7 ms·

In his autobiography, LeTurneau talks about one of the land trains being nuclear powered, casually as if it was just another increment. This man was on another

In his autobiography, LeTurneau talks about one of the land trains being nuclear powered, casually as if it was just another increment. This man was on another level. His faith was pretty fantastic too, it's a really enjoyable read of how he did a bootstraps-pull-up but also with the appropriate amount of good fortune ("fortune?") that generally leads to massive successes. The man was a prodigy/genius, absolutely amazing and from very humble roots. Now, the nuclear land train didn't materialize, but this guy is the guy that Elon Musk wished he was. The OG ironman back in the 50's or whenever you'd classify his active years to be in. Presumably because he died, on the nuclear powerplant front, but I got the sense from reading it that he was adored enough that despite the safety risks he could have relatively handily gotten something like that in production. Which would have changed the nature of our transportation today in a big kind of way. If you make a portable nuclear generator that can sit on a military land train (and this man could, just read his engineering reasoning you'll see why I speak of it with a sense of awe and wonder), then you can make that same generator and use it to power rural neighborhoods, remote electric vehicle stations, etc. The cost of infrastructure maintenance and installation would go down, and we'd have one more good option during the energy crisis today, with global warming and such as it is. Really and truly a peek into what could have been almost our current "alternative future". Probably not a bad one either, though presumably there would be negative consequences like Appalachia getting hit more hard economically due to further lowered coal dependence, etc.

