Quote it instead. Alternatively, hover over the link in the original post, and right click "Copy Link address", then you can post the true link into your own post.

Hope that helps.

 

The Southern Railway also had a Sentinel steam railcar (bodywork by Metropolitan Cammell) delivered in 1933 for working the High Dyke branch in Brighton.

 

Sorry, that was my fault. Thanks for the tip.

John.

 

I was using the link from Steamchest in post#12, I didn't realise it was the same link as Steamchest's OP. I can see what you are trying to say. You have to agree though, it happens quite often & can be annoying.