How Steam Locomotives Really Work (Popular Science)

RAILROAD TECH

This s a gift and the occasion has not yet arrived.

I was recently in Ely, Nevada and visited the Nevada Northern Railway National Historic Landmark. It's a working train museum. It is similar to the others, like Sacramento CA, or Carson City NV, or Fort Bragg CA, but a bit more informal. They allowed visitors to climb on their steam and diesel engines and wander through the machine shop. We took the three hour ride and I just had to know how these monsters worked so I bought PWB Semmens book. He's English and the book is, mostly, about English railroads and I thought I'd be disappointed because I wanted to know about American steam engines. It doesn't matter. They're all the same. He begins with the properties of water and steam and moves through all of the mechanisms, boiler, types of coal, valving, levers, everything engineering about steam engines. It's a fascinating story of the development of the steam engine and the iterations it took over the years. Mr. Semmens is a true engineer who loves his profession. He translates the cumbersome mechanisms of the engine in detail onto the page. I read it on my Kindle and had a little trouble with some of the diagrams. In fact, some of the detail was difficult to follow as some of the words have a different meaning in England. But, I got past those issues and enjoyed his enthusiasm of all things steam engines. A good read that requires some attention and thought to envision what he's talking about. If you're thinking of volunteering to work with a steam museum, this is the book to read. It outlines many of the 'how's' and 'dont's' of the steam boiler. A good read.

The book goes into great detail of every system of a steam locomotive. It opened my eyes to how much engineers knew at the time. It's wasn't as easy as building a fire and directing steam; there is so much more to it. Trigonometry played a large part in design and operation. The book will tell you everything you need to know about types, designs, sub-systems, etc. It will also teach you the history of steam locomotives and why they advanced to the point they did.

This is a small paperback that had me spellbound. That's as good as a technical text can be! I carried it everywhere with me, and read it in my spare time. If you love steam locomotives, this is a real page turner. It covers steam engines from the earliest ones (stationary mine engines), to the very last. It is of course a UK book, and thus concentrates upon British locomotives. The candor in the writing is quite refreshing. It clearly admits that a failing of many UK steam locomotives was a "just good enough" mentality amongst the designers and drivers. This meant that the engine drivers in France, and in North America had greater technical knowledge of their machine's working. In the design of the machines in these other countries (e.g. Andre Chapelon's engines) their locomotives were far more advanced and sophisticated than their British counterparts. Nevertheless, the evolution and workings of each of the subsystems of the steam locomotive are examined in good detail. Once you've finished this book, you will have a heightened appreciation of the thought that went into the design and construction of each of these locomotives. You'll also know why drivers and firemen do what they do. This is a superb text, highly recommended.

You are serious about steam locomotives and consider yourself knowledgeable about the various types and their strengths and weaknesses, but crave to understand the technical details in more detail. For example, you know what an injector does, but how exactly does it work? How do designers decide whether to use Walschaerts or Stephensons or Bakers valve gear? How does a superheater work and why does it increase a locomotive's efficiency so dramatically? If these are the kind of questions that intrigue you, then this is the book for you. Most of the examples are taken from British locomotive engineering practice, but the principles described are generic. Unfortunately, some of the photographs are poorly rendered and the details described in the text are sometimes hard to see, but the descriptions are very detailed and precise. If the photographs had been better I would have rated this volume 5 stars.

Although written largely from an Englishman's POV, this book still does a good job of relating the story of the evolution of the British and American steam locomotives. He does a fine job explaining in detail the way things work, and why, yet doesn't become overly pedantic or fall so far into engineering jargon that the layman can't "get it". I learned a lot from this, and will probably re-read it soon. Trained as an engineer, I thought I knew a lot about steam engines, but there's a great deal more to it than I knew. This is a thoughtful book about the evolution of a truly fascinating, amazing machine.

You better have at least minored in math to fully make use of all the excellent information contained in this book. The only real drawback to this book, at least the electronic version, was the poor quality of the rendering of the plates/pictures. While my math/science background allowed me to essentially skim the information provided I got a lot out of this book.

