At this time, a thoroughly unhealthy ethos pervaded the Austrian Empire from top to bottom—when strength was great enough, even bricks could fly.
Franz wanted to improve the internal combustion engine and turn it into a truly useful technology. The two-stroke engines of this era were far too weak to challenge steam locomotives, let alone compete with the mainstream horse-drawn carriage.
Early internal-combustion vehicles used coal gas as fuel, and every vehicle had to carry a bag filled with coal gas.
Some people believed the combustion chamber simply was not large enough, so they enlarged it—and consequently needed even larger coal-gas bags.
The result was that the power did indeed increase by a tiny bit, but the overall size more than doubled. Moreover, due to sealing problems, accidents occurred one after another, even claiming the lives of several researchers.
Afterward, this group set its sights on the fuel itself and began purifying high-energy coal gas. It was certainly effective, but the price was rather less than beautiful.
Moreover, the greatest problem with gaseous fuel was its excessive volume and extreme danger. Its stability was far inferior to that of liquid and solid fuels.
As for toxicity, that was practically the least noteworthy issue.
Meanwhile, steam locomotive technology was advancing by leaps and bounds. Both Britain and France were experimenting with small steam locomotives, progressing from an initial speed of thirteen kilometers per hour to twenty, while civilian teams in the Austrian Empire had even developed small steam locomotives capable of exceeding forty kilometers per hour.
The problems were still the same old problems: enormous size, inability to start immediately, and a long warm-up period. They were also excessively dependent on rails because they could not turn, reverse, or stop at once.
Rather than use this so-called steam locomotive, Franz might