![General Purpose Engine BJ 7155 GDSF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/General_Purpose_Engine_BJ_7155_GDSF.JPG)
A traction engine is a
steam-powered
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any traction engine is to draw a load behind it. They are sometimes called road locomotives to distinguish them from railway
locomotives
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the u ...
– that is, steam engines that run on rails.
Traction engines tend to be large, robust and powerful, but also heavy, slow, and difficult to manoeuvre. Nevertheless, they revolutionized agriculture and road haulage at a time when the only alternative
prime mover
Prime mover may refer to:
Philosophy
*Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings
Engineering
* Prime mover (engine), motor, a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc) into energy o ...
was the
draught horse
A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less often ...
.
They became popular in industrialised countries from around 1850, when the first self-propelled portable steam engines for agricultural use were developed. Production continued well into the early part of the 20th century, when competition from
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
-powered
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
s saw them fall out of favour, although some continued in commercial use in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
well into the 1950s and later. All types of traction engines have now been superseded in commercial use. However, several thousand examples have been preserved worldwide, many in working order. Steam fairs are held throughout the year in the United Kingdom, and in other countries, where visitors can experience working traction engines at close hand.
Traction engines were cumbersome and ill-suited to crossing soft or heavy ground, so their agricultural use was usually either "on the belt" – powering farm machinery by means of a continuous leather belt driven by the flywheel, a form of
power take-off
A power take-off or power takeoff (PTO) is one of several methods for taking power from a power source, such as a running engine, and transmitting it to an application such as an attached implement or separate machine.
Most commonly, it is a sp ...
– or in pairs, dragging an implement on a cable from one side of a field to another. However, where soil conditions permitted, direct hauling of implements ("off the
drawbar") was preferred – in America, this led to the divergent development of the
steam tractor
:''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine''
A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling.
In North America, the term ''steam t ...
. This aside american designs were far more varied than those of the British with different boiler positions, wheel numbers and piston placements being used.
Additionaly American engines often had higher top speeds than those of Britain as well as the ability to run on straw.
[ ]
History
Limits of technical knowledge and manufacturing technology meant that practicable road vehicles powered by steam did not start to appear until the early years of the 19th century.
In 1841
Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies
Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies Limited was a major British agricultural machinery maker also producing a wide range of general engineering products in Ipswich, Suffolk including traction engines, trolleybuses, ploughs, lawn mowers, combine harvest ...
produced an early traction engine. The design (which was lead by a horse to steer it) failed to attract and purchasers.
They tried again in 1849 this time without the steering horse but the machine was under-built for threshing work it was designed for.
[ ] The commercially successful traction engine was developed from an experiment in 1859 when
Thomas Aveling modified a
Clayton & Shuttleworth
Clayton & Shuttleworth was an engineering company located at Stamp End Works, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The company was established in 1842 when Nathaniel Clayton (1811–1890) formed a partnership with his brother-in ...
portable engine
A portable engine is an engine, either a steam engine or an internal combustion engine, that sits in one place while operating (providing power to machinery), but (unlike a stationary engine) is wikt:portable#Adjective, portable and thus can be ...
, which had to be hauled from job to job by horses, into a self-propelled one.
This alteration was made by fitting a long driving chain between the crankshaft and the rear axle. Thomas Aveling is regarded as "the father of the traction engine".
Aveling's first engine still required a horse for steering.
Other influences were existing vehicles which were the first to be referred to as traction engines such as the Boydell engines manufactured by various companies and those developed for road haulage by Bray. The first half of the 1860s was a period of great experimentation, but by the end of the decade the standard form of the traction engine had evolved and would change little over the next sixty years. As part of these improvements the steering was improved to no longer need a horse and the drive chain was replaced with gears.
In america traction engines fitted with
continuous track
Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle b ...
s were being used from 1869.
[ ]
Compound engine designs were introduced in 1881.
Until the quality of roads improved there was little demand for faster vehicles, and engines were geared accordingly to cope with their use on rough roads and farm tracks.
Right through to the first decades of the twentieth century, manufacturers continued to seek a solution to realise the economic benefits of direct-pull ploughing and, particularly in North America, this led to the American development of the
steam tractor
:''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine''
A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling.
In North America, the term ''steam t ...