mcv 4y ago
If LeTourneau was Iron Man, his suit would have been gigantic.
- tbalsam 4y ago
  This made me laugh a fair bit, haha. Many thanks for that. The man was a 5 year old in an adult's body, in terms of size. Nothing was too large for the man. He would have been the Mecha king if he had lived for 50 more years, assuredly. XD
eastbound 4y ago
The daemonization of nuclear during the cold war, prerequisite for the MAD threat, led to hypersecure research centers, centralization of funding and research, preventing tinkerers from studying new solutions, and ultimately nuclear innovation completely halting. As you said, many suggest that if we had left it run its course, we might have seen nuclear stacks the size of a washing machine powering neighborhoods, and other applications entirely unimagined today.
- dallasg3 4y ago
  Mutual Assured Destruction
- DocTomoe 4y ago
  Given what happens when the average Joe encounters a small, moveable, scrappable machine [1][2], I am pretty happy we never saw your nuclear washing machine-sized power plants... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez_cobalt-60_contamination_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez_cobalt-60_c...
reaperducer 4y ago
LeTurneau talks about one of the land trains being nuclear powered, casually as if it was just another increment Reminds me of The Big Bus, which was also nuclear powered. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus
- moffkalast 4y ago
  Just 50s culture I guess, the typical Fallout book of nuclear power.
8as746fd4a5df 4y ago
Wasn't it rather common for the time to fantasize about everything being powered by nuclear reactors? (Think: Ford Nucleon, ideas about civilian nuclear powered ships or aircraft) I also don't get the Musk hate. That man created more than 100k jobs for Americans, made rockets land and cars go electric. And with "made", I mean that he enabled the engineers at these companies to do what they did. If you don't believe that then mentally substract Musk from SpaceX or Tesla and ask where they would they be today? (Answers: Tesla would have died in 2004 or soon after because Tesla was not much more than an idea back then and SpaceX would have never existed at all).
- jcranmer 4y ago
  > I also don't get the Musk hate. If Musk just stuck to SpaceX and Tesla, a lot fewer people would have problems with him. The issue is that he comes across as a smarter-than-thou narcissist who needs to "solve" every problem [1], can't stand being told to shut up (cf. coronavirus restrictions, or the Thailand cave rescue incident), and generally acts like a petulant asshole. I'll also point out that--in my opinion--Tesla just isn't as revolutionary as people think it is. Yes, they are today the largest producer of electric vehicles, but there is a very good chance that they will not retain this position by the end of the decade. And while Tesla may have accelerated adoption of electric vehicles, without Tesla, it's still likely that we would be moving to electric vehicles before much longer. [1] I could insert a long discussion about why his efforts on Hyperloop and Loop are worse than useless, but details aren't really germane.
  - tablespoon 4y ago
    > If Musk just stuck to SpaceX and Tesla, a lot fewer people would have problems with him. The issue is that he comes across as a smarter-than-thou narcissist who needs to "solve" every problem [1], can't stand being told to shut up (cf. coronavirus restrictions, or the Thailand cave rescue incident), and generally acts like a petulant asshole. Even if he "just stuck to SpaceX and Tesla," he'd also have to stop over-promising to the point where he seems like a pathological liar.
    - 4y ago
throwaway0a5e 4y ago
>LeTurneau talks about one of the land trains being nuclear powered, casually as if it was just another increment This was a decade before hippies and greenpeace. It was casual to them. It was like saying "we're gonna use batteries and DC motors" would be today. About the most condemning response you'd get is "good luck with that I don't think the numbers pencil out".
hammock 4y ago
>read his engineering reasoning you'll see why I speak of it with a sense of awe and wonder Where can I do this please? I'm also generally curious what "engineering reasoning" is and how I may be able to use it to sell in new ideas at work
- tbalsam 4y ago
  Here you go! It's a charming and riveting (heh) read. Also talks about his faith, but I find it a truly integral (and amazing!) Part of his story. <3 https://www.amazon.com/Mover-Men-Mountains-Autobiography-LeTourneau/dp/B001D8YYZ0 https://www.amazon.com/Mover-Men-Mountains-Autobiography-LeT...
andylynch 4y ago
A nuclear version would not have been competitive - they were very special purpose vehicles; after the DEW line heavy lift helicopters became available and made them obsolete.
- _carbyau_ 4y ago
  Then we need nuclear helicopters clearly! Only half kidding - as I expect that would've been floated at the time.
  - robonerd 4y ago
    They put some serious effort into making a nuclear powered airplane, but the reactor + shielding (for the crew) weighed too much.
jaguar1878 4y ago
In case you weren't aware, the US also pursued nuclear powered airplanes[1] with actual test units built. They're still sitting out there in Idaho a few miles off the highway and you can visit certain times of the year. Reading the placards (or the wiki) honestly scares me a bit, despite my thought that nuclear power makes a lot of sense for our energy needs. I don't love the idea of 500mph reactors up above me, even with modern airplane safety records. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion
_carbyau_ 4y ago
This line of thinking about the future - large vehicles with nuclear engines - was what led to battletech/mechwarrior I am sure. Ridiculous sized stompy robots powered by "fusion" engines and the default measurement for something is in tons - including targeting computers for projectile prediction. The Pacific Rim-like awe and wonder is cool.(I am a mecha fan, however ridiculous it may be.) The actual effectiveness compared to other options is less so...
a9h74j 4y ago
I don't know if I dreamed this or read the idea somewhere. It would be to have a nuclear reactor submerged in a canal (achieving cooling) and it could be propelled (via tracks on the side) from place to place. Don't pump the water, move the heat source!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

mcv 4y ago

If LeTourneau was Iron Man, his suit would have been gigantic.

tbalsam 4y ago
This made me laugh a fair bit, haha. Many thanks for that. The man was a 5 year old in an adult's body, in terms of size. Nothing was too large for the man. He would have been the Mecha king if he had lived for 50 more years, assuredly. XD

eastbound 4y ago

The daemonization of nuclear during the cold war, prerequisite for the MAD threat, led to hypersecure research centers, centralization of funding and research, preventing tinkerers from studying new solutions, and ultimately nuclear innovation completely halting. As you said, many suggest that if we had left it run its course, we might have seen nuclear stacks the size of a washing machine powering neighborhoods, and other applications entirely unimagined today.

dallasg3 4y ago
Mutual Assured Destruction
DocTomoe 4y ago
Given what happens when the average Joe encounters a small, moveable, scrappable machine [1][2], I am pretty happy we never saw your nuclear washing machine-sized power plants... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez_cobalt-60_contamination_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez_cobalt-60_c...

reaperducer 4y ago

LeTurneau talks about one of the land trains being nuclear powered, casually as if it was just another increment Reminds me of The Big Bus, which was also nuclear powered. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus

moffkalast 4y ago
Just 50s culture I guess, the typical Fallout book of nuclear power.