This book is more then I expected. It delves into the details of how/why a steam engine works. It does make the reader think back and dig out his math skills as well as some chemistry and physics. I have learned a lot and have not finished reading. I am also learning why the diesel electric engine has been so successful in replacing the steam locomotive. A recommended reading for anyone interested in the steam era.

I like this book, it is full of tons of information. I kind of feel that it lacks a section giving the very basics at the very beginning. Instead it just sort of launches in, and you have to put it together. It is kind of like having to picture a forest in your head from a book giving lots of minute details about each tree. I would also prefer higher quality graphics and pictures, since I like to really visualize and see mechanical things. The authors understanding of the subject matter is absolutely amazing though, and as far as I know there are no other books like this out there.

RAILROAD TECH

This s a gift and the occasion has not yet arrived.

I was recently in Ely, Nevada and visited the Nevada Northern Railway National Historic Landmark. It's a working train museum. It is similar to the others, like Sacramento CA, or Carson City NV, or Fort Bragg CA, but a bit more informal. They allowed visitors to climb on their steam and diesel engines and wander through the machine shop. We took the three hour ride and I just had to know how these monsters worked so I bought PWB Semmens book. He's English and the book is, mostly, about English railroads and I thought I'd be disappointed because I wanted to know about American steam engines. It doesn't matter. They're all the same. He begins with the properties of water and steam and moves through all of the mechanisms, boiler, types of coal, valving, levers, everything engineering about steam engines. It's a fascinating story of the development of the steam engine and the iterations it took over the years. Mr. Semmens is a true engineer who loves his profession. He translates the cumbersome mechanisms of the engine in detail onto the page. I read it on my Kindle and had a little trouble with some of the diagrams. In fact, some of the detail was difficult to follow as some of the words have a different meaning in England. But, I got past those issues and enjoyed his enthusiasm of all things steam engines. A good read that requires some attention and thought to envision what he's talking about. If you're thinking of volunteering to work with a steam museum, this is the book to read. It outlines many of the 'how's' and 'dont's' of the steam boiler. A good read.

The book goes into great detail of every system of a steam locomotive. It opened my eyes to how much engineers knew at the time. It's wasn't as easy as building a fire and directing steam; there is so much more to it. Trigonometry played a large part in design and operation. The book will tell you everything you need to know about types, designs, sub-systems, etc. It will also teach you the history of steam locomotives and why they advanced to the point they did.

This is a small paperback that had me spellbound. That's as good as a technical text can be! I carried it everywhere with me, and read it in my spare time. If you love steam locomotives, this is a real page turner. It covers steam engines from the earliest ones (stationary mine engines), to the very last. It is of course a UK book, and thus concentrates upon British locomotives. The candor in the writing is quite refreshing. It clearly admits that a failing of many UK steam locomotives was a "just good enough" mentality amongst the designers and drivers. This meant that the engine drivers in France, and in North America had greater technical knowledge of their machine's working. In the design of the machines in these other countries (e.g. Andre Chapelon's engines) their locomotives were far more advanced and sophisticated than their British counterparts. Nevertheless, the evolution and workings of each of the subsystems of the steam locomotive are examined in good detail. Once you've finished this book, you will have a heightened appreciation of the thought that went into the design and construction of each of these locomotives. You'll also know why drivers and firemen do what they do. This is a superb text, highly recommended.

You are serious about steam locomotives and consider yourself knowledgeable about the various types and their strengths and weaknesses, but crave to understand the technical details in more detail. For example, you know what an injector does, but how exactly does it work? How do designers decide whether to use Walschaerts or Stephensons or Bakers valve gear? How does a superheater work and why does it increase a locomotive's efficiency so dramatically? If these are the kind of questions that intrigue you, then this is the book for you. Most of the examples are taken from British locomotive engineering practice, but the principles described are generic. Unfortunately, some of the photographs are poorly rendered and the details described in the text are sometimes hard to see, but the descriptions are very detailed and precise. If the photographs had been better I would have rated this volume 5 stars.

