A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler invented in 1828 by Mark Seguin, in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating the water and ultimately creating steam.
Sectioned fire-tube boiler from a DRB Class 50 locomotive. Hot flue gases created in the firebox (on the left) pass through the tubes in the centre cylindrical section, which is filled with water, to the smokebox and out of the chimney (stack) at far right. The steam collects along the top of the boiler and in the steam dome roughly halfway along the top, where it then flows into the large pipe seen running forward. It is then divided into each side and runs downward in the
Lancashire boiler in Germany
Side-section of a Scotch marine boiler: the arrows show direction of flue gas flow; the combustion chamber is on the right, the smokebox on the left.
Horizontal return tubular boilers from the Staatsbad Bad Steben GmbH
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels.
LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard is officially the fastest steam locomotive, reaching 126 mph (203 km/h) on 3 July 1938.
LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman was the first steam locomotive to officially reach 100 mph (160 km/h), on 30 November 1934.
The Locomotion at Darlington Railway Centre and Museum