A Steam-Powered Post-Apocalyptic Future

 

1930 Doble Coupe

The Steam Automobile

The last production steam automobile was the Doble. That was back in the 1920s. The car was so advanced, it could easily give any production car on the road today a run for its money.

In fact, rather than spending all of the money that’s being spent on electric cars, all a car maker would have to do is put the Doble back in production.

For fuel, the car could use grain or wood alcohol, biodiesel, bio-generated methane, or any other renewable fuel.

Performance and range would be equal to any car on the road today, and would be superior to an electric car. And that’s with 1920s tech. Update the tech to 21st-century standards — and we’d have a superior automobile.

Here is a video from Jay Leno’s Garage, where he discusses his 1925 Doble:

https://youtu.be/rUg_ukBwsyo

 

Steam is the old tech that is still new.

That is why Bill Arthur, in my post-apocalyptic The Rocheport Saga, makes the big push to produce steam cars by converting diesel engines to run on steam.

Converting to Steam

How would that work you may be asking. Fairly easily. Although not without problems.

Here is a discussion on a steam auto forum which outlines the how and the problems to overcome: https://steamautomobile.com:8443/ForuM/read.php?1,4664

And here’s a patent description for converting diesel engines to run on steam: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2538019A2

The following video shows how to convert a two-cycle engine to steam: https://hackaday.com/2012/10/04/how-to-convert-an-internal-combustion-engine-to-run-from-steam-power/

This video talks about the 1969 Chevelle that GM had converted to steam:

https://youtu.be/OoXr09y2AQ4 

And this video series shows how to convert a 4-stroke engine to steam:

YouTube.com/watch?v=8G1h4xR5q5Q

In the early 1980s, I collected piles of info on steamers. Unfortunately, I no longer have that data. One article that impressed me, however, was of a father and son who converted a diesel engine Volkswagen rabbit to steam, drove it to Detroit, and ran it through EPA testing. The steam car’s exhaust was cleaner than the air in the building.

The steamer in the post-apocalyptic era will be a much more practical option for travel than the horse. Unlike the hayburner, the steam car is an omnivore — it can use anything that burns for fuel. The PA steamer can be set up to use liquid or solid fuel or both.

And the great advantage of the steam car is that we know how to drive cars. We don’t know how to ride horses.

An equestrian I’d talked to, who’s been riding for 9 years, and doesn’t consider herself anywhere near expert, thought it highly unlikely untrained people would be riding horses shortly after an apocalyptic event.

When I read PA fiction, I find most authors have not done a very good job on their worldbuilding. They haven’t taken the time to completely think out the consequences of the collapse of technology, supply chains, and society. Or what it would take to rebuild in order to get to where we are today. A case in point being the classic Earth Abides, where the main character drives all over the country and has no problem finding fuel, or with fuel quality.

The PA writer needs to seriously consider how people will react to having no electricity, gas, or cell phones. What happens when the batteries are gone? And the gasoline? How will the lack of light at night affect us? Have you ever been in the country with no light other than the stars and moon? It is almost like being in a cave, unless a full moon is out. And what about failing infrastructure, like roads?

Will we really trust our neighbors? Or will it be everyone for himself, or herself? Especially when it comes to who gets the last can of soup on the grocery store shelf. And no law enforcement’s around.

And will we really be using horses? Do we even know where to find one? Will any be alive with no one around to feed them? After all, there are virtually no wild horses left. Horses are a domesticated animal.

Steam-powered cars are better than battery-powered electric cars, because they are not reliant on the power grid and don’t suffer from the problems inherent with batteries. 

Steam cars have all the power and convenience of the gasoline-powered car — and they don’t need to burn fossil fuel. Plus, the technology has already been developed and is ready to use.

In a PA world where one has no power grid and no petroleum production facilities, cars are still the vehicle of choice and are possible because they can be made to run on steam with bio-fuel.

The steam car. It’s what we’ll be driving in a post-apocalyptic world. And what we should be driving today.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

Doble ad

CW Hawes is a playwright, award-winning poet, and a fictioneer; as well as an armchair philosopher, political theorist, and social commentator. He loves a good cup of tea, and agrees that everything is better with pizza.