Although written largely from an Englishman's POV, this book still does a good job of relating the story of the evolution of the British and American steam locomotives. He does a fine job explaining in detail the way things work, and why, yet doesn't become overly pedantic or fall so far into engineering jargon that the layman can't "get it". I learned a lot from this, and will probably re-read it soon. Trained as an engineer, I thought I knew a lot about steam engines, but there's a great deal more to it than I knew. This is a thoughtful book about the evolution of a truly fascinating, amazing machine.

You better have at least minored in math to fully make use of all the excellent information contained in this book. The only real drawback to this book, at least the electronic version, was the poor quality of the rendering of the plates/pictures. While my math/science background allowed me to essentially skim the information provided I got a lot out of this book.

This book is more then I expected. It delves into the details of how/why a steam engine works. It does make the reader think back and dig out his math skills as well as some chemistry and physics. I have learned a lot and have not finished reading. I am also learning why the diesel electric engine has been so successful in replacing the steam locomotive. A recommended reading for anyone interested in the steam era.

I like this book, it is full of tons of information. I kind of feel that it lacks a section giving the very basics at the very beginning. Instead it just sort of launches in, and you have to put it together. It is kind of like having to picture a forest in your head from a book giving lots of minute details about each tree. I would also prefer higher quality graphics and pictures, since I like to really visualize and see mechanical things. The authors understanding of the subject matter is absolutely amazing though, and as far as I know there are no other books like this out there.

Very detailed book. Very small print. Lacks any detailed drawings. Whilst I have not yet fully read this book, it certainly appears to cover the aspects of the Steam Loco very well. Nicely compliments the other book by Dominic Wells "How a Steam Locomotive Works" and the book "Firing the Steam Locomotive".

This is a generous rating. There may be a point where this book actually diagrams how the steam (superheated no doubt) imparts power to the pistons (wherever they are located) and other esoterica, but I didn't see it. This is the kind of description I was looking for from the beginning. The authors assume far too much prior knowledge right from the start. No one would describe the operation of an internal combustion engine in such a fashion. There is plenty of wonderful information here, but it is very poorly arranged for a rank beginner.

I thought I knew the basics of steam locomotives, I chose this book as I wished to know more of the inner workings. P. Semmens & A. Goldfinch use their years of engineering experience to take you on a great journey around the locomotive stage by stage. I know why they have different number and size of wheels, the design hence efficiency of the steam pistons and their respected valves, the list goes on. Great book, well done.

To appreciate this book, you must be obsessed with steam locomotives. And if you are, this is THE book you've dreamed of. This remarkable book explains in fascinating detail every single thing you've ever wanted to know about how these marvels of engineering function. Mostly British locomotives are discussed, but everything applies to U.S. locos. Plus, the really technical info is presented in a very easy-to-understand manner; you don't need to have a physics background. If you're in love with steam, buy this book or give it as a gift for someone who is. Totally, completely captivating!

Lots of small tight photos and drawings of parts, could use some larger overall photos & drawings.

Unbelievable awesome book on the mechanical workings of a steam engine. I already knew the concept and overall details but this book gets down to the minute details of the engineering and design. If you are a train guy or know someone who is - then this book is for you!

Good read for those interested in trains like my-self. RB

Great

This is an excellent in depth text book. It is definately a reference book and not a thriller that is read from cover to cover. It is informative and well researched. As a builder of scale working models of steam locomotives I find it invaluable.

OUTSTANDING for the understanding of engine development and how locomotives work. This is a book for an engineer.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my train-enthusiast father-in-law, and he loved it! It's a very technical book, so it may not be for everyone, but anyone who's interested in the mechanics of steam engines is going to love this one!

I bought this for my son who is very pleased with it.

Not so technical that you need an engineering degree, but this book goes into plenty of detail about the functions and various designs of steam locomotive components. Good reading for anyone with a mechanical interest in these great machines.

The most comprehensive outline of steam locomotive engineering that I have seen. Mainly concentrates on British practices, not too much on US practice.

