In Xanadu

[@Xsiondu]

My God this A. E. KARNES rabbit hole is fantastic! This guy is a true Renaissance Man!!!

[@beniaminrichter6831]

Lately I realised that I've been a fan of his for over 14 or so years and it kinda blew my mind. His Deviantart account always provided excellent stuff an inspiration. Mr. Karnes, should you read it. Greetings from Westphalia. May the steam always be with you.

[@KarolOfGutovo]

This isn't steampunk. This is what steampunk should be. A beautiful dance of delightfully complex machinery. Not just fancy outfits and spinny cogs

[@Rainhill1829]

All engine order telegraphs should have a quadrant reserved for Bovril.

[@Odinnyb13]

"Deranged Scotsman" and "Bovril". Ah yes, My favorite engine-room commands.

[@Frz45]

The sheer detail you put into this is astounding, hardly a bronze bush or drain cock out of place!

[@AEKarnes]

its garbage too because I made it on a 9 month deadline. if I'd had two years or more it would have looked really good and the machinery wouldn't be as rushed.

[@Frz45]

@@AEKarnes don’t undersell yourself, you did a good job lad.

[@agoogleuser704]

@@AEKarnesit was amazing 😮

[@jsmith6599]

Oh, if only any actual steampunk animation had THAT level of accuracy and attention to a details...

[@skunkjobb]

I noticed a famous Canadian running by at 3:00.

[@jonr42]

Sparking brushes… if there is anything better I’m certainly not aware of it. Awesome animation Alex, thank you very much.

[@AEKarnes]

They were still adjusting the brush skew is the excuse I give my engineers

[@matthewbearden2959]

looks like something out of a studio ghibli movie

[@Lumynex8335]

oh its up again, great to see its not unlisted anymore! this is really one of my favourite videos ever!

[@jrkorman]

Wild - had no idea! Just showed up on my feed this evening, Christmas night.

[@waterpig-p]

The tambourine does make it sound like the sound of steam engines which I absolutely love

[@michaelwautraets7126]

I have a feeling the animation is filled with injokes none may understand.

[@Brian_Boxtruck]

I love how you captured light. In the sunset reflections, to spinning shafts, and the rotating lamps. The gauge labels are amusing as well :)

[@Atolm4]

There's so much to find in here but "F*CKFACE SUPREME" really made me chuckle. Thank you Alex, for everything you do and share. I appreciate all that we get to see immensely.

[@lucase.garcia8026]

Seven years after this marvel, I continue to be amazed. May life do you justice Alex. What an impressive thing. Undoubtedly one of the coolest and most authentic animated works I have ever seen. You have left your mark on history.

[@derkaiser50]

All I have to say, is that people like you inspire me. Your art inspires me. And how you work on those big steam engines inspired me to join up with my local steam engine preservation group, located in Meridian, Mississippi, I’ve gotten to the point where they let me run their most prized possession, a big green Corliss engine. I thank you for your inspiration to me, and for giving me the courage to start working on steam engines myself. I hope one day you can come down to Mississippi and visit our little museum.

[@AEKarnes]

I am very glad this film lit up your mind and caused collateral damage in the outside world. Keep up the good work. What sort of Corliss is it and have you had the experience of getting it up to governor speed yet

[@derkaiser50]

@@AEKarnes I don't know too much about the engine mechanically speaking, I know enough to help maintain it but not what it is exactly, what I can tell you is that it has a single cylinder, was manufactured by Watts-Campbell in 1890, and was retired from active commercial use in ~1980. It would be easier if I could send you a picture of it but its kinda hard to do that on youtube. I have had the experience of getting her up to governor speed, but we don't usually do that because we noticed cracks forming in the brick mountings that it sits on caused by the increased vibrations.

[@Mudsuitable]

Imagine an educational cartoon drawn by you teaching the basics of steam power!

[@pavellopez3998]

This is one of my prime inspiration sources, incredible work Mr karnes

[@beng6319]

This animation is absolutely incredible. Your skills are truly something to behold.

