HFQ Official Snippet #23

I agree with all of the benefits and advantages of RR mentioned here. However, I don't see all of that coming to flower until the cuurent round of conflict is over and G-4 is toast...

Precious resourses now needed for the prosecution of the war.

Don

Speaking of shotguns! Maybe they could invent a DP-12!
Now THAT'S a Shotgun! If you haven't heard / seen one, check it out here~!

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/GUN-DP12

Two shots per pump, with 16 total in the mag.

Capt_Bad_Karma wrote:Speaking of shotguns! Maybe they could invent a DP-12!
Now THAT'S a Shotgun! If you haven't heard / seen one, check it out here~!

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/product/GUN-DP12

Two shots per pump, with 16 total in the mag.

Don't think they'd allow on the Skeet Range.

Hummmmmm

The small arms cartridge production and filling assembly lines were in full swing at the Delthak Works, as well, although — like the Lywysite manufactory — the powder works had been located well clear of the main facility. Ultimately, however, the bulk of Charis’ cartridge filling capacity would be located at Howsmyn’s Cahnyr Works, the satellite manufactory on Gull Inlet, just off Eraystor Bay in Emerald’s Earldom of Bayshore

I wonder if this part of the snippet gives a clue where an accident might happen. The powder works is well clear of the main facility so an accident there would not hurt the other production lines and there is a satellite facility elsewhere to take over. That is also where they are rushing (among other places) to try to create enough cartridges for the rifles.

peke wrote:

Marty wrote:The shotgun will come in handy during the Safehold Zombie Apocalypse.

Safehold's already brimming with zombies. Their particular flavor of zombie-ness is usually called "religious zealotry".

Only they can't spread it by biting you.

runsforcelery wrote:I am way behind on posting these, mostly because of Real-Life™. Among other things, I have been working 12 to 14-hour days finishing up the edit on a book that was supposed to be done two months ago.
 

I wonder if this other book is the next Empire of Man aka Prince Roger book? *rubs hands together in anticipation*

The snippet gave me a thought about the (possibly) upcoming industrial accident:

Trumyn's briefcase gave the church - among other things - a description of how steam engines work in principle. The church cannot build them yet but it has a very good idea how they work now. That means the church also has at least a basic grasp of the dangers inherent in this technology.

That is all they need if they want to figure out how to effectively sabotage a steam engine - and do it in as spectacular a way as possible.

***

On the meta level DW gave the church the briefcase for good reasons. He did not pull the contents out of his hat. We can assume each content is meant to play a significant role in the ongoing story.

The snippet gives us a good idea on how much the other contents (besides steam) are going to impact the conflict rifle construction, steel production).

The steam tech still seems to be ways off for the church and have no short to medium term impact on the story. So why did DW give them those basic construction principles but no mor than that?

I think he wanted to give the church the means to figure out effective sabotage

Bruno Behrends wrote:The snippet gave me a thought about the (possibly) upcoming industrial accident:

<snip>

On the meta level DW gave the church the briefcase for good reasons. He did not pull the contents out of his hat. We can assume each content is meant to play a significant role in the ongoing story.

The snippet gives us a good idea on how much the other contents (besides steam) are going to impact the conflict rifle construction, steel production).

The steam tech still seems to be ways off for the church and have no short to medium term impact on the story. So why did DW give them those basic construction principles but no mor than that?

I think he wanted to give the church the means to figure out effective sabotage

Some of the items may very probably be red herrings i.e. their role is to distract the reader. Also the steam engine ideas give the church lots to worry about, or to spend research effort on and maybe the basis for developing their own engines in the longer term, which RFC often plans for. Far too many possibilities to conclude sabotage is intended

Besides, one doesn't really need instructions in how to sabotage a steam engine. Gunpowder is the obvious method.

Marty wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:I am way behind on posting these, mostly because of Real-Life™. Among other things, I have been working 12 to 14-hour days finishing up the edit on a book that was supposed to be done two months ago.

I wonder if this other book is the next Empire of Man aka Prince Roger book? *rubs hands together in anticipation*

I'd bet it's the next book in the Multiverse, "The Road to Hell," since a new co-author had been signed to help write the book, and RFC is in charge of writing his half and editing the entire book.

Baen will release the first two books of the series in paperback to reintroduce readers to the series, with "Hell's Gate" set to be published in July. "Hell Hath No Fury" doesn't appear on the publishing schedule yet, and the schedule is set through December.

