People have no conception of the raw power of steam. Steam locomotives are built the way they are built, with solid iron several inches thick, for a reason. Until very recently all the catapults that launch jets off aircraft carriers were steam catapults. Why? Because nothing else had the necessary power. Steam never really went away. Electrical generators in coal plants and nuclear plants are all driven by steam. I wouldn't be surprised to see steam power make a big comeback in some form or other. We haven't seen the last of steam.