My third copy...book is so well written that I gave two copies away to rail fans of mine.

Very detailed and thorough. Includes information about how the railroad companies managed the particulars of steam engines.

WARNING: Think carefully about this information prior to purchasing this book. There is nothing simple about this book. Prerequisite courses in physics, and mechanical engineering are required prior to attempting to understand this book. A purchase of this book is a complete waste of money. First of all, it is about British steam. Second, it is about as interesting as attempting to read and understand a copy of a Shakespeare play written in Latin. It is by far the worst purchase I have ever made.

Great book. I first bought it for my Kindle but the pictures don't come out well on the Kindle, so I bought the book. I've now read it twice.

Comprehensive. The photos could be a little better, but the text explanations are excellent.

I have not gotten much past the intro, but already have found the answer to a curiosity - the baker valve gear. Not having seen a real baker valve gear up close, it has always been a mystery, no matter how many diagrams and details until this book(a point also noted by another reviewer). I will use this as a reference, but as with all paperbacks they cannot take abuse. I would like to see a review of the hardcover book, from a book quality standpoint. Because I like this book enough, I would consider the almost $50 plus tab for a used hard cover copy. The other detail that caught my attention was the way British engine drivers and French drivers learned their craft, the latter with a more academic approach and the former by 'Sitting with Nellie." The other point, part of the reason for the book, is to inform modern steam footplate crews not how to operate a locomotive, but how to understand what "underlies what they are taught." Railroads and steam power have always been an interest, but steam was gone, in a blink, before one could appreciate what was happening and despite any talk and hope to the contrary; the book also backs this point. - I have since, the original review date, acquired the hard cover and disposed of the paperback. Infinitely better! Spend the money!

First of all, ignore the reviews that call this book "too complicated" or, (laughably by a previous reviewer) "wrong"(!) One of the authors was a CME (chief mechanical engineer) for British Rail, for heaven's sake. If you think it is wrong, back up your argument with facts. Anyone who didn't sleep through high school physics or chemistry should have no problems with this work. Just remember that this book is aimed at enthusiasts, not casual readers sifting through the bookstore remainder bin. OK, now this book could benefit from better editing and a glossary of terms, but it remains the only detailed guide to steam locomotive operation and specific mechanisms in the general press. For other intelligent reviews of this product, please refer to amazon uk's listing of this book.

If you want to know how a steam locomotive really work buy this book, if you are looking for anecdotes, beautifull pictures curious details etc. don't!. I am not a trains fan but I have an interest in the history of technology and I bought this book because I wanted to know how a steam locomotive works. I liked this book a lot because it delivers exactly as promised. The text is technical because the subject is technical and you need a spat of phisics to understand it all. The book explains in detail how the different parts and systems of a steam loco work and how the whole comes together as well as the whys and hows of some operational and maintenace practices. You can also see that steam is not a friendly technology and that steam locos are, by their own nature, difficult to operate and maintain and you get some idea of the amount of labor and skill needed to do it. The fundamental limitations of the technology are also shown and you understand why in certain aspects the last steam locos were so similar to the earliest ones, why some designs were on the tracks for decades and finally why they have become museum objects rather that daily used machines. After reading this book I appreciate steam locos a lot more than I did before.

If you want to really know how steam locomotives work then this is your book. The author explains what each of the parts on a steam loco do, the different options for each of them and the trade offs that have to be considered when designing a locomotive. The author utilizes graphs and diagrams throughout to describe the various workings of a locomotive. The book does contain photographs but they are generally grainy and of poor quality. However, this does not detract in any way since this is a technical book and not a photo essay. I would not recommend this book for bedtime reading (unless you have insomnia) as it can get quite technical and you have to pay attention to really follow it. If you take the time to read carefully, you will be rewarded with a treasure of knowledge that is almost impossible to find elsewhere. I'm very glad I bought it.

