The Steampunk Queen, a.k.a. Roberta X, comes up with some fascinating blog posts now and again. One of her latest is a look at some modern steam engines, including a marvelous video clip of a ‘redneck go-cart’ powered by a magnificently eclectic steam engine, complete with an enormous fly-wheel and a shaking motion that seems guaranteed to loosen the fillings in your teeth!
Go read, follow the links, and watch the video. Great fun!
Peter
Thanks for the link and kind words! –I'm pretty sure the big grey and red engine is internal combustion, probably a "hit & miss" gasoline or kerosene type. The little one that starts it definitely is.
(WV: "ingiopus," which is how I feel to quibble about such a nice link).
That's what the oilpatch folks called a 'poppin' Johnny'. Most of the pumpjacks around my hometown were powered by those, as casinghead gas was much cheaper to use as fuel than wiring an electric motor to power the pumps. It's one of my earliest auditory memories. At night, you could hear dozens of them. They're still in use around there, when running electrical lines is difficult, and a couple of gents still run a shop rebuilding them.
Rabbit, there's still at least one outfit making big, one-cylinder flywheel engines for oilfields and similar apps. They use conventional modern speed control, alas. I'd love to have a genset version for backup power.
That is one amazing piece of engineering! Thanks for the links, the whole family enjoyed this one. Wish more around here did this sort of thing, it'd be great fun to watch.
I spent several hours awhile back looking at several newly-made models built in India. I'll see if I bookmarked any on one of my other browsers. They're imported to here, IIRC, and the prices weren't bad, as I recall. Might be copies of an English Coventry-Climax.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Oops…Lister.
For example:
http://www.tradeindia.com/fp281987/Diesel-Engine-5-to-20-HP-.html
Rabbit.