One modern Sheffield factory - building two brand new steam engines. A short film by Tom Ingall 

@Will Rose - One of the major efficiency problems with steam was the tolerances that could be achieved. With modern metallurgy, it would be able to build steam locomotives that are once again competitive with diesels. The down side is watering the train every so often, but the up side is that the trains are not that fussy on fuel.

@Will Rose It also depends on the grade of the diesel oil being used as not all diesel oil is the same just like coal. Varying sulphur amounts in the crude oil affects the quality of the diesel produced.

Frost damage?

@@wideyxyz2271 There is a particular type of Scotish coal that is world renown for its super low sulfur content and efecent, clean burning.

😅🎉😅😅😅😅

An honourable start. There's a long way to go... but a good start in the right direction!

As an American, I'm glad to see them build steam engines in the UK again.

Why? It is old inefficient outdated technology. Would you swap your modern home for some draughty medieval hovel? The only thing this is any good for is hobbyists and nostalgia.

@@rogerphelps9939 Your right, BURN THE BOOKS! They're an old medium, why use em when we got tv. Nostalgia and memories stop us from reaching our true potential! Worm food for the worm god! How could I be so blind!

@@_wheeler8601 As I said, steam locomotives belong in the same category as medieval battle re-enactments. A bit of fun, nostalgia but little else. Books are extremely useful and versatile, steam locomotives, not so much. That is why we have much better means of traction.

What I would like to know, will they convert all the old drawings to metric or will they use imperial measurements?

@@tonysheerness2427 Stick to English not that euro trash!

I which I was a bit nearer but if any body needs help in way by taking about it by all means get in touch Bill

@@tonysheerness2427 HOW DARE YOU SIR!!!!!!!!! WHITWORTH ALL THE WAY!!!!!

It's very important, because in one generation, many skills and much knowledge can be lost forever.

What part of Ireland, please?

@@herbiemitchell9156 It was Balinalee county Longford , I’m not sure he’s still at it because that was about 12 years ago, so possibly retired like myself, I moved away then as I had a holiday home in the Canary Islands and I wanted to live there more permanently..

@@dermotmcglinchey282 Thank you for the reply. I am a steam enthusiast too and built a 4" scale Foster some years ago.

A marriage of two worlds. best of the old, best of the new.

for the same reason would be far less popular than similar engines

I totally agree with you ! Because I am an old 1950/60's trainspotter, and remember these great robust and powerful engines in service. And they were usually seen at Feltham and Guildford MPD's, the last one I saw was 33018 at Feltham in 1966. And would be an easy locomotive to construct due to it's austerity simplicity design. Another great locomotive to re-construct would be the T9 class because only one survived.

"Be careful steaming up the trains boiler for the first time, or it'll be half a day out with the undertaker ."

He most certainly would have.

And what a nice bloke he is too

There was a great programme about a1 tornado, called absolutely chuffed. Great programme, mostly built in uk but boilers in Germany.

Steam ..that means burning coal. I can just see the enviro people jumping up & down

@@vincentl.9469 Coal that a fair few railways got from Russian mines. Costs are far from the only concern, unfortunately.

@@vincentl.9469 : Not necessarily, it could be using hydrogen.... or a blend of.... cos then it will generate steam as well... There are knowledge out there.. and if they also outsource some missing bits to local universities as well.. on a research base this way. There can be a lot of funding.... I mean.. how did the previous generation of things kick started to begin with? It was money donated to form a university... and then the findings became commercialised etc. All under the British soveign's money pot. Same can happen again, in all honesty.... without patents.. or commercial (global or local) money. So....

@@vincentl.9469 They can jump up and down on their pogo sticks, which equates to ZERO Co2 emissions.

@@christophergarland7936 nowt wrong with getting it from Russia what pees me off is we could get of from here still billions of tons of it in the ground! Oh and man made climate change is a LIE!

Devonport Dockyard in New-Zealand? This is the RNZN Base in NZ.

@brendonnz1964 Plymouth UK. Awesome to know you have one too. 😀

Japan has been doing the same recently.

Steam is not making a comeback. It is just a niche hobby.

is not making a comeback in any meaningful way. It id just a hobby and nostalgia rather akin to battle reenactment.

It would be interesting to see what steam engine could be made using the technology of today, but still keeping the traditional arrangement (coal as fuel, direct drive and not steam-electric etc). Probably a stronger boiler could be made to use with higher pressure, modern types of bearings that do not need oiling every 100km, maybe some better valve gear. It would be interesting what speed and power could be achieved and how much the maintenance costs could be reduced.

As did a certain Walter Owen Bentley.