. British companies such as
Mann's and
Garrett developed potentially viable direct ploughing engines; however, market conditions were against them and they failed to gain widespread popularity. These market conditions arose in the wake of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
when there was a glut of surplus equipment available as a result of British Government policy. Large numbers of Fowler ploughing engines had been constructed in order to increase the land under tillage during the war and many new light Fordson F tractors had been imported from 1917 onwards.
Decline
![Aa Steamtractionengine nearChelford P1010009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Aa_Steamtractionengine_nearChelford_P1010009.JPG)
Road steam disappeared through restrictions and charges that drove up their operating costs. Through 1921, steam tractors had demonstrated clear economic advantages over horse power for heavy hauling and short journeys. However, petrol lorries were starting to show better efficiency and could be purchased cheaply as war surplus; on a busy route a 3-ton petrol lorry could save about £100 per month compared to its steam equivalent, in spite of restrictive speed limits and relatively high fuel prices and maintenance costs.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s there were tighter restrictions on road steam haulage, including speed, smoke and vapour limits and a 'wetted tax', where the tax due was proportional to the size of the wetted area of the boiler; this made steam engines less competitive against domestically produced internal combustion engined units (although imports were subject to taxes of up to 33%). As a result of the
Salter Report
The Salter Report was named after Arthur Salter, who chaired an influential conference of road and rail experts in 1932 which reported in 1933. The report directed British government policy for transport funding for decades to follow.
Recommen ...
on road funding, an '
axle weight tax' was introduced in 1933 in order to charge commercial motor vehicles more for the costs of maintaining the road system and to do away with the perception that the free use of roads was subsidising the competitors of rail freight. The tax was payable by all road hauliers in proportion to the axle load and was particularly restrictive on steam propulsion, which was heavier than its petrol equivalent.
Initially, imported oil was taxed much more than British-produced coal, but in 1934
Oliver Stanley
Major (Honorary Colonel, TA) Oliver Frederick George Stanley (4 May 1896 – 10 December 1950) was a prominent British Conservative politician who held many ministerial posts before his relatively early death.
Background and education
Stanley ...
, the
Minister for Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government agen ...
, reduced taxes on fuel oils while raising the Road Fund charge on road locomotives to £100 per year, provoking protests by engine manufacturers, hauliers, showmen and the coal industry. This was at a time of high unemployment in the mining industry, when the steam haulage business represented a market of 950,000 tons of coal annually. The tax was devastating to the businesses of heavy hauliers and showmen and precipitated the scrapping of many engines.
The last new UK-built traction engines were constructed during the 1930s, although many continued in commercial use for many years while there remained experienced enginemen available to drive them.
Preservation
Perhaps the first organisation to take a general interest in traction engine preservation was the
Road Locomotive Society
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
formed in 1937.
From the 1950s, the 'preservation movement' started to build as enthusiasts realised that traction engines were in danger of dying out. Many of the remaining engines were bought by enthusiasts, and restored to working order. Traction engine rallies began, initially as races between engine owners and their charges, later developing into the significant tourist attractions that take place in many locations each year.
The Traction Engine Register records the details of traction engines, steam road rollers, steam wagons, steam fire engines and portable engines that are known to survive in the United Kingdom and Irish Republic. It recorded 2851 self moving engines and wagons, 687 portable engines (non-self moving), 160 steam fire engines existing in 2016. A new edition of the Register is planned in 2020. It was previously estimated in May 2011 by an unknown source that over 2,000 traction engines have been preserved. This figure may include engines preserved elsewhere in the world, particularly the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, but if so, is an underestimate. Comprehensive information on past UK manufacturers and their production is recorded by the Road Locomotive Society based in the UK.
Operation
![Ruston crawler tractor working model](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Ruston_crawler_tractor_working_model.JPG)
Although the first traction engines employed a chain drive, it is more typical for large gears to be used to transfer the drive from the crankshaft to the rear axle.
The machines typically have two large powered wheels at the back and two smaller wheels for steering at the front. However, some traction engines used a four-wheel-drive variation, and some experimented with an early form of
caterpillar track
Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle b ...
.
Types and usage
Traction engines saw commercial use in a variety of roles between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. Each role required a machine with a different set of characteristics, and the traction engine evolved into a number of different types to suit these different roles.