8as746fd4a5df 4y ago

Wasn't it rather common for the time to fantasize about everything being powered by nuclear reactors? (Think: Ford Nucleon, ideas about civilian nuclear powered ships or aircraft) I also don't get the Musk hate. That man created more than 100k jobs for Americans, made rockets land and cars go electric. And with "made", I mean that he enabled the engineers at these companies to do what they did. If you don't believe that then mentally substract Musk from SpaceX or Tesla and ask where they would they be today? (Answers: Tesla would have died in 2004 or soon after because Tesla was not much more than an idea back then and SpaceX would have never existed at all).

jcranmer 4y ago
> I also don't get the Musk hate. If Musk just stuck to SpaceX and Tesla, a lot fewer people would have problems with him. The issue is that he comes across as a smarter-than-thou narcissist who needs to "solve" every problem [1], can't stand being told to shut up (cf. coronavirus restrictions, or the Thailand cave rescue incident), and generally acts like a petulant asshole. I'll also point out that--in my opinion--Tesla just isn't as revolutionary as people think it is. Yes, they are today the largest producer of electric vehicles, but there is a very good chance that they will not retain this position by the end of the decade. And while Tesla may have accelerated adoption of electric vehicles, without Tesla, it's still likely that we would be moving to electric vehicles before much longer. [1] I could insert a long discussion about why his efforts on Hyperloop and Loop are worse than useless, but details aren't really germane.
- tablespoon 4y ago
  > If Musk just stuck to SpaceX and Tesla, a lot fewer people would have problems with him. The issue is that he comes across as a smarter-than-thou narcissist who needs to "solve" every problem [1], can't stand being told to shut up (cf. coronavirus restrictions, or the Thailand cave rescue incident), and generally acts like a petulant asshole. Even if he "just stuck to SpaceX and Tesla," he'd also have to stop over-promising to the point where he seems like a pathological liar.
  - 4y ago

throwaway0a5e 4y ago

>LeTurneau talks about one of the land trains being nuclear powered, casually as if it was just another increment This was a decade before hippies and greenpeace. It was casual to them. It was like saying "we're gonna use batteries and DC motors" would be today. About the most condemning response you'd get is "good luck with that I don't think the numbers pencil out".

hammock 4y ago

>read his engineering reasoning you'll see why I speak of it with a sense of awe and wonder Where can I do this please? I'm also generally curious what "engineering reasoning" is and how I may be able to use it to sell in new ideas at work

tbalsam 4y ago
Here you go! It's a charming and riveting (heh) read. Also talks about his faith, but I find it a truly integral (and amazing!) Part of his story. <3 https://www.amazon.com/Mover-Men-Mountains-Autobiography-LeTourneau/dp/B001D8YYZ0 https://www.amazon.com/Mover-Men-Mountains-Autobiography-LeT...

andylynch 4y ago

A nuclear version would not have been competitive - they were very special purpose vehicles; after the DEW line heavy lift helicopters became available and made them obsolete.

_carbyau_ 4y ago
Then we need nuclear helicopters clearly! Only half kidding - as I expect that would've been floated at the time.
- robonerd 4y ago
  They put some serious effort into making a nuclear powered airplane, but the reactor + shielding (for the crew) weighed too much.

jaguar1878 4y ago

In case you weren't aware, the US also pursued nuclear powered airplanes[1] with actual test units built. They're still sitting out there in Idaho a few miles off the highway and you can visit certain times of the year. Reading the placards (or the wiki) honestly scares me a bit, despite my thought that nuclear power makes a lot of sense for our energy needs. I don't love the idea of 500mph reactors up above me, even with modern airplane safety records. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_Nuclear_Propulsion

_carbyau_ 4y ago

This line of thinking about the future - large vehicles with nuclear engines - was what led to battletech/mechwarrior I am sure. Ridiculous sized stompy robots powered by "fusion" engines and the default measurement for something is in tons - including targeting computers for projectile prediction. The Pacific Rim-like awe and wonder is cool.(I am a mecha fan, however ridiculous it may be.) The actual effectiveness compared to other options is less so...

a9h74j 4y ago

I don't know if I dreamed this or read the idea somewhere. It would be to have a nuclear reactor submerged in a canal (achieving cooling) and it could be propelled (via tracks on the side) from place to place. Don't pump the water, move the heat source!

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]