Martell 2024

Steam Engines

Not too long ago, I took a ride on a Strasburg Railcar in Lancaster County Pennsylvania while on a trip. These fully restored steam locomotives are really beautiful and I felt like I stepped back in time for forty-five minutes. The cars had been refurbished to give the tourists a luxury first-class feel during their narrated ride. I could only imagine what it used to be like to travel that way when that sort of travel was the 'high tech' of the time period.

While researching Steam Engines, I started thinking that they are not too unlike teapots, really. When the water boils, the pressure of the steam can shake the entire pot, and it can even whistle when steam comes out. That's sort of like what happens with a steam engine.

On a locomotive, a person shovels coal into a firebox. The coal burns hot and therefore heats the water in the tank next to it. This makes steam, like in the teapot example. The steam causes pressure on the pistons in the mechanism. Rods and wheels, attached to the pistons, cause the train to move. It's a domino effect!

Like all inventions, the steam engine had many hands in creating it until it finally became perfected. At first, Thomas Savery made one in 1698. Next, Thomas Newcomen added his two cents to it, and it then became better. Finally, James Watt took that much and made it even better. Watt's ideas and improvements during the middle of the 1800s, made steam possible to power trains, cars, boats, ships, and all this played a big role in the Industrial Revolution. I found out from my research that the Titanic was powered by steam power. I didn't know that, so it shows I learned something new today.

These days, steam power isn't very big because people realize that coal is dirty and causes pollution through its black smoke. People today look for cleaner solutions for power. However, in the past, this same power revolutionized transport and communication, so people truly loved it. It dramatically reduced travel time, and steam-powered machines made goods cheaper and easier to make.

Even the royals were fascinated by the invention. The year that Queen Victoria took the throne, 1837, she saw a steam-powered train for the first time. When she married Albert in 1840, he was eager to have the crown set an example to change with the world, so he had one made for the Queen to travel in. It was during her reign that all that new technology began to be put to use. At twenty-three years of age, she began traveling the country. She felt it was her duty to tour and visit her people. Before her, royals basically stayed in their palaces. Several trains were made during her life, and when her son, Edward became king, he started also commissioning trains as well.

The royals have been traveling their country by train for five generations, and it all started with Queen Victoria. The train made traveling very easy for her to do, so why not? In 1869, she commissioned a private set of cars, which was like a palace on wheels. She had real gold etchings, silk, and satins. It made her travel as luxurious as possible.

While I was doing research about what the royals thought about this sort of machinery, I kept thinking how lucky Queen Victoria was. Steam-powered technology wasn't available to any monarchs before her, and she also had a loving and encouraging husband of Prince Albert. This combination made it possible to have her dreams come true. Her dream, of course, was to see the lands and people that she ruled. I also thought this made her a very fair and great Queen.

Today, the royals still carry on the tradition of royal train travel, though this train has been upgraded to meet our modern times. In the 1980s, for example, Queen Elizabeth's train had about 300,000 pounds worth of renovations. Aside from more modernizing, it was also bomb-proof.

I'm glad I chose to take a ride on the Strasburg Railcar in Lancaster County Pennsylvania while on a trip once. I thought it was fun at the time, but now that I've done research about steam-powered machines, I can really appreciate what that type of travel must have been like when the technology was new so many years ago.

Word Count: 766
Prompt: Steam Power, including people's reactions, royals reactions, etc.