Agricultural (general purpose) engine
![Tractionengine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Tractionengine.jpg)
General purpose engines were the most common form in the countryside. They were used for hauling and as a stationary power source. Even when farmers did not own such a machine they would rely upon it from time to time. Many farms would use
draught horse
A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less often ...
s throughout the year, but during the harvest, threshing contractors would travel from farm to farm hauling the
threshing machine
A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out.
Before such machines were developed, threshi ...
which would be set up in the field and powered from the engine – a good example of the moveable stationary engine.
US (agricultural) traction engine
Favourable soil conditions meant that US traction engines usually pulled their ploughs behind them, thereby eliminating the complexities of providing a cable drum and extra gearing, hence simplifying maintenance. American traction engines were manufactured in a variety of sizes, with the 6 nhp
Russell
Russell may refer to:
People
* Russell (given name)
* Russell (surname)
* Lady Russell (disambiguation)
* Lord Russell (disambiguation)
Places Australia
*Russell, Australian Capital Territory
*Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation)
**Ru ...
being the smallest commercially made, and the large engines made by
Russell
Russell may refer to:
People
* Russell (given name)
* Russell (surname)
* Lady Russell (disambiguation)
* Lord Russell (disambiguation)
Places Australia
*Russell, Australian Capital Territory
*Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation)
**Ru ...
, Case, and
Reeves
Reeves may refer to:
People
* Reeves (surname)
* B. Reeves Eason (1886–1956), American director, actor and screenwriter
* Reeves Nelson (born 1991), American basketball player
Places
;Ireland
* Reeves, County Kildare, townland in County K ...
being the largest.
Ploughing engine
![JohnFowlerTractionEngine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/JohnFowlerTractionEngine.JPG)
A distinct form of traction engine, characterised by the provision of a large diameter winding drum driven by separate gearing from the steam engine.
Onto the drum a long length of
wire rope
Steel wire rope (right hand lang lay)
Wire rope is several strands of metal wire twisted into a helix forming a composite
''rope'', in a pattern known as ''laid rope''. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of such laid rope in a ...
was wound, which was used to haul an implement, such as a
plough
A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...
, across a field, while the engine remained on the
headland
A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...
.
This minimized the area of land subject to
soil compaction
In geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or other ...
.
The winding drum was either mounted horizontally (below the boiler), vertically (to one side), or even concentrically, so that it encircled the boiler. The majority were underslung (horizontal), however, and necessitated the use of an extra-long boiler to allow enough space for the drum to fit between the front and back wheels. These designs were the largest and longest traction engines to be built.
Mostly the ploughing engines worked in pairs, one on each side of the field, with the wire rope from each machine fastened to the implement to be hauled.
The two drivers communicated by signals using the engine whistles.
Occasionally an alternative system was used where the plough was pulled between a single engine and a anchor.
A variety of implements were constructed for use with ploughing engines. The most common were the
balance plough and the
cultivator
A cultivator is a piece of agricultural equipment used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with ''teeth'' (also called ''shanks'') that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. It also refers to mac ...
– ploughing and cultivating being the most physically demanding jobs to do on an arable farm. Other implements could include a mole drainer, used to create an underground drainage channel or pipe, or a dredger bucket for dredging rivers or moats. The engines were frequently provided with a 'spud tray' on the front axle, to store the 'spuds' which would be fitted to the wheels when travelling across claggy ground.
Ploughing engines were rare in the US; ploughs were usually hauled directly by an agricultural engine or
steam tractor
:''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine''
A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling.
In North America, the term ''steam t ...
.
History
The first steam ploughing engine built and trialled was in 1837 when
John Heathcoat
John Heathcoat (7 August 1783 – 18 January 1861) was an English inventor from Duffield, Derbyshire. During his apprenticeship he made an improvement to the warp-loom, so as to produce mitts of a lace-like appearance. He set up his own busines ...
MP demonstrated a steam powered vehicle he designed for ploughing very soft ground.
This used a very early form of
continuous track
Continuous track is a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the weight of the vehicle b ...
s, and its twin-cylinder steam engine could be either used for the ploughing winch or for propulsion. Another ploughing engine, devised by
Peter Drummond-Burrell, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby
Peter Robert Drummond-Burrell, 2nd Baron Gwydyr, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby PC (19 March 1782 – 22 February 1865), was a British politician and nobleman.
