Steam Traction on the Road (Paperback)
From Trevithick to Sentinel: 150 Years of Design and Development
Imprint: Pen & Sword Transport
Pages: 200
Illustrations: 100 colour illustrations
ISBN: 9781399077224
Published: 16th January 2023
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This is the story of how for more than a hundred years steam power played a vital role in the development of road transport. It all began with tentative attempts to build steam carriages by pioneers such as Cugnot in France and Trevithick in Britain, and in the early part of the nineteenth century there were significant attempts to develop steam carriages and omnibuses. That these attempts ultimately failed was largely due to opposition by road authorities and draconian legislation. Steam power did, however, find a real purpose in agriculture, where the traction engine was used for a variety of tasks from towing and working threshing machines, to ploughing. Once the value of the traction engine had been established, it soon found a use in many parts of the world for heavy haulage work and appeared in an exotic guise as the showman's engine. The latter was not only used to haul rides to fairgrounds but also powered a dynamo that could light up the fair at night. By the end of the nineteenth century, steam on the road took on a new life with the development of steam cars and trucks. For a time they vied the new internal combustion engine for supremacy on the road. The American Doble Company even developed a 100mph steam sports car. Ultimately steam lost the war, but steam vehicles survive and delight us still thanks to enthusiastic owners and restorers.
In the event that you only have one book on steam power in your library, this should be it.
Vintage Airfix
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As featured in
Railway and Canal Historical Society
The author is well known for his books on road transport and canals in particular, and this latest volume looks at ‘150 years of design and development’.
Transport Trust
While it concentrates on road steam, there are a couple of chapters on farming and steam ploughing, so these areas are not neglected. Likewise fairground applications of steam are not forgotten.
Arranged in eleven logical chapters, this book provides a fascinating and well-structured, mostly chronological account of the development of road-based steam vehicles.
Road Transport History Association
Ultimately, the limitations of steam power and the demise of the genre are deftly accounted for. But in an age when alternatives to fossil fuels are keenly researched, this well-produced book is a timely reminder of the ingenuity of vehicle inventors and designers.
A curious and interesting book of great cultural interest.
Miniaturas JM
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As featured by
Antiques Diary, November/December 2018
About Anthony Burton
Anthony Burton has been writing about the history of transport and technology for fifty years. His books include Remains of a Revolution, The Railway Builders, The Locomotive Pioneers and biographies of Thomas Telford, George and Robert Stephenson and a biography of Marc and Isambard Brunel (due to be published in 2022). He has worked extensively in TV and most recently as historical adviser to the Discovery Channel series Industrial Revelations, More Industrial Revelations and On the Rails.