[@orrenlane]

You are a truly talented animator. I really felt like I was transported to this fantastic world with all these wonderful characters for that 4 minutes.

[@AEKarnes]

Extra points if you noticed Betty Slocombe

[@michaelwautraets7126]

@@AEKarnes Who wouldn't, with that purple hair.

[@calamarpoulpe4630]

Such a masterpiece ! Thanks, sir thanks. The emotion is overflowing me each time I watch this video. If only the german could have used Helium instead of hydrogene no accident would have occured, and we would still have these rigids ! Again, sir, thanks a lot, for this quality animation, and for reminding us of that time. Poulpecalamart PS : How in the world does this video only get around 4K views ? PPS : Is the plane at 2:45 a caproni ?

[@bluelive23]

The realism in the engines is crazy

[@nukliars14]

I will forever keep coming back to this, thank you for your amazing contributions to the world Alex ❤️

[@AEKarnes]

The ship must be built.

[@thatguy.mp7950]

​@@AEKarnesif all goes well with my research into zeppelins, that can be arranged :)

[@CarlosAM1]

Imma be real I am not completely sure what I just watched but I loved every second of it. Like seriously that was a beautiful animation, the detail on the machines, the shots of the airship flying at night, just wow.

[@SuperRetroville]

I came to this after watching many of your steam engine videos and it has blown my mind. You are unique and superb Alex. Thank you.

[@cynthiabrennan3860]

In Xanadu, indeed! Thank you, Alex, for sharing your passion and brilliance with us. What you do is art of the highest order. I love your work with engines, and love this beautiful animation. I know you must be very busy, but I’m sure many of us would love to hear more about you- how you came to this passion for steam engines and how you grew to be such an expert in your field. It must have been difficult to accomplish since those engines are so rare to find now…

[@AEKarnes]

It's been a long and hard fight truth be told. Long story short, very rough life filled with horrible people and all this stuff was my rock and my reason and my peace, as well as my road to better people. That is the long and short of it!

[@bencenagy2434]

The amount of times I have wached this animation is getting dangerous and unhealty.... BUT I CAN'T STOP! IT'S TOO BEAUTIFUL!

[@AEKarnes]

There are pills for that

[@jamesspash5561]

Note the AEK on many of the gauges and panels.

[@lucase.garcia8026]

I will not tire of saying it: Every time I see this wonder, it fills me with joy. (today I saw it after a lot of time) Great work, as always my friend. This is for posterity. Hug!!

[@fusetech9184]

what's bro doing with a great western square post signal

[@AEKarnes]

Finally someone noticed!

[@fusetech9184]

@@AEKarnes lol i always notice signals

[@KnapfordMaster98]

Thank you for bringing this back. This is one of the most beautiful little pieces of art in the world.

[@marie.hawley]

If only we saved them.

[@TrafficPartyHatTest]

Karnes, I'm here to remind you that this is both really fucking cool and also steampunk

[@Xsiondu]

"104 years and what have we got to show for it". Priceless

[@wdcjunk]

Ya know - I’m not sure which is more interesting the animation or what must be a lot of inside jokes. The video to go with the audio of you guys singing had to have been amazing. You are a most interesting person Mr. Karnes.

[@rodpaget9796]

As a First Class Stationary Engineer with real Triple Expansion Engine experience I salute you all for integrity and accuracy as good as in the Movie 100

[@AEKarnes]

Thanks mate, I made the stupid decision to not pursue an engineering degree but mostly because the state of affairs with fired pressure vessel licensure in the state of Massachusetts is totally down the tubes. I have had hands-on experience with quite a lot of steam engines of varying types and in seven different countries so far. I am glad you like this ridiculous little thing I have made. : >

[@Odinnyb13]

i think i have watched this beautiful animation about 20 or more times since first finding it while browsing this channel. wonderful work! Love all the technical details and fun things that gives every viewing something new to lay ones eyes on.