Early life
Born Peter Robert Burrell, he was the eldest of three sons born to Peter ...
, possibly designed by
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet (24 August 1816 – 15 October 1889) was an English railway locomotive and transatlantic cable engineer. He was the first Superintendent of Locomotive Engines on the Great Western Railway from 1837 to 1864 and ...
and constructed at
Swindon Works
Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986.
History
In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...
, the
Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh.
The Society had its root in 1723 when the Society of Improvers of the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland was ...
, awarded £100 out of a possible £500 of its prize for creating a steam ploughing engine,
. Lord Willoughby had indicated that his design could be copied freely, and Fowler had visited
Grimsthorpe Castle
Grimsthorpe Castle is a country house in Lincolnshire, England north-west of Bourne on the A151. It lies within a 3,000 acre (12 km2) park of rolling pastures, lakes, and woodland landscaped by Capability Brown. While Grimsthorpe is not ...
, the estate where the ploughing engines were deployed. Between 1855 and 1857 a farmer by the name of William Smith and
John Fowler developed wire driven ploughing engines that were powered by portable engines.
By 1863
W. Savory and Sons W. may refer to:
* SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel
* ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush
* "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP ''Bar ...
had introduced a mobile ploughing engine and were using engines at both ends of the field.
Their wire drum was vertical and was mounted around the boiler of the engine.
Production took place outside the UK with
Kemna Bau
KEMNA BAU Andreae GmbH & Co. KG is one of the largest German construction companies and the largest street infrastructure provider in Germany with its headquarters inside the country. The company was originally founded under the name of J.Kemna/Br ...
of Germany producing ploughing engines.
Use of ploughing engines declined in the 1920s as internal combustion engine powered tractors took over.
John Fowler & Co. stopped producing of ploughing engines in 1935.
Low prices in the aftermath of World War 2 resulted meant a few farmers purchased them and continued to use them into the 1950s.
Steam tractor (US)
In
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, the term ''steam tractor'' usually refers to a type of
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...
powered by a
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
, used extensively in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Steam tractor (UK)
In
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, the term ''steam tractor'' is more usually applied to the smallest models of traction engine – typically those weighing below five tons for the engine to be single manned (up until 1923 anything above had to be manned by at least two people; a driver and steersman); used for hauling small loads on public roads.
In 1923 the weight limit was raised to 7.5 tons.
[ ] Although known as ''light steam tractors'', these engines are generally just smaller versions of the road locomotive.
They were popular in the timber trade in the UK, although variations were also designed for general light road haulage and showman's use.
The most popular of these designs was probably the
Garrett 4CD, meaning ''4'' nominal horse power
compound
Compound may refer to:
Architecture and built environments
* Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall
** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...
.
Road locomotive
![Fowlers Monarch of the Road 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Fowlers_Monarch_of_the_Road_01.JPG)
Designed for haulage of heavy loads on public highways, it was common for two or even three to be coupled together to allow heavier loads to be handled.
The characteristic features of these engines are very large rear driving wheels fitted with solid
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
tyres
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
, three-speed gearing (most traction engine types have only two gears), rear suspension, and belly tanks to provide a greater range between the stops needed to replenish water. All these features are to improve the ride and performance of the engine, which were used for journeys of hundreds of miles. Most road locomotives are fitted with a winch drum on the back axle. This can be used by removing the driving pins from the rear wheels, allowing the drive train to power the winch drum instead of the wheels.
James Boydell
James Boydell (died January 1860) was a British inventor of steam traction engines. His most significant invention was the first practical track-laying vehicle, for which he received British patents in August 1846 and February 1854.
Description
...
worked with the British steam traction engine manufacturer
Charles Burrell & Sons
Charles Burrell & Sons were builders of steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam lorries and steam tram engines. The company were based in Thetford, Norfolk and operated from the St Nicholas works on Minstergate and St Nicholas S ...
to produce road haulage engines from 1856 that used his
Dreadnaught Wheels which were particularly suited to bad roads or off-road use.
One place where road locomotives found a significant amount of use was in hauling timber from where it was felled to timber yards.
Once the timber had been moved to a road the road movements were carried out hauling the trunks on
pole wagon
Pole may refer to:
Astronomy
*Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets
*Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...
s.
