Institute of Railway Studies and Transport History
Universities of Birmingham, Sheffield and York
Developments in Modern Steam Traction for Railways
11 December 2006

A One-day Conference at the National Railway Museum in York
Walker and Alport Rooms

Outline Programme:
09:00 Registration and Coffee
09:45-10:15 Welcome and Introduction by C. Divall
10:15-11:30 Beyond Porta: New Front End Research (J.J.G. Koopmans)
(History of Front-End Research and Latest Developments)
11:30-12:00 Coffee and Tea Break
12:00-13:15 Experience with Modern Steam and new Developments (R. Waller, DLM)
Modern Steam in England: The 5AT Project (A. Fozard & C. Newman)
13:15-14:15 Lunch in the Engine Hall of the National Railway Museum
14:15-15:30 New Build Steam in England: The A1 Project (D. Elliott)
New Thinking on Fireless Steam Propulsion (H. Valentine)
15:30-16:00 Tea and Coffee Break
16:00-17:15 Modern Steam on the Hauenstein in Switzerland (A. Haas)
Alternative Traction for Community Railways (J. Sharpe)
17:15-17:30 Closing address by P. Salvesen

Conference Chairs:
Colin Divall (IRSTH), Robin Saunders (Sheffield) and Felix Schmid (RRUK)

Conference Fees:
£120.00 Standard Conference Fee including Refreshments and Proceedings
£ 85.00 Advance Payment Fee (Deadline 20 October 2006)
£ 50.00 Special Fee (Limited Number of Places, on Application to the IRS&TH)

Sponsoring Organisations:
Institute of Railway Studies & Transport History, National Railway Museum, Rail Research UK

Conference Journal:
‘Steam Railway’

Further Information and Registration:
Martyn Halman, IRS&TH Facilitator
Institute of Railway Studies
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
Tel: 01904 686 284
m.halman@nmsi.ac.uk
Marina Boulis
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Sheffield
Mappin Street
Sheffield S1 3JD
Tel: 0114 222 7751
m.i.boulis@shef.ac.uk Objectives of the Conference Organisers
The one-day conference on Developments in Modern Steam Traction for Railways is aimed at show-casing recent research and technical advances in railway steam traction for commercial use in specific applications. Colin Divall and Felix Schmid initiated this event in order to publicise the completion of Dr. J.J.G. Koopmans’ ground-breaking research into the front end design of steam locomotives and to promote current work on modern steam traction taking place in a number of European countries. It is hoped that the speakers and audience will engage in fruitful debates on the future direction of modern steam traction.
Who Should Attend
Developments in Modern Steam Traction is targeted at railway engineers and managers working in a professional capacity in today’s railway industry and in heritage operations. The conference is intended to raise their awareness of current developments in modern steam traction, the opportunities and limitations.
The organisers are expecting delegates with realistic views of the market potential of modern steam traction and interested in optimising its potential while minimising the environmental impact of steam railway operations. Heritage railways, in particular, will find that they have to improve the environmental footprint of their operations if they are to continue to succeed in an increasingly aware tourist market place.
The Contributions
Colin Divall will introduce the conference and will set the scene with a brief overview of steam traction as a commercially viable traction option for tourist railways and specific other applications.
Jos Koopmans studied at the Universities of Delft and Sheffield and presented his doctoral thesis 'The fire burns much better...' at the University of Sheffield in autumn 2005. His theoretical and practical studies have led to a substantial extension of the work of Chapelon and Dante Porta and have resulted in guidelines for good practice in front end design. Jos will outline the history of front-end research from its earliest days at the beginning of the 19th century to the work of Porta in Argentina. He will then outline the conclusions from his theoretical studies and will describe the results of the tests he undertook with the RTM54 locomotive in Holland.
Roger Waller of Dampflokomotiv und Maschinenfabrik of Switzerland will report on his company’s experience with building new steam locomotives and a steam engine for the ‘Montreux’ lake steamer for Lake Geneva. He will also discuss recent projects and plans.
Alan Fozard and Chris Newman will update the audience on progress with the 5AT project, conceived by David Wardale and his team, and will outline the major technical advances to be incorporated in the design to achieve success in commercial operation.
David Elliott will discuss the current status of the A1 project, including the production of the boiler and will inform the audience of the next steps. He will highlight the difficult compromise decisions that must be taken when recreating a historic locomotive that must satisfy modern standards of safety and environmental performance.
Harry Valentine will outline the current thinking on the use of stored steam in traction applications, with a particular focus on the availability of process steam and industrial applications.
Alfred Haas and John Sharpe will present both a Swiss and a UK view on the potential role of modern steam traction in enhancing the attractiveness of community railways and in revitalising branch lines.
Paul Salveson from Northern Rail will provide a closing summary, commenting on the relevance of the day’s proceedings for today’s railway industry.
Conference Proceedings
It is expected that conference proceedings, including technical papers by the authors, will be published by IRS&TH after the conference in paper form and these will be dispatched to delegates at the address given on the application form.
Registration Form
I / we wish to participate in the 1-day conference ‘Developments in Modern Steam Traction for Railways’ at the National Railway Museum, 11 December 2006. Please reserve …. places for my organisation.
Name: …………………………………. Title: Mr. / Mrs. / Miss / Dr. / Prof. / Ir.
First Name: ………………………………….
Job Role: ………………………………….
Department: ………………………………….
Organisation: ………………………………….
Address: ………………………………….
Address: ………………………………….
Address: ………………………………….
City: ………………………………….
Post Code: ………………………………….
Country: ………………………………….

Conference Fees:
£125.00 Standard Conference Fee including Refreshments and Proceedings
£ 90.00 Advance Payment Fee (Deadline 20 October 2006)
£ 50.00 Special Fee (Limited Number of Places, on Application to the IRS&TH)

I enclose a cheque to the amount of £ …….., made out to ‘The University of York’.

Application for Special Fee
A number of reduced fee places are reserved for technical staff from heritage and community railways. Applications for a supported place must be made in writing to Prof. Colin Divall, IRH&TS at the University of York, e-mail: cd11@york.ac.uk.

Please send the registration form to either:
Martyn Halman, IRS&TH Facilitator
Institute of Railway Studies
University of York
Heslington
York YO10 5DD
Tel: 01904 686 284
m.halman@nmsi.ac.uk
Marina Boulis
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Sheffield
Mappin Street
Sheffield S1 3JD
Tel: 0114 222 7751
m.i.boulis@shef.ac.uk