At the height of the Arab Oil Embargo, preceding most talk of modern steam locomotion in the U.S. (including prior to the famous Red Devil project in South Africa and ACE 3000 undertaking in the States), Ing. Livio Dante Porta wrote a paper in response to two articles published in Trains Magazine in the late 1960's concerning historic steam locomotive development. Called "The Case for a Better American Steam Locomotive," it is a solid introduction to the concept of modern steam locomotive mechanical engineering and, through the success of other projects as mentioned in the Foreword, a concrete example of its success and efficacy.
Never before published on the web, this paper is the first of many that CSR will publish supporting the research and development of CSR research areas, both in the field of modern steam locomotive engineering and torrefied biomass production. Having developed a relationship with the Porta Family Foundation Archives, in part through a close interaction with Alejandro Dante Porta, L.D. Porta's youngest son, the Coalition will work to process and make available many of the concepts pioneered by Porta.
Also, thanks to the generosity of Kalmbach Publishing, CSR is able to offer "The Case for the French Steam Locomotive" and "The Case for the American Steam Locomotive," the two articles that spurred Porta to write the subject work, free to download.