This book is a very good guide to the way steam locomotives work, you can consider it a "descriptive" account of the inner workings found in most steam locomotives. But if you are looking for charts, diagrams, formulaes or technical details they are not there. Anyway it is a nice, easy to read book.

great book

As a retired licensed mechanical engineer, who grew up in the hey-day of steam locomotives,I found this book a very enjoyable read. This is not a text on how to design a steam locomotive, but rather an in-depth description of the various components and systems that were utilized during the steam locomotive era. Aside from an occasional typo that detracts somewhat from the technical discussions, the authors have presented a wealth of information in an interesting fashion based on their first hand experience. After reading this book, I came away with a greater appreciation for the skill required to efficiently operate a steam locomotive and also an understanding of why the steam locomotive was totally replaced by the diesel locomotive over such a short time.

This book is nothing less than a "Classic" in the best sense of the word. It offers comprehensive coverage of the design evolution of steam locomotives and the issues that shaped its development until overtaken by diesel traction. The explanations are thorough without significanr recourse to mathemetics. Anyone with a keen interest in the history of technology or the era of steam powered rail transport will find this well written book a treasure.

Fascinating read, although not a particularly easy one. Very dense, technical writing, but very much worth the effort to read because there's a wealth of detail with solid explanations of the basic systems on locomotives. North American readers may find the British writing style a bit of a struggle.

Decent book with lots of information, but not very organized. You might have to read this book twice to get all the info out of it. More drawings and pictures would certainly help. The author crams a lot of material in here, but goes all over the place getting it out. BUT, since there are very few books out there that contain this info that are readily available, I would still say that if you are interested in how steam engines work, this book is a good place to start.

If you already know everything about Steam, then you'll probably find this good in places and boring in most others. If you DON'T know your steam inside-out, then you may be left utterly flumoxed as the authors leap from idiot-guide to super-in-depth in a single paragraph and back again. You'll be left asking What The Hey Are They Talking About? Parts were fascinating - but generally a book written by experts who've forgotten (or never knew) how to write for The Rest Of Us.

This book was so so. I got it at the library. My fav part about it was that there was a very good pictorial description of how the baker valve gear works. The rest was sort of boring and extremely technical. On the other hand, if you like technical books, this is for you. There are lots of graphs and equations and the like.

It's impossible to review this book! it's just dire!! I bought it via the web... Never again do I buy a technical book without taking a look at it first! Full of facts that aren't fact, this book should be well avoided!! A total waste of hard earned cash! The publisher should be ashamed of themselves for even accepting this rubbish!

I understand how locomotives work and this book confused me. Don't waste your money.

I do not have this book, but I did read a few of the sample pages and found typos and poor writing.

There is lots and lots of detailed info in this book. So far they have done a good job about trying to explain a lot of complicated subjects. Way better than the latest book on loco by Kalmbach/Soloman. Still, some photos are hard to understand.

Great. Book!

Excellent!