Dogs After the Apocalypse

 

The dog is man’s best friend. And after everything ends up in the toilet, our best friend just might be our lifesaver.

Last week, I talked about the horse and how infeasible it would be in a PA (post-apocalyptic) world. The vast majority of us know nothing about the animal’s care or training. We do, though, know about cars and things mechanical.

However, before we talk about steam and wood gas, let’s talk about the animal we do know a lot about: the dog. We know dogs. We knew dogs long before we knew horses. And the dog just might be our salvation in the early days after the apocalypse.

Dogs have long been used for work: guarding our homes and possessions, herding our cattle, watching and protecting our sheep, helping us on the hunt. They’ve also been used for war. And they’ve been used as draft animals.

The draft dog has pulled our carts and sleds, and carried our packs for many centuries. Long overshadowed by the horse, dogs have always been the affordable work animal for the poor, and the alternative work animal in environments not hospitable to horses.

So after the SHTF, we will most likely turn to the many dogs we have to save our bacon and pull our fat out of the fire.

Many breeds were once used as draft animals and could still perform that job. Breeds such as Collies, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, Saint Bernards, Bouvier des Flandres, Newfoundlands, and Rottweilers. The Mastiff, originally used as a war dog by the Celts, would also make a suitable draft dog. And in a PA world, I suspect we’d breed even larger and more powerful dogs to suit our needs.

We know dogs and dogs know us. There is a symbiosis between humans and dogs that was in existence long before we made use of horses. Which makes them a natural choice to help us survive and thrive in a PA world.

The dog also requires less care than does the horse. Grooming is less exacting for the dog and we don’t need to shoe them. 

Dogs are omnivores and will eat what we eat. Unlike the hay burner, whose diet would potentially tax the resources of a tiny PA community.

Dogs are less skittish than horses and easier to train. Their size also makes them easier to control. Getting kicked by a horse can potentially kill you. Or they can trample you to death. And all just because they got spooked. And while a dog can kill a person, the incidents of death by dog are less than that by horse. Even today.

Here is an interesting article on the dangers of the horse as a mode of transportation: https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/exeter-news-letter/2011/01/07/historically-speaking-dangers-horse-buggy/51322350007/

So my word of advice to PA writers everywhere is this: turn your attention to the dog — and your worldbuilding will be far more realistic.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

Horses After The Apocalypse

 

Given the fact that horses are no longer a part of daily American life — and haven’t been for some 90 years — I’m always amazed at the common use of horses in many post-apocalyptic books, movies, and TV shows.

In actuality, most of us have little to no knowledge of horses. We are as familiar with horses as we are with the cows that give us milk and cheese. And cows are a lot more important to us than horses.

Urban People

We are an urban people. Heck, most of us don’t even know how our cars work, never mind our computers and smart phones. And those things we use every day.

We are technology users, but most of us know little about how that technology works. What makes any writer think we would be able to learn en masse about horses and horse culture overnight? It’s totally unrealistic.

Without a doubt, the writer of such post-apocalyptic scenarios has probably never had anything to do with horses. And not understanding how cars work, resorts to an even more unlikely scenario: people using horses as they used to use cars.

This is on my mind because I started reading a post-apocalyptic novel where horses, as usual, feature prominently. Everyone knows how to ride them, without ever having ridden one prior to the apocalypse. That was an immediate put off, and I quit reading the book.

The vast majority of us know nothing of horses, other than what we see on TV or read about in books. And oftentimes, the picture presented isn’t anywhere near accurate. Horses running at full gallop for long periods of time, for example. Impossible.

Horses

The US horse population reached its high of 20 million in 1915. Today, the number is much less. And their use very much restricted. Mostly, they are pets for the rich. Think about it, when was the last time you rode to work in a horse-drawn carriage? When was the last time you even touched a horse?

Today, the US horse population numbers somewhere between 1.9 million and 9 million animals, all depending on how you count them. Perhaps the most accurate number is 7.24 million as of 2016, which is some six years ago. And that number was down from 9.22 million in 2003. The number of animals may even be less than that today, in 2022.

