The event will be on-line via Teams.  A link to join the talk will be sent on Sunday 8th February to those who have booked.

The Advanced Steam Traction Trust was established in 2012 following the closure of the 5AT project. The 5AT was a new design of steam locomotive for the British mainline tourist train market that had a design speed of 125mph. The design based off the work of David Wardale and ran from 2002 to 2012. The Trust was established to preserve and promote the work done on the project and by other 'Modern steam' advocates such as Andre Chapelon, L.D.Porta (who gave a famous paper to the I.Loco.E in 1969) and Roger Waller (who gave the Sir SEYMOUR BISCOE TRITTON lecture about some of his work in 2003). This talk will cover the trusts work on all aspects of steam locomotive design, operation and improvement focusing on areas such as: 

• Locomotive improvements which cover design and manufacture of new exhausts and improvement recommendations for new build and existing steam locomotives. 
• Locomotive testing to allow for performance improvement and comparisons. 
• The trusts work on the research into biofuels which is essential for the continued operation of steam locomotives in the modern world, especially after the loss of domestic bituminous coal supply. 
• Design work for potential new steam locomotives designs for the UK (and worldwide) heritage and tourist railway sector, focusing on a 10.25" gauge demonstrator locomotive 'Revolution'
• Preservation and Publication of L.D.Porta's work on all aspects of steam locomotives 

Speaker:

Alex Powell graduated from Newcastle University with an MEng in Mechanical engineering in 2022. . He has been a member of the ASTT since 2015 and a committee member since 2017, starting as a student representative before being elected as a full member of the committee in 2021. He has been involved in Biofuel testing on the KWVR in 2022 and design work on the revolution project since 2019.  After working on the design of ammonia crackers for the hydrogen and green energy markets, he is now working on maintenance in the Signals and Telecommunications Department for Network Rail.