This is very likely the best single book on the subject I've come across so far. The subject of steam locomotives is so complex and multi-layered that there will never be one book that would cover everything. This book does a very good job at explaining the inner workings and design details of the steam locomotive. The depth of provided descriptions and explanations seems well balanced. As a programmer, I'd appreciate more truly scientific details, including as many formulas, graphs and tables as possible (the book contains some of it, generally well chosen), but I understand that most readers of this book would probably think otherwise so the result has to be a compromise of some sort. There were some things which could be improved: * Sometimes it happens that the book uses a technical term that is never properly introduced (e.g. "back-pressure" - fortunately I knew this one from elsewhere) or is introduced in a later chapter (e.g. "the main frames") which forces the reader either to use other sources to look it up or to ignore the term, continue reading and hope it'll be okay :-) * The book contains a huge amount of diagrams and photos, but there were a few moments where I felt I could use a diagram which wasn't there as I couldn't very well visualize the things that were being described in plain text without a corresponding image. * Also, it would be useful to add arrows or other such marks to some of the photos of locomotive machinery because in some cases the photos are so "busy" that it took a lot of effort to figure out which part of the machinery the caption is really talking about. * While this book seems to focus primarily on the technical/mechanical details of steam locomotives, in some parts it would be useful if it said a bit more about the performance as well. For example, when I was reading the chapter about braking systems which gives very detailed technical descriptions, I felt I'd like to see some graphs illustrating the braking forces in action (there are some graphs of this kind in the book in case of other topics). * There's an index at the end of the book and although it's quite lengthy, many useful keywords aren't included so when I was looking for something specific (I can't remember the actual keyword anymore), I was surprised I couldn't find it there. * I was very surprised that the book doesn't include any bibliography or a "suggested reading" section. It would be immensely interesting and useful, given the expertise of the authors. One book that *is* mentioned right on the first page of the Introduction is the "Handbook for Railway Steam Locomotive Enginemen" from 1957 which is available as a free e-book and I'm planning to read it too. * I noticed quite a lot of typos and typographic inconsistencies. Maybe when I read this book again in the future I'll write them down and send them to the publisher :-) * It's nice and helpful that the authors provide conversions from imperial to SI (metric) units in the text, although there are a few places where they forgot to do so. Also, for some reason, metric lengths are almost always expressed in millimeters which can be unnatural, even a bit confusing, and occasionally funny. The reader then has to do another round of conversions in their own head, for example: 35 ft = 10500 mm (page 229), which would be much more naturally expressed as simply 10.5 meters. Moreover, the provided conversion isn't precise because the correct value is 10668 mm (exactly) or simply 10.7 m (reasonably rounded). All this being said, I very much enjoyed reading this book and I recommend it to everyone who wants to get a detailed understanding of steam locomotives at the mechanical and/or technical level.

I just thought the balance of techncial detail was right

If you are at all interested in steam locomotives, buy it! This book has led me to hours of fun modelling different types of valve motion and musing on the compromises that faced the designers of this now long lost form of locomotion. Add it to Chapelon's two volumes on your shelf and you will have a tiny number of your guests completely spellbound!

I am a now retired Railway Signalman of 43 years and i started in the late 50's in steam days, so steam means a lot to me, dirty noisy but living, and very exciting, so when this book came along notwithstanding 43 years i still wanted to learn the more technical issues associated with steam. The workings of the steam engine are much more complicated than you would think and it is ironical that as steam were being scrapped more technical innovations were taking place ie. double blastpipes; self cleaning smokeboxes; and many other things to make the steam thing work better and more efficient, this book covers these aspects and much more. I enjoyed it very much and at 71 it proves that you never stop learning. even given my background.

This book is written by engineers for engineers or at least those with an interest in engineering, how things work and the design choices made.

This book gives a very detailed and practical description of how steam trains worked specifically their steam engines. A very good description of old steam train technology but also of how steam machinery worked in the early days of Victorian steam engineering.

I can hardly believe that so much solid information could be packed into a book no bigger than a Penguin Classic, and yet be so readable. I would not think that any specialist knowledge would be needed to enjoy this book, as the authors take you quite swiftly through the fundamentals of such subjects as the properties of steam; combustion; adhesion etc, without assuming any prior knowledge. I suspect that this may be because one or both of the authors may have had a background in teaching firemen and drivers about their trade. However, some things do have to be taken on trust for a while, until they are explained later in the book - so the book may benefit from a second reading. I've never been one of those people who has been particularly interested in steam trains (in a nostalgic way). Nevertheless, I am totally hooked now, and recommend it to anyone who has any interest in engineering, or How Things Work.

Great prompt delivery from a trustworthy supplier. The book is very detailed and informative, but you need a good grasp of physics and chemistry to really understand it (I failed!) but it is a most comprehensive manual. These footplate men were as well trained and knowledgeable as today's flight deck crews. A fascinating insight into long lost skills. Well worth keeping on the shelf. A valuable document.

Many men of a certain age have a fondness for steam trains and this I share but beyond coal, water and steam, I had little idea of how they worked - so I bought this book. Text and line drawings are fine on the ordinary paperback paper but he b+w photographs lack some clarity. Well-written, knowledgeable and engaging, this book will probably tell you as much as you wish to know about steam trains. For a bit of light relief between chapters, try Classic Steam Train Collection [DVD] from Fremantle Home Entertainment as you sprawl on your settee.