Regardless of the number of animals, how many of us actually know anything about how to use and care for a horse? I’d wager darn few. Probably not a single person in any average neighborhood.

The last time I was on a horse was 64 years ago when I was in kindergarten. And I only sat on the horse I didn’t really ride it. Somebody walked the horse around a small enclosed circular track.

The last time I saw a horse up close in real life was perhaps 6 to 8 years ago when 2 mounted Minneapolis police officers rode past me on Nicollet Mall.

I know more about goldfish and cats than I do about horses. In fact, I know more about the theory of how rockets work than I know about the practical care needed for a horse.

What we'll actually use

Which is why Bill Arthur, the hero of my Rocheport Saga, said horses weren’t the answer. We know about cars and trucks. They are the answer.

In any post-apocalyptic world, transportation will be achieved by cars and trucks — not horses. 

But in such a post-apocalyptic world, where there is no gasoline or diesel fuel, and no re-charging stations, what will power our cars?

The answer is actually simple: steam and wood gas.

It is fairly easy to convert a diesel engine to run on steam. After conversion, all you need to add is a firebox or burner and the boiler. The great advantage of a steam engine is that it can use just about anything for fuel.

A wood gasifier is fairly easy to construct. It converts wood to burnable gas that can be used in a gasoline engine. Wood gasifiers were in fact used during the Second World War on the domestic front to provide fuel for tractors, cars, and buses.

We know how to drive cars. We don’t know how to ride horses. After the apocalypse, I’m betting we’ll be driving cars — not riding horses.

Another advantage of cars, either steam-powered or wood-gas powered, is that you don’t have to clean up any road apples.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

Weird Fiction and the Occult Detective

The occult detective can be found in all the various categories of horror. Although, I think he is most prominent in ghost stories, creature features, and weird fiction.

We know what ghost stories are, and creature features are pretty much self-explanatory. The story features a monster that must be disposed of.

But what exactly is weird fiction? Recently, I received a story bundle email in which Robert Jeschonek provided an excellent description of weird fiction. He wrote:

Something doesn’t feel quite right. The world around you seems a little…off. Things turn strange and fluid, as if you’re trapped inside a dream…but you aren’t. Something about you might have changed in a fundamental way that you sense but can’t understand.

This is what weird fiction at its best feels like. It’s more about unsettling dread than outright terror. It’s more about the mysterious influence than the in-your-face threat. It’s more about questioning the nature of reality than wondering what’s about to jump out of the shadows at you.

Two occult detectives come to mind who primarily investigate the weird: Flaxman Low and Aylmer Vance.

Flaxman Low was the pseudonym for one of the leading psychologists of the Victorian era, so the story goes, and became the chief occult psychologist of his day. Writing as H. Heron and E. Heron, Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard and his mother, Kate O’Brien Ryall Prichard, chronicled a dozen of Flaxman Low’s occult investigations.

The stories are filled with unsettling dread. Things are a little off. Nothing is as it should be. There’s no out and out terror. There’s no gruesome gore splattering your face. You just feel uncomfortable as you follow Low. And when he uncovers the cause of our discomfort, we feel immense relief.

I very much enjoy the Flaxman Low stories. And even though they date from 1898 and 1899, they read well and will definitely make you feel uncomfortable.

The first 6 stories you can get for free from Project Gutenberg Australia. If you want all 12, you can pick them up from Amazon for $1.39, as of this writing. IMO, they are definitely worth reading. And the price is right.

Aylmer Vance was the creation of Alice and Claude Askew. He appeared in 8 spooky occult investigations back in 1914. The tales ooze that feeling of uneasiness, and subtle dread that give a story the spooky creepiness we readers of weird fiction so desire.

I very much like the Aylmer Vance stories, and regret that the Askews only wrote 8 of them. They ended up dying in the war to end all wars, as did so many writers.

The stories are not thrillers. No monsters jump out at you. Their pacing is gentle: the epitome of slowburn storytelling. They are, however, told so well you may find yourself binge reading them.

You can get all the stories in the Black Heath edition on Amazon for only 99¢. Truly a deal.

Weird fiction and the occult detective. A very spooky and unsettling combination indeed.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!