Steam Vehicles

Balls spun by jets of steam are ancient; in 1698 Savery sold steam pressure pumps. But Newcomen’s engine produced mechanical work. Gravity pulled up a piston via a beam; vacuum pulled it down as cold water condensed steam.

This one worked from c. 1760 to 1913 in Coventry – now a memorial in Dartmouth

Pickard in 1780 patented a crankshaft and flywheel, but for his updated design with separate condensor, Watt circumvented this with his ‘sun and planet‘ patent. Eventually, improving engineering led to horizontal engines.

Photo: Wikipedia

This example is from Tower Bridge

Cugnot’s steam dray, the world’s first motor vehicle, weighed 2.5 t tare, and 2.8 t gross. The front wheel supported a steam boiler and driving mechanism. It could carry 4 passengers at walking pace.

Assembled in London at the works of William Felton, a horse carriage builder. A coal-burning Trevithick steam engine was fitted to the rear to replace the horse. Trevithick managed to drive 8 people from Leather Lane, Holborn to Paddington. And bring them back the same day!

Photo: Credit

Shown is Tom Brogden’s 1998 replica

An evolution of three earlier locomotives by inventor and mining engineer Richard Trevithick. The first locomotive in the world to haul fare-paying passengers – at a steam circus in London.

Photo: Wikipedia

Robert Stephenson’s clear winner in the locomotive trials for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. A substantial advance over previous designs, with multi-tube boiler and the blast-pipe.

Built in London, body similar to the Shillabeer horse-drawn Omnibus with passengers sitting facing each other. Started running in 1833, carrying fare paying passengers in London and beyond. Artillery wheels, leaf springs, driven rear axle, steering wheel!

Photo: Credit

Shown is Tom Brogden’s replica

The first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and the largest passenger ship in the world. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company’s service between Bristol and New York City.

Developed by Robert Neville-Grenville and George Jackson Churchward, built around a boiler from a Merryweather fire engine, it could carry 7 people including the driver, steersman and stoker.

The first steam turbine-powered steamship – easily the fastest ship in the world at its launch. Demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set the standard for the next generation of steamships.

Photo: WIkipedia

Marshall’s produced large numbers of steam traction engines, steam rollers, portable engines and agricultural machinery of all types.

Built at the Perseverance Works of Samuel Soame (1837-1918) in the North Norfolk village of Marsham.

Built by the Liquid Fuel Engineering Co of East Cowes, Isle of Wight, who made a variety of steam boats and road vehicles from 1893.

A 4-4-0 steam locomotive built at Swindon Works to a design by George Jackson Churchward. The first locomotive to reach 100 mph.

Built by Turner in Wolverhampton under licence from the Brussels-based company of J. Miesse.

Stanley (of Massachussetts) built cars with twin front-mounted cylinders of simple-expansion type geared directly to the rear axle, differentiating them from earlier rear-boilered cars.

Charles Burrell & Sons were builders of custom steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam lorries and steam tram engines, and the biggest employer in Thetford, Norfolk.

As legislation allowed Foden produced traction engines from 1878, and lorries from 1896, and then military vehicles from 1901. Foden went diesel in the early 1930s, acquired by Paccar in 1980 and the brand was retired in 2006.

These later models had aluminium coachwork resembling those of contemporary petrol cars (which provided increasingly difficult competition), but they retained steam-car features by having no transmission, clutch, or driveshaft. They also had a fully sprung tubular steel frame.

Mann made some of the earliest steam carts from about 1898, and had successful ranges of 3 and 5 ton trucks. Eventually taken over by Atkinson, and sold to Scammell.

4-6-0 locomotive; the largest class built by the GWR. Handled the principal GWR expresses on the main line from London to the West of England and on the Chiltern line to Birmingham and Wolverhampton, until 1962.

Sentinel made steam road vehicles from 1905. From 1923, they were assembled in a radical new plant at Shrewsbury, which made 1550 vehicles on a flow line based on the Ford Model T factory in Michigan.

A new and advanced steamer, with a single-acting four-cylinder underfloor engine with longitudinal crankshaft and an overhead worm-drive axle. They became the biggest ever selling steam lorry. Undone by legislation on weight.

A streamlined 4-6-2 (“Pacific”) built at Doncaster Works to a design of Nigel Gresley. Has held the world speed record for steam locomotives at 126 mph since 1938.

Photo: WIkipedia