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Mekarski System
The Mekarski system was a compressed-air propulsion system for trams invented by Louis Mékarski or Louis Mékarsky (the correct spelling is uncertain) in the 1870s. He worked in France, was born in 1843 in Clermont-Ferrand (center of France) of Polish origin. Many references to him use the Polish name ''Ludwik Mękarski''. Overview A problem with compressed-air propulsion is that the air cools as it expands, which can lead to the formation of ice in the power cylinders. Mekarski sought to overcome this problem by heating the air with steam, produced in a small boiler called a ''bouillotte''. It is uncertain whether the steam was mixed with the air, or whether there was a heat exchanger. It was a single-stage engine in that air was expanded in one piston and then exhausted. The air was reheated after leaving the tank and before entering the engine. The reheater bubbled air through a hot water tank, picking up hot water vapor to improve the engine's range. An improved engi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tram Nantes AMTUIR
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Many recently built tramways use the contemporary term light rail. The vehicles are called streetcars or trolleys (not to be confused with trolleybus) in North America and trams or tramcars elsewhere. The first two terms are often used interchangeably in the United States, with ''trolley'' being the preferred term in the eastern US and ''streetcar'' in the western US. ''Streetcar'' or ''tramway'' are preferred in Canada. In parts of the United States, internally powered buses made to resemble a streetcar are often referred to as "trolleys". To avoid further confusion with trolley buses, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) refers to them as "trolley-replica buses". In the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wantage Tramway
The Wantage Tramway Company was a two-mile tramway that carried passengers and freight between the Oxfordshire town of Wantage and Wantage Road Station on the Great Western Main Line in England. Formed in 1873 to link Wantage Road station with its terminus at Mill Street, Wantage the line was cheaply built parallel to what was then the ''Besselsleigh Turnpike'', and now the A338. The tramway closed to passengers in 1925 and to goods traffic in 1945. Opening The line was opened for goods on 1 October 1875, and to passengers on 11 October. The tramway junction was to the east of Wantage Road station; interchange passengers walked under the bridge to reach the tramway yard, where the westernmost siding (parallel to the road) was reserved for passenger tramcars. Rolling stock Built as a standard gauge line, and first run using horse drawn rolling stock, the line became the first to adopt mechanical traction when a steam-powered tramcar, designed by John Grantham, was tried out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tram Engine
A tram engine is a steam locomotive specially built, or modified, to run on a street, or roadside, tramway track. Legal requirements In the steam locomotive era, tram engines had to comply with certain legal requirements, although these varied from country to country: * The engine must be governed to a maximum speed of ( in the UK) * No steam or smoke may be emitted * It must be free from the noise produced by blast or clatter * The machinery must be concealed from view at all points above from rail level *Most of the locomotives must have a cab at each end To avoid smoke, the fuel used was coke, rather than coal. To prevent visible emission of steam, two opposite systems were used: * condensing the exhaust steam and returning the condensate to the water tank * Reheating the exhaust steam to make it invisible Builders United Kingdom ;Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway built ten Class G15 0-4-0T trams from 1883 to 1897 and twelve Class C53 0-6-0T trams ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumatic Motor
A pneumatic motor (air motor), or compressed air engine, is a type of motor which does mechanical work by expanding compressed air. Pneumatic motors generally convert the compressed air energy to mechanical work through either linear or rotary motion. Linear motion can come from either a diaphragm or piston actuator, while rotary motion is supplied by either a vane type air motor, piston air motor, air turbine or gear type motor. Pneumatic motors have existed in many forms over the past two centuries, ranging in size from hand-held motors to engines of up to several hundred horsepower. Some types rely on pistons and cylinders; others on slotted rotors with vanes (vane motors) and others use turbines. Many compressed air engines improve their performance by heating the incoming air or the engine itself. Pneumatic motors have found widespread success in the hand-held tool industry, but are also used stationary in a wide range of industrial applications. Continual attempts are b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fireless Locomotive
A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which is filled at intervals from an external source. They offer advantages over conventional steam locomotives of lower cost per unit, cleanliness, and decreased risk from fire or boiler explosion; these are counterbalanced by the need for a source to refill the locomotive, and by the limited range afforded by the reservoir. They were desirable in situations where smoke from a firebox would be too noxious, or where there was risk of fire or explosion. Typical usage was in a mine, or a food or chemical factory. They were also used where a source of air or steam was readily available, and for moving loads within limited areas, such as a switch yard or within an industrial factory. They were eventually replaced for most uses by diesel and battery electric locomotives fitted with protective appliances; these are described as flame-proof locomotives. