Steam Cars And Overlooked Historical Technology Thread

Apone

Apone

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So I read today that greenhouse emissions are higher than ever, especially CO2... and I found this article on steam cars.

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-last-great-steam-car/

Reading about it, steam cars seem like one of those superior technologies that got lost under the more reckless (and affordable) technologies that got the upper hand by being cheaper, even if the technology itself is actually far more harmful to human health, the environment, etc... not to mention creating a dependence on non-renewable energy sources.

It's shameful how inferior technologies can get the upper hand because of marketing, especially when it means that something as exciting as this ends up lost.

Apparently a steam car from 1912 offered excellent acceleration and a smoother, quieter ride... even the fuel economy was incredible, and given the primary power source is WATER, it just seems like an absolutely ideal technology for the present.

The article here makes a pretty decent case for these things catching on in the future... and it's something that I'd definitely like to see.
 
Reminds me of the electric-car-murder in the early 2000's. Technology was there, battery life was great, only thing that killed it was the oil conspiracy - car companies killed their own product due to political and economic contracts/deals.

Also, what about late 18th century air rifles like the one Lewis and Clark carried? An 800 psi air rifle that could fire about 40 shots in one charge and used a bike-pump to recharge. People talk about flintlock pistols and muskets back then, but a large caliber air rifle that didn't need gunpowder or suffer the side-effects of other weapons (wet powder, misfires, etc) got lost to the history books.
 
There was mention of an extremely durable needle for turntables in one of George Orwell's writings. I think it was in Coming Up For Air but I can't really remember. Anyway, he says it was never brought to market because it was too durable and would result in loss of business.

Planned obsolesence pisses me off.
 
Apone said:
So I read today that greenhouse emissions are higher than ever, especially CO2... and I found this article on steam cars.

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-last-great-steam-car/

Reading about it, steam cars seem like one of those superior technologies that got lost under the more reckless (and affordable) technologies that got the upper hand by being cheaper, even if the technology itself is actually far more harmful to human health, the environment, etc... not to mention creating a dependence on non-renewable energy sources.

It's shameful how inferior technologies can get the upper hand because of marketing, especially when it means that something as exciting as this ends up lost.

Apparently a steam car from 1912 offered excellent acceleration and a smoother, quieter ride... even the fuel economy was incredible, and given the primary power source is WATER, it just seems like an absolutely ideal technology for the present.

The article here makes a pretty decent case for these things catching on in the future... and it's something that I'd definitely like to see.
Click to expand...

The compressed air car seems even better:
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/53641/tata-mini-cat-air-powered-car-on-sale-from-mid-2012
 
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Lerxst said:
Reminds me of the electric-car-murder in the early 2000's. Technology was there, battery life was great, only thing that killed it was the oil conspiracy - car companies killed their own product due to political and economic contracts/deals.

Also, what about late 18th century air rifles like the one Lewis and Clark carried? An 800 psi air rifle that could fire about 40 shots in one charge and used a bike-pump to recharge. People talk about flintlock pistols and muskets back then, but a large caliber air rifle that didn't need gunpowder or suffer the side-effects of other weapons (wet powder, misfires, etc) got lost to the history books.
Click to expand...

Took about 1500ish pumps with that hand pump to build up enough pressure for 30 shots. Also the reservoir was extremely delicate when compared with firearms of the time. If a seal broke good luck finding someone that could perform the brazing technique and make your reservoir air tight again. Also note that even though the gun could fire thirty shots on a reservoir tank, most Girandoni Air Rifles had a 21 round magazine and the shot velocity steadily tapered off after every shot. Not the ideal solution for big standing armies but pretty nice if you are hunting or wishing to snipe an officer(which is why the Austrians used this weapon).
 
Skathac said:
Took about 1500ish pumps with that hand pump to build up enough pressure for 30 shots. Also the reservoir was extremely delicate when compared with firearms of the time. If a seal broke good luck finding someone that could perform the brazing technique and make your reservoir air tight again. Also note that even though the gun could fire thirty shots on a reservoir tank, most Girandoni Air Rifles had a 21 round magazine and the shot velocity steadily tapered off after every shot. Not the ideal solution for big standing armies but pretty nice if you are hunting or wishing to snipe an officer(which is why the Austrians used this weapon).
Click to expand...

Back in the flintlock days, the average shot took nearly a minute to reload and the average soldier was only able to fire 2 or 3. Even if its power tapered off, it could still outshout most of the weapons being used back then. Have to wonder why it was never circulated in the US.
 
Lerxst said:
Back in the flintlock days, the average shot took nearly a minute to reload and the average soldier was only able to fire 2 or 3. Even if its power tapered off, it could still outshout most of the weapons being used back then. Have to wonder why it was never circulated in the US.
Click to expand...

When outfitting an army you have to consider what is going to be the easiest weapon to operate and then fix when it gets fouled and/or damaged. I agree that the Girandoni was an amazing killing machine, but if any of the compressed air seals got damaged it was useless. A flintlock could take alot of abuse, and even though it was hampered by a slow rate of fire and requiring multiple components to work...it was still more consistent than an air rifle at that time. The Ferguson Rifle was one of the most amazing firearms used in the War of Independence, a breech loader that could get upwards of seven shots a minute...but they were very expensive to produce and due to the delicate nature of their mechanisms they broke down easily. Only a hundred of them were produced, but astronomical amounts of the ole Brown Bess were produced.

Also look at how much money different governments spent over that few hundred years time to update their military with firearms and cannons. Refitting an entire military with new tech is very very expensive, and what do you do with the old tech?
 
Would it be that much better to use water instead of gasoline as the primary fuel? If steam cars took off and successfully replaced gas cars, how would that impact the environment? Very little of the earth's water is in a 'clean' state. Water's a scarce enough resource now.
 
What did they make the engines out of for those steam cars? How dis they tackle the rust issue?
 
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