Turbine waterwheels. Gas, steam, and water turbines have a casing around the blades that contains and controls the working fluid. Credit for invention of the steam turbine is given both to Anglo-Irish engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854–1931) for invention of the reaction turbine, and to Swedish engineer Gustaf de Laval (1845–1913) for invention of the impulse turbine. Modern steam turbines frequently employ both reaction and impulse in the same unit, typically varying the degree of reaction and impulse from the blade root to its periphery. The word "turbine" was coined in 1822 by the French mining engineer Claude Burdin from the
Gas turbine locomotive The exhaust from the diesel engine powered the gas turbine which drove the wheels through reduction gearing, jack shaft and side rods. Turbine power was considered for railway traction in the former Czechoslovakia. Two turbine-powered prototypes were built, designated TL 659.001 and .002, featuring C-C wheel arrangement, 3200 hp (2.4 MW) main turbine, helper turbine and Tatra 111 helper diesel engine. The first prototype was finished in February 1958 and was scheduled to be exhibited at Expo '58. This was aborted, because it wasn't ready in time. The first out-of-factory tests were conducted in March 1959 on the Plzeň–Cheb–Sokolov line.