No wonder steam locomotive drivers & firemen were held in such high esteem ! Having read this book, and realised just how much they had to think about and do every single journey, I am in awe. This excellent book describes the whole locomotive, as a towing vehicle, not just the steam-engine (boiler, pistons etc). It claims to be, and is, a description of loco technology in the final days of steam traction. Unfortunately all the interveening advances between Trevithick and then are not covered. This is a pity - perhaps the authors would like to write such a history. Based on this book I would certainly buy it !

Lovely detail explaining alot and clarifying questions I had having read other texts. Tended to be a little too complex particularly with some of the power diagrams though.

This is a superb book. As a steam engine enthusiast without much idea of how they worked I found that reading this book hugely increased my appreciation of engines. From being mystified by the plethora of levers and rods I now find I can appreciate detail quickly and understand what's going on in front of me. Excellent text is backed up by well chosen photos and diagrams, and it's written well enough that as long as you read carefully almost every section can be understood on the first reading and doesn't need you to continually go back and re-read to make things clear. Kudos to the authors for this excellent book.

I am currently reading this book and whilst the content is very good the accompanying illustrations are very poor. The "plates" are no more than a couple of inches square and they often contain numbered items which are very difficult to see. Mention is also made to coloured sections within the plates which is also hard to see as they are all in black and white. The drawings in the text are also very small which makes study difficult. There is no glossary of terms or a bibliography or even suggestions for further reading. It is a good book but it could have been so much better.

This book does exactly what it says,- explains in detail the workings of a steam locomotive. All the detail is there and it has really increased my understandinr of the complicated workings. well worth delving into The only criticism I would make is that some of the plate illustrations are a little indistinct, that is the reason for only 4 stars, but a book well worth considering by anyone interested in steam locomotives.

I was already familiar with the paperback with the same title. The quality of the photographs and line drawings is somewhat better in this hardback - (they are a bit dark and small in some cases). However, the information content is great and I am very satisfied with it. It provides an excellent background reference for other books on steam. The text is comprehensive and the explanations are lucid and the book is so much nicer to handle that the soft cover version.

Not quite what I was hoping for but nonetheless I found it interesting and did read it through. At the end of the day it was not expensive.

Written in an easy to read style for the technical and non-technical reader.

Exactly what it says on the tin. Amazing detail. Not one of these modern 'how it works' type things that assumes you are a moron and won't understand anything, and so tells nothing. This really goes into great detail. With a big shed, a forge and some hammers, there's enough detail here to enable you to make a working steam engine. Not suggesting you, just saying that's how thorough the treatment is. Loved it.

Good value book from about a bygone era. Still not sure how railway steam engines work!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot about how steam engines work. The authors wonder whether they have included too much or too little information. I think they get the balance about right. Any more detail and it would risk becoming a workshop manual!

good book for people wanting to know how a steam locomotive works, A hard read for anybody with no engineering knowledge

A great book for engineers who want to learn anout Steam trains. Maybe a little steep for novices to start on, but good for those who want to know about the engineering side of steam trains.

This a great book if you want all the really in-depth technical details of how steam engines work. The information on how engines were made as efficient as possible is first rate and the author keeps it all really interesting. You probably need a modicum of engineering/maths knowledge to get the most out of it but is really is great.

I'm rationing my reading of this book as it's too good to devour all in one go! The descriptions are clear and the diagrams informative. Every problem has a mechanical solution and I find myself saying page after page, "Blimey, that's clever!"

this was a birthday present. Lots of reading about different locomotives, not my cup of tea though. at least my son-in-law liked it.

A gift for someone

A very informative and enjoyable book to dip into if you are a steam enthusiast. Readable for all ages especially anyone planning a driving course

For those who work on, or are interested in steam locos this is a good working manual. The historical development is touched upon leading to an understanding of why certain parts of the engine have ended up as they are. You are fortunate if you know all aspects of steam engineering and for me this fills in the gaps where I lack a full understanding