20th Sept 2008 - News items covering: Malcolm Cluett's and John Rhodes' coincidental presentations on Steam Traction.  

By pure coincidence, Malcolm Cluett and John Rhodes made separate presentations on the cost of steam traction in separate continents but on the same day - 9th Sept 2008.

Malcolm's presentation titled "Economics of Steam Traction for the Transportation of Coal by Rail" was made at the CORE2008 Conference on Railway Engineering in Perth, Western Australia.

John's presentation titled "Economics of Coal as a Locomotive Fuel on US Class 1 Railroads" to a luncheon meeting of the National Capital Land Transportation Committee of the Institute of Electrical/Electronic Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Washington DC.

Malcolm's presentation was based on a paper by C. Newman titled Feasibility of Steam Traction of Coal Transportation in Developing Countries that will be published in the CORE2008 Conference Proceedings.

Malcolm reports that he had about sixty people in his audience and that no-one seemed hostile to the idea of steam traction making a comeback. He didn't have time for many questions after the talk, but most focussed on greenhouse gas emissions as compared to diesel traction (an issue that is covered in the text of the paper).

John reports that his presentation was attended by about 30 engineers who seemed interested in the topic and who were not at all hostile (as he'd expected they might have been). Only a few older members of the audience expressed some skepticism about the possibility of a renaissance. No doubt the topic was quite unfamiliar to most of those of 50 years and younger!

Congratulations to both Malcolm and John for presenting the case for steam in two corners of the globe. It may be hoped that the opportunity will arise for these and similar presentations to be made at other venues and in other continents in the future.

15th July 2008 - Covering: Rail Industry Conference, Perth, Western Australia; and Laura Macfadyen's animated model of the 5AT

Rail Industry Conference, Perth, Western Australia: Over the week of 7th to 10th September 2008, a Conference on Railway Engineering (CORE 2008) will be held in Perth Western Australia, under the auspices of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. A paper titled "Feasibility of Steam Traction for Coal Transportation in Developing Countries" by Chris Newman has been accepted by the conference organizers and will be presented by Malcolm Cluett who will fly across from Sydney to make the presentation on Chris's behalf.

The paper follows on from the paper that Chris Newman presented at the "Modern Steam" conference in York in December 2006 but includes more accurate performance and cost estimates for alternative traction options, yet it still shows a substantial cost advantage for steam traction where fuel and labour costs are low..

A copy of the paper will be presented on this website once the conference is over.

Laura Macfadyen's animated model of the 5AT: Previous news bulletins since January 2008 have included reference to a three dimensional computer model of the 5AT that Laura Macfadyen has chose nto create as her final year project for a Computer Modelling & Animation honours degree at Bournemouth University. Laura has recently completed the animation of her model, and has just written to say that she has been awarded a First Class Honours Degree for her efforts. Sincere congratulations to Laura for her achievement, and we wish her well in her future career.

Laura's animated model can be viewed by going to Laura's section of the 5AT Models page and the clicking on the appropriate links.

9th May 2008 - Change of email address

I've taken advice on the spam problem that I've been experiencing with the 5AT mailbox (see 14th April 2008 news item below) and have been directed to a website that offers a "spambot"-proof method of encoding email addresses on websites. I'm therefore setting up a new 5AT email address at webmaster@5at.co.uk. Obviously it won't receive emails sent to anything@5at.co.uk but it's the best I can do for the moment.

Anyone interested in using the encoding system can find it at http://www.mways.co.uk/prog/hidemail.php.

14th April 2008 - Change of email address

The 5AT mailing address has been taken over by a proxy spammer and is no longer managable. I am thus unable to receive messages sent to the 5at.co.uk mail server, and ask that in future people contact me through cje.newman(at)gmail.com. In order to avoid the same thing happening to that address, I will not provide HTMLlinks to it from the website. Would anyone who has sent any messages to the 5at.co.uk email address in recent times please resend their messages to the above address?

5th April 2008 - covering: Steam in Action Group; Art in the Age of Steam exhibition;

Steam in Action Group: This group has nothing to do with the 5AT Project or with modern steam. However Richard Coleby, who is doing such wonderful work for us producing 3D drawings of major components of the 5AT, has requested that I give them a mention in acknowledgement of the ongoing assistance that he has been receiving from the Reefsteamers group who have been very helpful in sending him several detailed drawings of the Class 25 locomotive that he has been able to use as reference material in the work that he is now doing on the 5AT frames.

Richard says that the group has request that we invite as many people as possible to sign up as members of the newly formed 'Steam in Action' group which is dedicated to preserving as much of the SA steam heritage as they can before it all goes to the breakers yard. Steam in Action's website can be found at http://www.steam-in-action.com/index.htm, where you can register your interest.

Art in the Age of Steam: Also nothing to do with the 5AT Project or modern steam, but there are a few artists among the group and a few non-artists who are intersted in art (and the Arts). Hence I am taking the opportunity to pass on a message just received from the National Museums Liverpool about an art exhibition called Art in the Age of Steam that they will be presenting from 18th April to 10th August 2008. See http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/steam/ for details.

7th March 2008 - covering: New 5AT Modelling Projects; Presentations relating to the 5AT Project; and a note of thanks to the South African "Reef Steamers" group

5AT Modelling Projects: In the last news bulletin, I reported that Laura Macfadyen had begun a virtual model of the 5AT. She has now almost completed it, and in fact has had to suspend further work on it while she completes her studies. She will be "painting" it shortly, but a preview of the locomotive in grey undercoat is shown below. I think everyone will agree that Laura has done a wonderful job and produced a very fine model indeed.

