SALE PRICE - The fire burns much better ... (Second edition) - By J.J.G Koopmans

First published in 2004 as a Thesis for a Ph. D., and then only available in very limited quantities, this is certainly the most authoritative book in print on steam locomotive exhausts. This second edition contains corrections, clarifications and amendments, many made in consultation with leading steam locomotive designers.

Reviewed here are all the exhaust systems, details of which have been available, from Trevithick in 1804 up to Porta and Wardale in 2004. Each is covered, firstly in general descriptive terms and then analysed in detail for their good and bad points.

The author then looks at the basic contributing elements to exhaust systems and the technical theory, before detailing the author’s own testing of a Dutch steam tram locomotive, before giving conclusions and recommendations. Finally there are 36 Appendices being extracts or abstracts from original texts.

For the locomotive historian this book is important as, for the first time, it is possible to follow the development of exhaust systems for steam locomotives chronologically.

For the engineer working on steam locomotives, full-size, miniature or model, there is all the data here you need to design a good and effective front end.

488 pages, full of drawings, diagrams, data and formulae.  Paperback.