When Steam Ruled the Roads

Colin Tyson

ISBN 10: 1398119660 / ISBN 13: 9781398119666

Published by Amberley Publishing, GB, 2025

About this Item

The period between the late 1800s and the late 1920s was the heyday of the road steam traction engine. Prior to that, 'portable' steam engines were pulled by horses from farm to farm to provide the power unit for belting to machinery for tasks such as the annual threshing. The invention of the self-moving traction engine brought many advances, always staying one jump ahead of amendments to the Locomotive Acts. Fairground operators hauled their huge road train of rides to the next fair; ploughing engines and threshing engines travelled from farm to farm; road hauliers carried huge loads; and steam rollers laid and mended the roads. The availability of cheap surplus First World War petrol vehicles saw road hauliers and fairground showmen dispense with the 'hassle' of operating steam vehicles, yet there were still manufacturers making steam wagons until the late 1930s and several councils carried on operating true steam rollers right into the 1960s.Colin Tyson presents a vibrant selection of images celebrating traction engines in all their many and varied forms when 'steam ruled the roads'.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781398119666

Bibliographic Details

• Title: When Steam Ruled the Roads
• Publisher: Amberley Publishing, GB
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1398119660
• ISBN 13: 9781398119666
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 307 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The period between the late 1800s and the late 1920s was the heyday of the road steam traction engine. Prior to that, ‘portable’ steam engines were pulled by horses from farm to farm to provide the power unit for belting to machinery for tasks such as the annual threshing. The invention of the self-moving traction engine brought many advances, always staying one jump ahead of amendments to the Locomotive Acts. Fairground operators hauled their huge road train of rides to the next fair; ploughing engines and threshing engines travelled from farm to farm; road haulers carried massive loads; and steam rollers laid and mended our roads. The availability of cheap surplus First World War petrol vehicles saw road haulers and fairground showmen dispense with the ‘hassle’ of operating steam vehicles, yet there were still manufacturers making steam wagons until the late 1930s and several councils still operating true steam rollers right into the 1960s.

About the Author

Colin Tyson is Sussex born and bred, having returned to his native county following a publishing career in local newspapers and monthly magazines. He is the former editor of the international monthly steam engine and vintage preservation magazine Old Glory and also Bluebell News, the quarterly journal of the heritage Bluebell Railway.