An interesting aspect of preservation is the official public relation, training, and documentary films. We are fortunate to have more and more of them available online. Someone sent me this one and I thought it was worth sharing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kk4S6Er0TU

For those who don't know, the "Blue Goose" set was built from heavyweight coaches. They were rebuilt to a standard coach configuation in 1943.There are some excellent pictures of the set on pages 102 and 103 of the book "New Haven Passenger Trains" by Peter E. Lynch that showcase the in-service look and post-rebuild to coach standards.

What I find most interesting is that the second of the opening scenes was taken at Wayne Junction, in Philadelphia, facing north. I immediately recognized the station in the background, and it was confirmed when the Reading Equipment started showing up.

Got to take a look at my copy of "New Haven Power, 1838-1968," by J. W. Swanburg (published by Alvin F. Staufer, 1988); this book has a chapter on "Motor Cars and Lightweight Trains."

Based on this, the road had two steam motor cars. The first was built by predecessor New England Railroad (the former New York & New England) in 1897, based on a rebuilt dining car and a small, 42-inch drivered 0-4-0 engine--a truck, actually--that incorporated a vertical fire-tube boiler that swiveled with the truck. Cylinders were 12"x16", boiler pressure was 200 psi, and the engine had Walschaert's valve gear, the first application of this valve motion on the New Haven. It was not successful and was withdrawn by 1904, and sold in 1907.

The second steam motor car was the subject mentioned here, and would also be the last steam motor car to be built in the United States. The project was originally proposed by the Besler brothers (who were apparently steam power enthusiasts and promoters) in 1934 as an all new-build project, but the New Haven was in a near-bankrupt state at the time, and so rebuilding of older cars would be the chosen route. The chosen cars would be combine 6736 and coach 8080 (Osgood-Bradley, 1927 and 1914 respectively), and the rebuilding would be by Budd (!) in 1936, which explains the Philadelphia locations of that footage.

The power came from a 4-foot diameter "flash boiler" in the baggage compartment of the combine. This was a drum consisting of coils with no true water level in the normal sense, the water passing through heating, boiling, and superheating sections of this steam generator. Final steam pressure from this oil-fired unit was 1,200 psi; power transmission was with a powered truck, an auxiliary engine drove a generator for lights and air conditioning, and also drove an air compressor. The motor car also incorporated a condenser.

The power truck itself had four cylinders, each connected to one wheel via cranks on the ends of the axles, with each cylinder with its associated valve gear and other motion enclosed in an oil bath. The truck was set up for compound expansion, with the front high-pressure cylinders measuring 6 1/2"x9", the rear cylinders 11"x9". Valve gear was Stephenson, controlled with small air cylinders for each driving cylinder, and was used only to set the engines for forward or reverse motion; this and many of the other features (enclosure with oil bath, automated steam generator, condensing operation) were typical of late steam automobile practice.

The cars, renumbered 9210 and 9211 (in the same series as the road's Zeppelin designed and built Comet motor train), went into service in September of 1936. Its primary assignment was a turn-around service between Bridgeport and Waterbury, Conn. (running over the electrified main line between Bridgeport and Devon), with one run extended to Hartford. The unions demanded a fireman on this train, but it was still cheaper to operate, due to no uncoupling or turning locomotives (bidirectional operation); color scheme was two-tone blue with red and silver trim.

Swanburg quotes Arthur Bixby describing the Besler engine as "a wonderful device," but the equipment suffered "endless" mechanical breakdowns. The use of rebuilt heavyweight coaches overtaxed the Besler engine, which ran at full capacity or nearly so for much of the time. Despite this, the train survived until the fall of 1943, when it was withdrawn and the cars reconverted back to locomotive hauled equipment and renumbered to 6020 (combine) and 8080 (coach). The cars also lost their air-conditioning, but retained their rounded, streamlined-profile roofs until final retirement.

Additional material on the Besler brothers that turned up in a search; amazingly, the two went so far as to build a steam-powered airplane!

http://www.rexresearch.com/besler/beslerst.htm

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/worlds-f ... -airplane/

http://www.flyingkettle.com/sitemap.htm

http://www.flyingkettle.com/besb.htm

http://www.flyingkettle.com/besler6.htm

Promotional film showing a Doble steam car, the steam airplane, a very early and very ugly self-propelled Budd car, and the New Haven train; this is a more complete version of what is above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Sqf6KVWhs

Material on the Doble steam car; many of the patents of Abner Doble would be acquired by the Besler brothers, and were apparently used in the steam rail cars and airplane:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doble_steam_car

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Doble

http://www.damninteresting.com/the-last ... steam-car/

I'd bet Hugh Odom and Ross Rowland would like one of these, particularly to visit steam heritage roads:

http://steamingdownsouth.com/Doble/doble.html

The late John Hartford doesn't seem so wild and crazy after this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0iOkMNZqQ

Oh, to go back to the goodle days. . .

Oh, the internet is addictive, check out what the Beslers were attempting in full-sized locomotives:

http://www.american-rails.com/class-w1-besler-type.html

The W-1 exists--in model form, in ebony and ivory, at the Warthers Museum in Dover, Ohio.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjb4photos/6173453369/

I must say I highly recommend this place if you get the chance to visit; I well remember getting to go there when Mr. Warther was still alive:

http://www.warthers.com/

http://www.trainweb.org/chris/warthers.html

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=warther+museum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYYFNff5e20

Have fun.

While looking for other material on the "V-8" German locomotive that wound up for a while at Fort Eustis, I came across this item:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vSgD ... &q&f=false

Other material on "steam motor" locomotives" and other strange beasties:

http://douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/locoloco.htm

Home page:

http://douglas-self.com/

Have more fun.

Just came across this--and the thrills and problems are probably quite familiar to steam people everywhere:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUg_ukBwsyo