Date:         Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:45:11 -0500
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: Air Engine... the ultimate Vanagon Engine Conversion!
Comments: To: Paul Guzyk <paullist08@GUZYK.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <a06240801c43507f38482@[192.168.19.101]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Just down the road from me is a private collection of Railroad engines,
cabooses, rail cars, etc. All are antiques of one sort or another, and
they all work. However only one is in service - it is used to pull a
couple of car loads of tourists down 5 miles or so of privately owned
track. There is still a track out to the active rail systems, but it is
never used, though it could be.

In that eclectic collection is a mining yard engine - an engine that
does not burn any fuel at all to drive it. No wood, no coal, no oil, no
diesel-electric. This thing has got on the front of it where the
standard boiler mounts on a typical steam engine, an enormous high
pressure steam vessel. This engine can run most of a day hauling tons of
rock and coal  utilizing high pressure steam injected into the steam
vessel from a filling point at the mine/plant. Not sure why the
mine/plant was using steam, but steam from the system was injected under
very high pressure into the steam vessel on the train, and that steam
was used to power the drive wheels on the train.

Steam power anyone??

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Paul Guzyk wrote:
> This has gotta be BS.
>
> Think about air tools in a shop.  Your compressor is cycling on all
> the time just to unscrew bolts.
>
> How the heck will you propel a Vanagon that weighs thousand of pounds
> for many miles using compressed air?
>
> Call my cynical but I don't believe it...
>
>
>
>> Saw this on the History Channel last night (or was it Discovery)
>> either way.
>> what a great concept, and a perfect solution to high oil prices!
>
>