In France road locomotives were used to move mail in the 1880s.
[ ]
A number of road locomotives are fitted with a
crane boom on the front. The boom pivot is mounted on the front axle assembly and a small
winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable").
In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...
is mounted on an extension to the smokebox in front of the chimney, the cable passing over a
sheave
A sheave () or pulley wheel is a grooved wheel often used for holding a belt, wire rope, or rope and incorporated into a pulley. The sheave spins on an axle or bearing inside the frame of the pulley. This allows the wire or rope to move fre ...
at the top of the boom arm. The winch is powered by bevel gears on a shaft driven directly from the engine, with some form of clutch providing raise/lower control. These road locomotives can be used to load a trailer as well as to haul it to a new location. They are often referred to as 'crane engines'.
A particularly distinctive form of road locomotive was the
showman's engine
A showman's road locomotive or showman's engine is a steam-powered road-going 'locomotive' designed to provide power and transport for a travelling funfair or circus. Similar to other road-going traction engines, showman's engines were normally d ...
.
These were operated by travelling showmen both to tow fairground equipment and to power it when set up, either directly or by running a generator.
These could be highly decorated and formed part of the spectacle of the fair.
Some were fitted with a small crane that could be used when assembling the ride.
About 400 were built with 107 surviving into preservation.
The poor state of the roads and the larger distances involved meant road locomotives (including showman's engines) were less used in the US.
[ ]
History
In Britain the rise of the use of road locomotives was held back by high tolls charged by turnpike roads.
The tolls were eventually limited by the
Locomotive Act 1861.
4 years later
another act was passed limiting engines to 4MPH and requiring that they preceded by a person carying a red flag.
The first traction engine focused on road haulage was offered for sale by
Charles Burrell & Sons
Charles Burrell & Sons were builders of steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam lorries and steam tram engines. The company were based in Thetford, Norfolk and operated from the St Nicholas works on Minstergate and St Nicholas S ...
in 1856 and tyres were introduced around the same time.
In 1896 the speed limit in the UK was raised to 6MPH and the red flag carrier requirement was dropped.
[ ]
Steamroller
![Kemna Bau Pinneberg Fahrzeug](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Kemna_Bau_Pinneberg_Fahrzeug.jpg)
Related to the steam traction engine, the steam roller was used for road building and flattening ground. They were typically designed with a single heavy roller (in practice, usually a pair of adjacent rollers) replacing the front wheels and axle, and smooth rear wheels without
strake
On a vessel's hull, a strake is a longitudinal course of planking or plating which runs from the boat's stempost (at the bows) to the sternpost or transom (at the rear). The garboard strakes are the two immediately adjacent to the keel on ...
s.
Some traction engines were designed to be convertible: the same basic machine could be fitted with either standard () road wheels, or else smooth rolls – the changeover between the two being achieved in less than half a day.
Relatives of the traction engine
![Kuernbach-lokomobil](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Kuernbach-lokomobil.jpg)
A number of other steam-powered vehicles share design features with the traction engine, usually because the same technology was re-used in a new application.
Portable engine
A portable engine is a type of self-contained steam engine and boiler combination that may be moved from site to site. Although bearing a strong family resemblance, in both appearance and (stationary) operation, the portable engine is ''not'' classed as a traction engine as it is not self-propelled. However, it is included in this list because the traction engine is a direct descendant.
Steam wagon
![Foden 5 ton steam lorry registration WX 2682](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Foden_5_ton_steam_lorry_registration_WX_2682.jpg)
A steam wagon is a
steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
-powered road vehicle for carrying
freight
Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...
. It was the earliest form of
lorry
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
(truck) and came in two basic forms: ''overtype'' and ''undertype'' – the distinction being the position of the
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...
relative to the
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
. Among the firms that specialized in them in the 1900s was the short-lived Invicta Works of Maidstone, owned by
Jesse Ellis
Jesse Ellis(14 April 1846 – 1916) was an engineer and pioneer of steam wagons.
Personal life
Ellis was born in Cranbrook, Kent, and moved with his parents to Pembury, where he was living at the age of 14. He married Mary Moseley. By 1881 they ...
.
The overtype had a steam engine mounted on top of a
fire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating t ...
