THE APPLICATION OF STEAM POWER TO AN AUTOMOTIVE TRUCK

The paper describes the steam-operated 2-ton truck developed by E. C. Newcomb and the author. It has a direct drive-shaft from the engine to a rear-axle worm, with a 5 to 1 gear-reduction at the axle, and is operated without any transmission or clutch. The engine has been simplified since the author's first report on it in 1919, the changes relating to valve-gear, crankshaft and cam design. After presenting illustrations and describing them, the author gives nine specific advantageous features in this steam powerplant and comments upon them, submitting charts of torque curves which are analyzed. The engine control, fuel, oil and water consumption are next described and discussed and the results of acceleration tests are then shown in tabular form, with comments thereon.