[@Nathriel]

Been watching your channel after first seeing a video of you firing up one of the water plants you restored. I love the attention to detail in these animations and the fun you're all having. But seriously, this is great! And here I thought it'd be an Electric Light Orchestra song about Xanadu :P

[@nelsonwalker7105]

engine order telegraph : deranged scotsman 2:05 - really the use of light and color in this animation is masterful

[@AEKarnes]

The Bovril quadrant was better I think.

[@nelsonwalker7105]

I thought Bovril was some kind of lubricating oil or grease because I saw containers featured in the animation, where oilers and wipers were running around. I didn't know what Bovril was until I searched for it online.

[@AEKarnes]

Oh heavens no, I would never be that serious. That said, it could most likely be used in a pinch on non-superheated engines in all likelihood.

[@nelsonwalker7105]

I only ever worked on one steam powered reciprocating bilge pump. I did work on the USS Iowa when it was still in commission and I remember the turbine generator sets; something like early 1930s general electric, and the gauge boards were almost as ancient. And I like the sparking commutators on your searchlight generators - usually when commutators spark that bad on ships they will stone the commutators with these polishing stones clamped in place of the brushes.

[@AEKarnes]

Those duplex pumps are godly things, it takes a lot to kill one. I swear by them for any and all uses. Fuel transfer, condensate, feedwater, bilge, Bovril, chocolate syrup, wallpaper paste, whatever you can ever think of pumping. The commutators on Xanadu spark because hardly any of the generators or motors have interpoles, a flaw that should be corrected.

[@bluebottle4677]

This is magic, enchanting. Edit: This is the best thing on KZbin.

[@RetroMikado]

Absolutely moving beyond words. One of the best films I have seen in ages. A beautiful ode to the wonders of humanities most soulful creations and the world you built where they still live on. Cheers and well done!

[@mezarisage6055]

This is amazing, it's got so much character and the designs on all the machinery looks so believable, animation and art is a bit rough around the edges in places but got so much style and energy I really don't care.

[@AEKarnes]

That was mostly due to the 9 month deadline! If I had 2 years for it it would have been far and away beyond and better than this.

[@Odinnyb13]

i have watched this so many times and i keep finding new details. love it! well done

[@ironcladranchandforge7292]

This video deserves 1 billion views. It's a masterpiece!!

[@nyarlathotep4889]

Where has this video been all my life

[@Salmagundiii]

IKR? I'm thinking the same. That I only discovered AEK in the past couple months feels like a cruel curse.

[@kunstmol]

Oh my god, what have I just found??!

[@AEKarnes]

a nine foot diameter cheesewheel running out of control downhill through an alpine village at about 200 MPH

[@bendafyddgillard]

i found this quite moving.

[@BalticFilms144]

I have no idea how I never saw this unit now. I can't stop rewatching it.

[@FireCooking]

Absolutely sunning work, the technical skill behind it in both knowledge of the mechanics, film techniques, and animation are absolutely impressive! I can't believe I've never known this amazing piece before!

[@The_Moss-Man]

I scraped my knee when I tripped over that damn stump.

[@AEKarnes]

I think you scraped the stump too mate

[@assorted-rubbish4070]

How are you not more viral... just found you and sub'd you are FANTASTIC!!!

[@AEKarnes]

Thank you, most people haven't got time for, or are extremely afraid of, what I have to say and offer.

[@CSkwirl]

​@@AEKarnesplease tell me more?

[@AEKarnes]

Well between telling the kids who get to run my engines that college is a waste of time, and demonstrating to people that steam boilers are actually instrinsically safe and not bombs provided the one operating them isn't an idiot, and out of control technological progression is not a force of nature but instead something that we make and that we can and must stop, I've made a lot of enemies and I am very proud of that.

[@CSkwirl]

@@AEKarnes Nice work, i wouldn't disagree at all

[@CSkwirl]

@@AEKarnes If i lived anywhere near I'd probably be on the doorstep waiting to help, learn more about, run, and maintain these machines. It might be weird if I just turned up, not much chance of that from my present location

[@trainmanauxl1]

That was an astounding piece of art.

