Livio Dante Porta

He is particularly remembered for his innovative modifications to existing locomotive systems in order to obtain better performance and energy efficiency, and reduced pollution.

Taking the work of Andre Chapelon in France as his starting point, he set out to demonstrate that the steam locomotive was far from reaching its maximum potential.

[citation needed] In early 1983 Porta and his family moved to the United States to work on steam locomotive development for the American Coal Enterprises project.

[citation needed] Porta continued advancing steam technology right up to the time of his death: from the mid-1990s he worked for the Cuban Sugar Ministry (Minaz) on locomotives using new fuels such as bagasse; he also considerably influenced many later steam projects worldwide, notably those of David Wardale[5][6] and the 5AT Project,[7] Phil Girdlestone, Roger Waller,[8] Shaun McMahon, and Nigel Day.

[9] In 2001 he supported Shaun McMahon's heavy rebuilding and modification of a 500 mm (19+3⁄4 in) gauge Garratt locomotive for the Southern Fuegian Railway that had been produced in Argentina in 1994.

As a tribute to Porta's lifetime work and in celebration of his upcoming 80th birthday, McMahon named the locomotive "Ing.