, in a similar manner to a traction engine. The front of an overtype steam wagon bears a close family resemblance to traction engines, and manufacturers who made both may well have been able to use some common parts.
The undertype had the steam engine mounted under the boiler, usually between the frames of the chassis. The boiler was usually mounted well forward and was often a vertical and/or water tube type.
Steam wagons were the dominant form of powered road traction for commercial haulage in the early part of the twentieth century, although they were a largely British phenomenon, with few manufacturers outside Great Britain. Competition from
internal-combustion
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
-powered vehicles and adverse legislation meant that few remained in commercial use beyond the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Traction engines as railway locomotives
![Aveling and Porter the blue circle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Aveling_and_Porter_the_blue_circle.JPG)
Several traction engine builders (such as
Aveling and Porter
Aveling and Porter was a British agricultural engine and steamroller (road roller) manufacturer. Thomas Aveling and Richard Thomas Porter entered into partnership in 1862, and developed a steam engine three years later in 1865. By the earl ...
and
Fowler) built light
railway locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the us ...
s based on their traction engines. In their crudest form these simply had flanged steel wheels to enable them to run on rails. More sophisticated models had the boiler and engine mounted on a
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
which carried railway-wagon style axles. The rear axle was driven from the engine by gear or chain-drive. These unusual locomotives were sold to small industries for use in shunting and marshalling duties, although they also found favour with engineering firms engaged in the construction of mainline railways for hauling men, equipment and materials over the partly constructed line.
Terminology
* ''spud'' or ''lug'' – strip of angled metal that could be bolted to the driving wheels to provide greater traction on soft or heavy ground. Spuds were often required on ploughing engines when moving across farmland.
* ''strake'' – name for the diagonal strips cast into or rivetted onto the wheel rims to provide traction on unmade ground (similar to the tread on a pneumatic tyre).
* ''Nominal horse power'' – nhp is the typical way that traction engines are rated. However, it has long been accepted that
nominal horse power greatly understates the actual power of the engine. There are many ways to estimate the actual horse power but none of them gives an accurate answer; for example, a 4 nhp engine is said to be approximately ; however a 4 nhp engine can easily pull a laden 8-wheeler lorry, while a diesel engine of cannot. Thus, many have resigned themselves that this debate will never be settled and, while nominal horsepower gives a convenient way of rating traction engines, it may never be converted accurately into diesel HP.
Modern use
![Traction Engine Mechanics](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Traction_Engine_Mechanics.jpg)
Although no longer used commercially, traction engines of all types continue to be maintained and preserved by enthusiastic individuals and are frequently exhibited at agricultural shows in Europe (particularly the UK), Canada and the United States. They are often a main attraction in a
live steam
Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment.
A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that ar ...
festival ''(see
List of steam fairs
A steam fair or (steam rally) is a regular organised gathering of historic steam-powered vehicles and machinery, open to the public. Typical exhibits include: traction engines, steam rollers, steam wagons, and steam cars. Often, the scope is wide ...
)''.
Model traction engines, powered by steam, are manufactured by several companies, notably
Mamod
Mamod is a British toy manufacturer that specializes in manufacturing live steam models. The company was founded in Birmingham by Geoffrey Malins in 1937. The name is a portmanteau of Malins Models. The first models produced were of stationary ...
and
Wilesco
Wilesco is the trade name of German toy company Wilhelm Schröder GmbH & Co. KG, known for manufacturing live steam toys such as steamrollers, traction engines, stationary steam engines, and numerous accessories such as Line shaft, countershafts ...
. Larger scale model engines are popular subjects for model engineers to construct, either as a supplied kit of parts, or machined from raw materials.
Traction engines in popular culture
In film
*The 1962 film ''
The Iron Maiden
''The Iron Maiden'' is a 1963 British comedy film. The film was directed by Gerald Thomas, and stars Michael Craig, Anne Helm, Jeff Donnell and Alan Hale, Jr. There are minor roles for ''Carry On'' stalwarts Jim Dale and Joan Sims, and the vet ...
'' featured a showman's engine as the film's star, along with many others, at the annual rally at
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, a ...
.
*In the 2004 film ''
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins'', the people of Rejection, Nevada had a traction engine and were proud of it. During the final battle, two of the characters fired their guns from the traction engine, and the traction engine rammed and killed the last graboid.