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diesel Locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels. Early internal combustion locomotives and railcars used kerosene and gasoline as their fuel. Rudolf Diesel patented his first compression-ignition engine in 1898, and steady improvements to the design of diesel engines reduced their physical size and improved their power-to-weight ratios to a point where one could be mounted in a locomotive. Internal combustion engines only operate efficiently within a limited power band, and while low power gasoline engines could be coupled to mechanical transmissions, the more powerful diesel engines required the development of new forms of transmission. This is because clutches would need to be very large at these power levels and would not fit in a standard -wide locomotive frame, or wear too qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descends , draining an area of , almost entirely within Switzerland, and accounting for close to half the area of the country, including all of Central Switzerland. There are more than 40 hydroelectric plants along the course of the Aare. The river's name dates to at least the La Tène period, and it is attested as ''Nantaror'' "Aare valley" in the Berne zinc tablet. The name was Latinized as ''Arula''/''Arola''/''Araris''. Course The Aare rises in the great Aargletschers (Aare Glaciers) of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Bern and west of the Grimsel Pass. The Finsteraargletscher and Lauteraargletscher come together to form the Unteraargletscher (Lower Aar Glacier), which is the main source of water for the Grimselsee (Lake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonval Turbine
The Jonval turbine is a water turbine design invented in France in 1837 and introduced to the United States around 1850 and were widely used. The Jonval turbine is a "mixed-flow" turbine design. Mixed-flow designs were well suited for the low-head applications common in the eastern United States. The smaller size, higher speed, higher power, lower cost, and ability to operate efficiently with variable water levels caused these and other types of hydraulic turbines to replace the vertical waterwheel as the primary source of power in American industries. The Jonval turbine is a horizontal waterwheel. The water descends through fixed curved guide vanes which direct the flow sideways onto curved vanes on the runner. It is named after Feu Jonval, who invented it. The Jonval incorporated ideas from European mathematicians and engineers, including the use of curved blades. This new turbine failed to satisfy the public interest in seeing the water wheels in action, which was likely accept ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bern Railway Station
Bern railway station (german: Bahnhof Bern) serves the municipality of Bern, the federal city of Switzerland. Opened progressively between 1858 and 1860, and rebuilt several times since then, it lies on the Olten–Bern and the Lausanne–Bern lines (together forming the line known as the ''Mittellandlinie'' in German) and is near the end of the Lötschberg line. The station is owned by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). Train services to and from the station are operated by the Swiss Federal Railways, the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon railway (BLS) and the metre gauge Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn (RBS). Trains calling at the station include ICEs, and international trains to Italy. Bern is the nearest station to the University of Bern in the Länggasse quarter. There is a rooftop terrace on top of the station, accessed by lift from the subway by Platforms 12 and 13, with views over the city and to the Bernese Alps. Access to Bern Airport from the station is normal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bärengraben
The Bärengraben, or Bear Pit, is a tourist attraction in the Swiss capital city of Bern. It is a bear pit, or enclosure housing bears, situated at the eastern edge of the old city of Bern, next to the Nydeggbrücke and the River Aar. Although still in use, the Bärengraben has been supplemented since 2009 by the adjacent BärenPark, a larger and more natural enclosure alongside the River Aar. The Bärengraben and BärenPark are administered as a geographically discrete part of the city's Dählhölzli Zoo. The Bärengraben is a Swiss heritage site of national significance, and is of particular significance in Bern because the bear is a symbol of both the city and surrounding canton, and is featured in their coat of arms. History The bear has long served as symbol of Bern. Legend has it that, in 1191, Duke Berthold V of Zähringen vowed to choose as namesake the first animal his hunt met in the wood that was to be chopped down for his new city. As Konrad Justingers chronicl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website = www.bern.ch Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the '' de facto'' capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale, link=no, it, città federale, link=no, and rm, citad federala, link=no). According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has governmental institutions such as the Federal Assembly and Federal Council. However, the Federal Supreme Court is in Lausanne, the Federal Criminal Court is in Bellinzona and the Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Patent Court are in St. Gallen, exemplifying the federal nature of the Confederati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders, in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels. Fuel and water supplies are usually carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in a tender coupled to it. Variations in this general design include electrically-powered boilers, turbines in place of pistons, and using steam generated externally. Steam locomotives were first developed in the United Kingdom during the early 19th century and used for railway transport until the middle of the 20th century. Richard Trevith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