A new section has been added to the 5AT Models page to include Laura's work. Also included on the same page is a report on another virtual model that has been commissioned by Chad Noh of the USA.

Presentations relating to the 5AT Project:

• On 20th February last, Malcolm Cluett (see photo on the 5AT Photo page) who is one of our project's longest-standing and most involved supporters, made a presentation titled "The Economics of Steam Traction in Transportation of Coal by Rail" at the Singleton Coal and Mining Expo at Singleton, NSW, Australia. Whilst the presentation did not attract a large audience, Malcolm reported that those that attended seemed interested and stayed for the whole hour. Our sincere thanks to Malcolm for making this presentation on our behalf.
• Malcolm's presentation was the first that has been made about the 5AT project (albeit in its 8AT guise) outside the steam enthusiat fraternity. A second such presentation is planned to be made in September at the "CORE 2008" Conference on Railway Engineering being hosted by the Railway Technical Society of Australasia, a subsidiary of the Australian Institute of Engineers. This will be a major rail industry event, and the synopsis of a paper titled "Feasibility of Steam Traction for Coal Transportation in Developing Countries" by Chris Newman has been accepted by the conference organizers. The conference is to be held at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Perth Western Australia from September 7-10 2008. If the final draft of the paper is accepted by the organizers, and if Chris is unable to travel over from China to present the paper himself, Malcolm Cluett has kindly offered to stand in for him.
• Meanwhile, on 20th March, Mike Horne will be making a presentation to the Hazel Grove & District Model Railway Society titled "Second Generation Steam - the Story So Far" on 14th March. The meeting is not open to non-members since it is expected to be very well attended. Mike may however be willing to make the presentation to other groups if invited to do so, and provided he doesn't have to travel all over the country (see note below).
• Later in the year, on October 22nd, Richard Coleby (our brilliant draftsman who produced the magnificent 3D drawing of the 5AT cylinder block (see Jan 31st news item below) will be making a presentation about the 5AT project to the Norwich Engineering Society.

Past presentations about the 5AT/8AT project include:

• Alan Fozard's presentation to the 1st International Conference on Steam and Tourist Railways in Brienz in Oct 2003;
• Alan Fozard and John Hind's presentation to the A1 Project directors in October 2005;
• Alan Fozard and John Hind's presentation to the Derby Railway and Engineering Society in January 2006;
• Alan Fozard and John Hind's presentation to the Main Line Steam Locomotive Operators Limited also in January 2006;
• Chris Newman's presentation to the conference on "Developments in Modern Steam Traction for Railways" at the York Railway Museum in December 2006;
• Chris Newman's presentation to the Indonesian State Railways' Rolling Stock Director and Engineers in June 2007.

Note: The 5AT Project's leading members are more than happy to make presentations to any group if invited to do so. However until the project goes commercial, it has no funding to pay for any travel or accommodation expenses incurred by its members. Financial assistance may therefore be requested towards meeting such costs where long distance travel is involved. In this respect, it may be noted that those of us who have so far expressed willingness to give presentations are located in: Staffordshire, Lancashire, Huntingdonshire, Sydney, Australia and Beijing, China.

Thanks to the South African Reef Steamers Group: As noted on the Updates page last week, we wish to record our sincere thanks to the (South African) Reef Steamers' group in acknowledgement of the assistance they have given to us (and to Richard Coleby in particular) by sending copies of detailed drawings of axlebox and horn layout of the SAR Class 25 NC locomotive. Richard will use these drawings to develop the framing details for the 5AT. A link to their website has been added to the References and Links page of this website.

31st Jan 2008 - covering: New "Virtual" Model of the 5AT; New 3D Drawing of 5AT Cylinder Block; and a Feasibility Study for the 5AT

It is likely that many readers of this website have some doubts about the 5AT ever becoming a reality. I guess even those of us who are directly involved in the project suffer doubts about it from time to time, but for the most part we remain both confident and optimistic. If we did not of course, we would not persist with it! In fact, we're not just passively optimistic, and we continue to work very hard to take the project forward towards its eventual reality, as can be seen from Richard Coleby's work (above). All of us, including Richard, work on the project in our spare time and most of us have all too to little time to spare. Nevertheless, as John Hind has observed, “it is amazing how much has been achieved and we can, in all modesty, claim that the 5AT has progressed the furthest both technically and commercially of all 'new design’ locomotive proposals.” So, even though progress may sometimes be slow, we are moving forward and our energies are now directed at putting together a Feasibility Study for the project, including detailed costings and market assessments. Once complete, this Feasibility Study will form the basis of a Business Plan that will be used to "sell" the project to investors.

It's always been envisaged that if the 5AT is ever built, it will have to be paid for by investors who will expect a return on their investment, because the cost of designing and building a new locomotive from scratch will far exceed the sort of money that even the A1 Project has struggled to raise from their supporters. Thus we have to prepare a Business Plan that will show sound reasoning, accurate costings and (of course) a good profit potential in order to have a chance of convincing potential investors to put their money into the project. It is not, and will not, be easy but we are working on it. Unfortunately, we will not be publishing either the Feasibility Study or the Business Plan since these will contain information that investors may consider to be commercially sensitive.