development of a steam bus in the capital of Buenos Aires along with Gustavo Durán; Porta had already designed a modern steam car whilst at INTI during 1970. Porta's influence 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 and the 5AT Project, Phil Girdlestone, Roger Waller, Shaun McMahon, and Nigel Day. In 2001 he supported Shaun McMahon's heavy rebuilding and modification of a 500 mm-gauge Garratt for the Southern Fuegian Railway that had been produced in Argentina in 1994. McMahon included larger cross section for tubing, insulation of the boiler and improved front end as well as combustion system in line with Porta's teachings over the years; the economy of this modern steam engine was improved vastly, more than doubling train length. As a tribute to Porta's lifetime work and in celebration of his upcoming 80th birthday, McMahon named the locomotive "Ing. L.D. PORTA" when it was presented to the public on 11 December 2001. A second Garratt with similar technical specifications was built by Phil Girdlestone in South Africa and delivered to the FCAF in 2006. A third is now under construction again with similar technical features, in Ushuaia. Family He was a devoted family man and he and his wife, Ana Marie, had four children. One of his three sons died of cancer at an early age. On 7 July 1976, during Argentina's Dirty War, his daughter was taken at gunpoint from her home and never seen again. See also Advanced steam technology South African Class 26 (4-8-4) References External links Modern Steam and related articles at Martyn Bane's Steam and Travel Pages. Pages for the British project to build a modern steam locomotive. The Advanced Steam Locomotive. (5AT) 1922 births 2003 deaths Locomotive builders and designers People from Rosario, Santa Fe 20th-century Argentine engineers Argentine people in rail transport Argentine expatriates in France