@@keystonedriving8180 Thanks for the information. I will remember that. Proper engineers.

@@keystonedriving8180Yes; it has been said that the chassis of a Bentley resembled that of a railway wagon in its robustness of construction, and that it owed a lot to Bentley's early training!

The Clan will also be able to visit heritage railways as it is lighter than the Class 7 Brit's. It will also be more efficient on coal and water, and steam better than the original Clan's. With the latest design drag box it will also be more pleasant to ride behind!

@@johndrew3202 Sounds good. Thank you for that additional info.

Bet you never had to inspect a coal fired boiler... talk about DIRTY 😷

@@phiksit As a matter of fact, I worked in a coal fired utility plant for a couple of years and as an inspector I inspected several coal fired boilers in my time. Even before that, my first home was an apartment behind a boiler room. My Dad was the building superintendent. Some of my earliest memories are playing in the boiler room. The boiler there was coal fired. I’ve seen it all, oil, gas, coal, wood, black liquor, off gas from coal coking, blast furnace gas, exhaust gas from gas turbines.

When the pathetic amount of energy produced by those 'renewables' in future - I think your skills will be desperately needed, Sir?@@pitsnipe5559

These are top class engineers....they don't need some mythical deity to look after them.

That's amazing. I believe it wasn't very successful (or was that the 4-4-6-4?) but an innovative locomotive with potential for high speed.

@routeman680 The T1 had problems with the poppet steam valve arrangement that modern materials would easily sort out, they also had traction issues with wheel slip at start up and high speed due the Engineers/Drivers not realising how responsive the locos were to the regulator at high speed...basically akin to over throttling the engines and doing a burnout lol It is a shame that they were all scrapped before full development could take place....they had huge potential.

What is The Brand?

@@davewilliams6172 99% of all T-1 issues were as they say "drivers error". As you state, due to the responsiveness and power curve the locomotives did wheel slip, but engineers who ran them daily attested to the fact that there was a learning curve and you couldn't just jump in the cab and run a T-1 like a Northern, Pacific, or Mikado. You had to learn how to manage all that power and responsiveness. They were a very good locomotive despite many ill-informed claims to the contrary.

yes you never know we might need them in a pinch, there are times when things fill a niche, after all there is sam mackwell in new zeland that is building steam traction engines that use fast growing wood or waste material to be powered and using a watertub boiler a lemate style but without the water wall around the firebox so it dont have all the leaking and weakness and scailing problems that plegued the first gen ones when they tried it in the 20th century, he also has a garrett style loco listed as to how far along to build it they are I dont know but its on the website, the beauty of steam is if it can boil and superheat water it can be used even solar made steam using the sun to boil it for a stationary compound engine this earth day when this message is written.

Well, it hasn't been quite such a long wait as that, A1 60163 Tornado was built from scratch and completed in 2008. I think there have been others.

Of course technology takes a lot of the brain fag out of engineering ,and can even complete the job with computerised machines. Where's the satisfaction in that? My Dad was a precision engineer before that happened, working on blueprints to one thousands of an inch.Setting up the machines for the prototype, and inspecting the result. Some of this stuff was parachutes where life depended on its accuracy. To my mind when you take away the necessity for skill, you reduce the interest in the work, and only mindless people need apply. Technology is producing mindless people. Which is dangerous for humanity.

Unlikely to be allowed to run on mainline.

@@rogerphelps9939 Why's that? Tornado does and P2 will as well when its finished.

Yes, imagine those 'screen-only' students at university 'engineering departments' getting their hands dirty!

not the first time that;s happened ..... cheers !

But nobody else is much interested in obsolete stuff. They have their eyes on the future and it is not steam.

Actually.. may I suggest the UK leads in many engineering fields - though this is little known due to a lack of media coverage. We dominate the subsea sector with around 50% of it based in Scotland. We make most F1 and US race cars - and many of the difficult bits of Mercedes and VWs are designed/and or made here. Most of the difficult bits of Airbus aircraft - wings, landing gear, avionics (loos) - are made right here. BAE Systems in the US makes many of the most complex bits that go into US defence systems. When the EU said they were going to block experts of Covid vaccines from AZ's plant in Belgium it forgot that the fact a key essential came from a small firm in Yorkshire. We should halt all cheap electronics imports below £100 from China as these are deliberately made far below cost in order to bankrupt UK manufacturers.

@@rogerphelps9939 Yes it is. Steam turbines to create electricity from nuclear power.

I believe that the Clan will be getting a Lempor exhaust. Not sure about the valves though, but I do know that they have spent a lot of time looking at the motion and in particular the pistons, rings and how they are lubricated as the Clans were known to need improvement in that area.