[@stefanp7603]

Still my all time favorite KZbin video

[@stefanp7603]

This is great. Deserves more attention.

[@MKtheinstrumentalist]

I could watch that tracking shot at 2:45 all day. I can't even fathom how long that would've taken to get right.

[@AEKarnes]

One try, 3 days to animate, 6 hours per day

[@MKtheinstrumentalist]

Wow, that's truly amazing... and thanks so much for the speedy reply! May I ask what the story behind some of the in-jokes here is? I showed this incredible work of art to my dad and whilst we both agreed it's absolutely stupendous, he wanted to know why one of the crew had a box of Ajax Bleach on their head. I myself am rather curious about that one passenger with the... purple dress. lol

[@AEKarnes]

My classmates and I were a band of hoodlums. I put in just about every stupid thing we ever came up with/that I was requested to put in.

[@MKtheinstrumentalist]

It's definitely a labour of love, I can tell that it's a super-personal project that maybe only a dozen people would understand in it's totality. Either way, it's the epitome of stellar. I can't wait to see your future animations, if you have any planned that is. You clearly have an incredible talent for it.

[@160rpm]

@@MKtheinstrumentalist She is the Dancing Queen

[@flyingraccoons2283]

Of course this masterpiece is made my Alex

[@wolfbyte3171]

Beautiful work here, well done. ... I want to live in that world. So badly.

[@AEKarnes]

Thank you. We had that world once, or some semblance of it, but we destroyed it.

[@shane.3071]

This is incredible, amazing work.

[@kodyjbosch1]

Beautiful. Sublime. Thank you for widening my Horizons.

[@lucase.garcia8026]

Un trabajo extraordinario, una de las mejores animaciones que vi jamás, no solo por la temática, sino también por la calidad y la amplia variedad de colores, movimiento, detalle... Una obra de arte que pasará a la posteridad. Felicitaciones amigo mio!!

[@Linnie0499]

Awesome work, best thing I've seen in a while. Well done

[@SandMan874]

Fantastic work. Still hoping for one day to see the fabled Elysium on your channel...

[@AEKarnes]

One of these days!

[@rgar2255]

Bring the talent to "many talents"

[@160rpm]

Absolutely gorgeous machinery

[@AEKarnes]

Would have been better if I had not had a deadline!

[@TheTrainLady]

This animation is amazing it needs more views!! Even if it’s 6 years old!

[@TheTrainLady]

Beautiful work! deserves way more attention than it got

[@camgrants]

Genuine master piece

[@AEKarnes]

+Cameron Grant As always thank you masterCam

[@MegaABum]

+Cameron Grant whoa hai cam

[@Raithe11]

Alex, please, have mercy! I've only got three years to figure out how to top this for my senior film, gimme a break!

[@AEKarnes]

You can't because you will have a stroke and a hemorrhage and a stroke. Time frame was 6 hours of work per day without missing a day from Sept 2015 to May 2016. Also you do not have enough duralumin to make the hull because I bankrupted the world market on her. Thank you for playing.

[@Raithe11]

RIP Alex last year.

[@AEKarnes]

Good riddance, kid was a fucking nuisance.

[@Raithe11]

I legit can't stop being reminded of this video, the animation, music, friendship, and goofiness are the perfect life and art inspiration.

[@JoeltheSwedishDragon]

Amazingly done, matey, I love it. :D T'was very Ghibli-esque... mixed with some comedy elements, hee hee. XD Top notch overall. :3

[@bellowphone]

Hugely entertaining film. Thank you.

[@Pershingtank]

How did I miss this? Amazing...

[@gary.solexa]

This is not steampunk. My windows remain intact.

[@AEKarnes]

Good man.

[@RIVERRICKINJOSHUATREE]

Wow Alex! Great to see your work.

[@alanthefisher]

What programs for drawing and animating did you mainly use for this? Looks great!

[@Salmagundiii]

A magician never reveals his secrets, apparently.

