i guess this gets to live here now
T W Blasingame Company DST SE-6000 SC steam-electric "turbine"
Concurrently with the design of the above Diesel-electric locomotives, the Blasingame company
was refining its earlier steam-electric locomotive designs. The design of a new rotary steam
expander engine was under way. This new engine had no valves, no pistons, no cylinders, no
crankshaft, no camshaft, and only two main bearings. It would turn at 1200 RPM and develop
6395 HP at 300 PSI steam pressure. The estimated weight was 13,500 Lbs., and it would fit in a
space envelope of 60” cubed. After reviewing the engine design, the late Dante Porta called it
“The Atomic Bomb for Steam”. Because of its small size and light weight, this new rotary engine
would allow a much more compact locomotive to be designed. Due to its speed of 1200 RPM, it
1
could be directly coupled to the main generator without any requirement for quill drives or other
gearboxes.