I spent my time in Uncle Sam's Navy as a diesel engine mechanic. The ship I was on was powered by 4 Fairbanks Morse direct reversible 2 cycle diesels. Each had 2 crankshafts, one on top and one on the bottom. Opposed pistons, ten cylinders, twenty pistons and rods as I recall, and 1600 horsepower. They were supercharged, and to reverse the ship, the engines were stopped and restarted in the reverse direction. It worked like a charm, except sometimes the flapper valve in the supercharger did not reverse, and it pumped exhaust into the engine room. The bore of the engine was about 11" and stroke somewhere around 2 feet. One man could barely lift a piston/connecting rod assembly. Top speed was 600 rpm.
Bob
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by brewerbob on 02/19/01 08:49 PM (server time).</FONT></P>