While Porta Treatment (PT) works to maintain low maintenance cost and efficient heat transfer within the modern steam locomotive boiler over the lifespan of the locomotive, the Gas Producer Combustion System (GPCS) enhances the fuel combustion system of steam locomotives, increasing the thermal efficiency of the locomotive while decreasing abrasive corrosion present in traditional combustion systems. Gas Producer Combustion System Firebox and Advanced Exhaust System: Managing the intellectual estate of the Porta Family and working at the Institute of Technology of Argentina in Buenos Aires (INTI), the same institute where Porta worked and developed many of his improvements, McMahon is the ideal candidate to lead engineering modifications to CSR locomotive 3463. steam locomotives, utilizing GPCS, Lempor Exhaust and Porta Water Treatment, while decreasing fuel and maintenance costs substantially.įollowing in Porta’s footsteps and a colleague of David Wardale’s, Shaun McMahon, CSR Director of Engineering, is an internationally-renowned modern steam locomotive mechanical engineer. He raised the drawbar horsepower (DBHP) from 2,500 to 4,000, a 60 percent increase, and increased its thermal efficiency to approximately double that of the best U.S. At the age of 27, he built his first steam locomotive, “ Argentina,” which became the most efficient steam locomotive of the late steam era, more than double the efficiency of a standard US steam locomotive.Ī close friend of Porta, David Wardale, transformed the South African Railway 4-8-4 #3450 into the SAR Class 26, affectionately referred to by its crew as the 'Red Devil' in 1980. Livio Dante Porta, (1922-2003) an Argentinean mechanical engineer who moved the technology and performance of the steam locomotive farther than any other one person in the 20th Century. These technologies were pioneered by Ing.

Steam engine train