[@idguy4rainbowpheonix]

I've been looking for this and am glad to have finally found it.

[@trialen]

Ahh, Bovril....

[@AEKarnes]

The essence of all life.

[@TexasRailfan2008]

Amazing animation, and the signal bridge at the beginning is awesome too

[@anniea144]

Hey it was so great meeting you tonight!! You’re so talented brb while I watch this 100 times

[@AEKarnes]

Thanks, you too!

[@Raithe11]

Also, Dancing Queen is A+.

[@douglasmcdermott2830]

Love the cameo from that Inman Liner. City of New York perhaps?

[@AEKarnes]

Very good eye. You got it.

[@jdierking1242]

Dam that's cool, 3 people have no soul

[@AEKarnes]

More than 3 people in the world with no soul. Quite a large part of society!

[@locowerke]

WOW!!! So very cool, I am truly humbled by your masterpiece!!! Thanks for posting, it made my day.

[@AEKarnes]

Glad you like it! Surprised actually

[@MegaABum]

This is fantabulous. Great work!

[@paxvictori2385]

This is amazing, you should do more of these animations!

[@AEKarnes]

I would if I had the time. I would much rather be working on the real machines.

[@teescottageguyproductions]

This is amazing. 🚂

[@AEKarnes]

Thank you mate, I'd make more had I the energy.

[@ms.cynthia5055]

Beautiful and brilliant

[@AEKarnes]

Thank you.....

[@Rainhill1829]

I am officially a fan of all of this!

[@GunPilot64]

So awesome

[@Yaaayishere]

My god you are talented. More please.

[@AEKarnes]

With enough time and money I have several more ideas to animate

[@Yaaayishere]

@@AEKarnes I can only give you my time, which is probably not useful to you but I can give you money, please Patreon.?

[@AEKarnes]

@@Yaaayishere I would be humbled honestly. I haven't got a Patreon yet because I don't have time to make the regular enough updates they require. Shoot me an email for paypal information though, the more money I have the faster it dissappears into completing projects!

[@tomlindsay4629]

This is wonderful!

[@RingingResonance]

Why did it take 7 years for this to show up on my home page? Love the art style! (Doesn't look very steampunk IMO). This would be really fun to do in VR.

[@Lumynex8335]

It was unlisted for a very long time. I always had the link somewhere but lost it. Im so glad its up again❤

[@charitydorsey204]

This is awesome. Thanks.

[@fredblonder7850]

The amount of detail in this is fantastic. I note that the spotlight uses an acetylene nozzle. On the other hand, where are the boilers and coal bunkers? Why aren't there huge smokestacks belching black smoke? You have a large marine steam-engine driving this thing, but where does the steam come from?

[@AEKarnes]

Because this is something other than a steampunk film. On an airship both weight and space are at a premium therefore carrying immense amounts of solid fuels and the boilers built to handle it is not pragmatic. Exhaust smoke from coal burnt without proper combustion air handling would severely compromise the outer hull skin if it was not cleaned regularly, and the high stack temperatures of improperly burnt solid fuels would distort the duralumin framework around where the exhaust funnels go. The exhaust stacks for the ship are top-vented but very low profile and not ridiculous looking ship's funnels to keep the CG low and to reduce aerodynamic drag. They are also full of feedwater economiser coils to lower stack temperature and regain as much energy as possible. Xanadu uses an array of lightweight flash-coil & drum steam boilers that burn a highly volatile liquid fuel, Bartek and I talked about it being acetone, at the very least No. 1 light oil. Being flash boilers, the evaporative capacity is comparable to a large fire tube or conventional water tube boiler with severely reduced weight, it's just feedwater rate must be minded very carefully. Boiler pressure on this ship is 375 PSI with a great deal of superheating. Draft for the boiler fires is forced with high speed blowing engines and impeller wheels. I wanted large triples for effect but these engines and the auxiliary engines are made almost entirely out of aluminum and titanium except of course for the bearings and cylinder liners which are the proper cast irons and bronzes. Although fanciful, I built Xanadu to be something that could at least somewhat plausibly fly. If you want the full engineering speculations and details of the ship, I can give them to you. Also please note I did not get around to animating any scenes of the boiler rooms themselves mainly due to time. This project was on a one-year deadline and could have been so much more if I had another year. You can however see one of the boilers in the credits.

