Selection of Papers by L.D. Porta

The Argentinean engineer Livio Dante Porta (1922 - 2003) remains an unsung hero in the long history

of steam development.  Following in the footsteps of Chapelon, he rebuilt numerous locomotives in

Argentina and elsewhere, and designed several revolutionary locomotives, both large and small.  Like

Chapelon, none of his designs were built and most of his rebuilds have been lost to scrap.  He has

however left a rich legacy in the form of over two hundred technical papers covering a wide range of

subjects and written in a variety of languages. A few of his papers were published in conference

proceedings and some are in typed format, but the majority are photocopies of hand-written manuscripts,

some of which are of poor quality sometimes requiring interpretation or occasional correction.  Some

were written for specific purposes such as his ‘A1 Paper’ that Porta hoped would influence the design

of Tornado; and his ‘Compounding’ paper written to influence David Wardale’s design of the 5AT.  

Others were written to record the research and development work that he undertook in his job as

Professor of Thermodynamics at INTI (Argentina’s National Standards Institute) for the purpose of

facilitating the ongoing development of steam locomotive engineering.

This first volume presents four papers relating to tribology and lubrication, subjects that were of special

interest to Porta and which should be of equal interest to the 21st century steam community. It is hoped

that much may be learned from them.

This is the first of three volumes that are being prepared for publication containing 19 of Porta’s English

language papers that have so far been transcribed. These volumes are being published through the

auspices of the Advanced Steam Traction Trust under an agreement with the leading members of the

Porta Family Foundation, specifically Joint Presidents Ana Maria Porta and AlejandroDante Porta and

Vice President Shaun T. McMahon who have proof-checked the pre-production copies and approved

the style and presentation of the papers as edited by Chris Newman.