Here's what RFC has to say about it as of August 2014: Actually, my writing schedule is a part of the process, since I am, indeed, writing somewhere around half of it myself and editing the entire manuscript as well as spending time in conferences with Joelle on both #3 and #4. As Drothgery points out, however, the delay has little to do at this point with my writing speed and/or "stone age" production (in fact, Baen can turn a book around in less than 4 months in an emergency, although the probability of typos increases significantly on such a rush basis). Other publishers take a year or more, with a "crash" production best time of about 6 months.

The real reason for the delay is that after six or seven years, Baen feels (and I agree) that they need to re-release the two existing books (in trade paperback this time) to reenergize the series. So it's more a question of fitting the two existing books into the release schedule than it is anything to do with the production schedule on this book, per se. And Joelle and I are hopeful that the extra lead time will, indeed, allow us to get #4 written and ready to go by the time #3 releases. If we can, the entire series will be out for new readers in the space of about 18 months to two years, which is pretty darned good, when you think about it.

If he's currently editing "The Road to Hell," then it should easily be ready for publication by August 2016 at the latest, with book #4 already in the can and awaiting a publication date. I'm surprised that HHNF isn't in the queue for re-release in 2015 so that TRTH could be published by July 2016 or so, with the final book appearing six months later if RFC and Joelle finish it on schedule - although RFC admits he's running two months behind. Let's hope we see HHNF in January 2016 at the latest!

I love Baen, since it sells eARCs of its books months before their hardback release, and "The Sword of the South" is now available, so I'll be busy reading for a few days! That also means we'll be able to read the eARC of TRTH four to six months before its publication date, so we might see it early in 2016. Nice...

With my luck he's referring to the next book in the Honorverse, which wouldn't hurt my feelings either. The fact that "Hell's Gate" is being published in July means that the clock is ticking on the release of the "The Road to Hell," so RFC has to write his half and edit the entire novel sometime in the next few months, if he isn't editing it now.

runsforcelery wrote: For all its size, it had a curiously unfinished — or perhaps the word he wanted was “crude” — appearance compared to the imagery of last-generation steam locomotives from Old Earth with which Owl had provided him. By the same token, though, it looked far sleeker and much more sophisticated than its early nineteenth century predecessors ever had. It was built in what would have been called a 2-4-0 configuration back on Old Earth, with a two-wheeled front bogey followed by two paired drive wheels powered by two twenty-one-inch diameter drive cylinders with a thirty-inch stroke. Unlike the marine engines which were Praigyr’s first true love, the automotive used a fire tube arrangement, with the hot gases from the furnace carried through a water-filled boiler. It was, however, designed to run at rather higher pressure and temperature than most Old Earth locomotives prior to the twentieth century, and it incorporated both a superheater (tubes in which boiler steam passed through the hot furnace gasses in front of the boiler proper, which further heated it to produce “dry steam” for the cylinders) and a blast pipe using waste steam to boost the firebox draught to increase its efficiency. The superheater had been one of Praigyr’s ideas, based on his work with the marine engines, but the blast pipe had been Howsmyn’s suggestion, based on input from Owl and Doctor Dahnel Vyrnyr’s suggestions.  

So, we are going straight into superheated steam with a "Stephenson" Boiler?
Mention is made that the "pressure is in excess of that commonly used before 20th century Old Earth" so we are PROBABLY meaning well over 200psi.
Add this to the OUTSIDE cylinder dimensions of 21" x 30" (Cylinders this size would have to be outside if the gauge is to be anywhere near "standard" ?)
The design "Dragonpower" would be excessive for a 2-4-0 wheel arrangement - can I draw attention to the Churchward 4-4-0 County Class of the GWR which were held to be too powerful for their size and coupled wheelbase :-

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWR_3800_Class

I think that it would be marginal at best to get sufficient grate area and heating surface into any boiler that could be fitted onto a realistic 2-4-0 frame to maintain sufficient steam supply to the defined cylinders.

Poppet valves are, as previously mentioned a bit of a dead-end for locomotives although the various types have some attraction whether Lenz OC, Lenz RC and their US Development the Franklin as well as Caprotti and British Caprotti they tended to have maintenance issues which outweighed the theoretical thermal advantages. (Just as with compounding which worked well for ships and stationary (mill) engines which ran for long periods at steady loads, the varying power outputs required in locomotive work tended to minimise these advantages - the French railways did make extensive usage of compounding but there were legislative drivers which made this complication worthwhile in their specific cases)

US and later British practice tended towards maximum simplicity with as little complication as was required to "get the job done" although US practice did employ such complications as "donkey" pumps and feedwater heaters which British practice generally eschewed.