Livio Dante Porta
Encyclopedia
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
steam locomotive engineer. He is particularly remembered for his innovative modifications to existing locomotive systems in order to obtain higher performance, energy efficiency and reduced pollution. He developed the Kylpor
Kylpor ejector
A Kylpor ejector is a type of steam locomotive exhaust system developed by noted Argentine locomotive engineer Livio Dante Porta. In a steam locomotive, draft is produced in the firebox by exhausting the steam coming from the cylinders out the chimney...
and Lempor
Lempor ejector
The Lempor ejector is a Steam locomotive exhaust system developed by noted Argentine locomotive engineer Livio Dante Porta. In a steam locomotive, draft is produced in the firebox by exhausting the steam coming from the cylinders out of the chimney, or also by a blower. The LemPor exhaust delivers...
exhaust systems. The Lemprex
Lemprex ejector
A Lemprex ejector is a type of Steam locomotive exhaust system developed by noted Argentinian locomotive engineer Livio Dante Porta . In a steam locomotive, draft is produced in the firebox by exhausting the steam coming from the cylinders out the chimney. The Lemprex exhaust will deliver improved...
was under development at the time of his death.
Early years
Porta was born in RosarioRosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
, Santa Fé Province
Santa Fe Province
The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...
and studied civil engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, concluding his studies in 1946, at a time when steam was already giving way to diesel and electric locomotives in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Career
Naturally Porta's first projects were in Argentina. Taking the work of Andre ChapelonAndré Chapelon
André Chapelon was a noted French mechanical engineer and designer of advanced steam locomotives. Engineer of Ecole Centrale Paris, he was one of very few locomotive designers who brought a rigorous scientific method to their design, and he sought to apply up-to-date knowledge and theories in...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
as his starting point he set out to show that the steam locomotive was far from reaching its maximum potential. His first locomotive project in 1948 took the remains of a metre gauge
Metre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...
4-6-2
4-6-2
4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
converting it into a 4 cylinder compound
Compound locomotive
A compound engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure cylinder, then having given up heat and losing pressure, it exhausts directly into one or more larger...
4-8-0
4-8-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. The type was nicknamed the Mastodon or Twelve-wheeler in North America....
named 'Presidente Peron'/'Argentina'. This machine, Porta's first project, still holds a number of locomotive efficiency records.
Porta moved to Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
in 1957 as general manager of the Río Turbio
Río Turbio (Santa Cruz)
Río Turbio is a town and municipality in Santa Cruz Province in southern Argentina.-References:...
coal railway; his work allowed the steam locomotive fleet to remain in service for another 40 years. In 1960 he returned to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
to become head of thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
at the Argentinian National Institute of Technology (INTI).INTI His writings on steam technology are of considerable volume, mostly unpublished. http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/porta_biblio.html
In the 1980s Porta and his family moved to the USA to work on steam locomotive development for the American Coal Enterprises project.http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/ult.html This was the only time in his life he lived outside of Argentina for any length of time. The collapse of this project saw his return to Argentina with further work being undertaken in that country as well as Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
.
Porta's influence
Porta continued advancing steam technology right up to the time of his death: from the mid-1990s he worked for the CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n Sugar Ministry (Minaz) on locomotives using new fuels such as bagasse
Bagasse
Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It is currently used as a biofuel and as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials....
; he also considerably influenced most if not all of the more recent steam projects worldwide, notably those of David Wardale and the 5AT Project
5AT Advanced Technology Steam Locomotive
The 5AT Advanced Technology steam locomotive is a conceptual design conceived by the British engineer David Wardale, and first described in his definitive work on modern steam, "The Red Devil and Other Tales from the Age of Steam" ....
), Phil Girdlestone, Roger WallerDLM AG, Shaun McMahon, Nigel Day...http://www.5at.co.uk/5ATengineers.shtml
In 2001 he helped to refurbish a 500mm-gauge Garratt
Garratt
A Garratt is a type of steam locomotive that is articulated in three parts. Its boiler is mounted on the centre frame, and two steam engines are mounted on separate frames, one on each end of the boiler. Articulation permits larger locomotives to negotiate curves and lighter rails that might...
for the Southern Fuegian Railway that had been produced in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 1994. By his efforts, including larger cross section for tubing, insulation of the boiler and improved front end, the economy of this modern steam engine was improved vastly, more than doubling train length. Accordingly a second Garratt was built in 2006.
Family tragedy
In the 1970s, his daughter disappearedForced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
during Argentina's Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
, having been taken at gunpoint from the family home.
External links
- Livio Dante Porta: Engineer who transformed steam technology Jonathan Glancey, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
August 2, 2003 - Ing. L. D. Porta at The Ultimate Steam Page.
- Modern Steam and related articles at Martyn Bane's Steam and Travel Pages.
- Pages for the British project to build a modern steam locomotive. The Advanced Steam Locomotive. (5AT)