[@fredblonder7850]

Well, I probably don't need to see the full specs. At least you realize there's some engineering issues to deal with. You still have a problem with the burn-off of fuel and loss of water as steam, which will cause the ship to lose weight rapidly. The US Navy Airships Akron and Macon condensed water from their engine exhaust to offset the loss of fuel-weight, so they would not need to vent off helium. The Graf Zeppelin (LZ-127) used a Rube-Golbergian arrangement of gas-cells, some of which contained hydrogen and others that contained "Luftgas", which was not as buoyant as hydrogen but would burn in the engines. As the ship lost weight from burning liquid fuel, they would switch to burning Luftgas for awhile until equilibrium was restored, without needing to valve off hydrogen or play with ballast. I've never been able to find a description of Luftgas, or how it was manufactured. I'm assuming it was somewhat of a headache, as that system wasn't used again.

[@AEKarnes]

Loss of water is not a problem because this ship has a condensing power plant as should really any vessel of any size. The system is effectively closed unless a fireman lifts one of the safety valves on the boiler bank. Condensers are radiative types arranged in a cooling tunnel that runs transversely through the hull just above the gondola, cooling air is driven through it by another set of impellers. The only time you have the problem of losing water is with something that is commonly non-condensing like a steam locomotive. The fuel burn off is the only weight-change the ship needs to deal with, and this is compensated by reducing buoyancy a little at a time the way all the other airships that carried liquid fuel did. "Blaugas" as it's called was not a widely used system mostly because it was more explosive than hydrogen was.

[@fredblonder7850]

Some steam locomotives are condensing or semi-condensing. When the London Underground began operation, they used condensing locomotives to avoid dealing with massive amounts of steam in the tunnels.

[@AEKarnes]

Indeed but the grand majority of them weren't. The LU's locomotives were open-system condensing in an attempt to cut down exhaust more than save water and the trouble with them was there was no good heatsink for condensing and none of them worked very well because the overheated water in the tanks would bang the injectors off picking up, as they need cold water. The other problem was because they were open-system condensing they did not pull any useful vacuum to help draw exhaust steam from the cylinders. The only successful condenser locomotives that I know of were the 25's in Africa and those had radiative air-cooled condensing grids with steam driven fans similar to Xanadu, and a couple of decapods in Germany had the same arrangement. This makes sense since the condensing 25's on the SAR were Henschel designed anyway.

[@thatguy.mp7950]

that blimp though. steam flying machines at the name's peak

[@AEKarnes]

Look up the Besler Brother's steam driven airplane and its masterful powerplant.

[@thatguy.mp7950]

@@AEKarnes I've seen that one before. Quiet a unique and cute little thing.

[@mrmacman2u]

I have only two words: Holy. Crap.

[@zfgm1065]

Im a precision mechanic apprentice from Germany. I’m heavily interested in model steam engines, mine engineering and victorian tech since I’m a child… I really really need to start this hobby again, thanks for your inspiration:) Btw. I’ve watched the video you did together with the proper people about the pumping engine at Woburn waterworks. Are there steam engines in model scale that have actual vacuum- producing condensers? I’ve only seen chuff pots being used in model engineering. Having a working condenser would make the building of miniature Cornish beam engines possible. Greetings from Saxony:)

[@AEKarnes]

Condensing Vacuum works on steam engines at any and all scales provided you have adequately cold cooling water in plentiful enough supply!

[@HeimirTomm]

This is awesome!

[@ucst4fu5vknihxub6eryreza2]

holy shit i love it

[@AndyHappyGuy]

Just found out this exists. It looks great, why did you unlist it?

[@tonytonyv.957]

Great video. Full of imagination