Re: Thoughts on 340 and 402

Fascinating! I would guess those European restorations I heard about (which would have occurred in the last few decades) probably made use of beryllium or other copper compounds. I have no further data on that, though.

White also notes that the onset of coal firing hastened the demise of copper, as the fly ash eroded it faster (particularly on rear flue sheets). I suppose it's possible they might be more practical in an oil- or slash-burner. Given the whole point of a steam engine is its ability to run on large amounts of relatively cheap fuel, though, it seems like the thermal gains would have to be pretty considerable to justify the cost, which I would assume is substantial no matter what the alloy.