In literature
*Trevor the Traction Engine is one of the non-railway characters featured in ''
The Railway Series
''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...
'' of children's books by the
Rev. W. Awdry. Appearing in several of the books, the traction engine was originally 'saved from scrap' by The Vicar of Wellsworth with the help of
Edward the Blue Engine
This article is about the characters that have appeared in the books of ''The Railway Series'' by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and Christopher Awdry. Unless otherwise stated on this page, the technical notes come from actual notes laid out by Wilbert ...
. Trevor has also appeared in a number of episodes in the TV spin-off ''
Thomas & Friends
''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...
''. Another traction engine,
Fergus the Railway Traction Engine
This article is about the characters that have appeared in the books of ''The Railway Series'' by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry and Christopher Awdry. Unless otherwise stated on this page, the technical notes come from actual notes laid out by Wilbert ...
, also appears in ''Thomas & Friends'', but unlike Trevor, Fergus runs on rails instead of roads. Theo from ''Journey Beyond Sodor'' is based on a Brill Tramway No. 1.
*In the book ''Gumdrop and The Farmer's Friend'', by
Val Biro
Balint Stephen Biro (Budapest, October 6, 1921 – July 4, 2014) was a children's author, artist and illustrator. He received his education in Budapest and London. His studio was located in Amersham in Buckinghamshire.
Writing
From an interview ...
, the vintage motor-car
Gumdrop
Gumdrops are a type of gummy candy. They are brightly colored pectin-based pieces, shaped like a narrow dome (sometimes with a flattened top), often coated in granulated sugar and having fruit and spice flavors; the latter are also known as spic ...
is rescued from a snowy ditch by "The Farmer's Friend", a traction engine belonging to a local farmer. Some months later, the two vehicles are instrumental in thwarting a pair of car thieves.
The end-papers of the book include a simplified cut-away drawing of the traction engine: a single-cylinder, 6 nhp
Fowler light tractor built in 1903.
*Traction engines for road haulage feature prominently in
Keith Roberts' alternate-history novel ''
Pavane
The ''pavane'' ( ; it, pavana, ''padovana''; german: Paduana) is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century (Renaissance).
The pavane, the earliest-known music for which was published in Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci, ...
''.
*In the 1960s,
cutaway drawing
A cutaway drawing, also called a cutaway diagram is a 3D graphics, technical drawing, drawing, diagram and or technical illustration, illustration, in which surface elements of a three-dimensional model are selectively removed, to make internal f ...
s of traction engines by Geoffrey Wheeler featured in
''Eagle'' comics and a
''Blue Peter'' annual.
On television
![Fred dibnah funeral](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Fred_dibnah_funeral.jpg)
*
Fred Dibnah
Frederick Travis Dibnah, (29 April 1938 – 6 November 2004) was an English steeplejack and television personality, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering, who described himself as a "backstreet mechanic".
When Dibnah w ...
of
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, was known as a National Institution in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
for the conservation of old traction engines and other steam engines. His television series ''
Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain
Frederick Travis Dibnah, (29 April 1938 – 6 November 2004) was an English steeplejack and television personality, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering, who described himself as a "backstreet mechanic".
When Dibnah w ...
'' shows him touring the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in his rebuilt 10-
ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
traction engine.
* In the television play ''
Threads'', depicting the consequences of nuclear war in the United Kingdom, traction engines come back into use as petrol becomes unavailable.
Manufacturers
See also
*
Farm equipment
Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that the ...
*
History of steam road vehicles
The history of steam road vehicles comprises the development of vehicles powered by a steam engine for use on land and independent of rails, whether for conventional road use, such as the steam car and steam waggon, or for agricultural or heavy ...
*
Hollycombe Steam Collection
The Hollycombe Steam Collection is a collection of steam-powered vehicles, amusement rides, and attractions in South East England. It is based in West Sussex, but the closest town is Liphook in Hampshire. The collection includes fairground rides ...
*
List of steam fairs
A steam fair or (steam rally) is a regular organised gathering of historic steam-powered vehicles and machinery, open to the public. Typical exhibits include: traction engines, steam rollers, steam wagons, and steam cars. Often, the scope is wide ...
–
''where preserved traction engines may be seen in action''
*
Live steam
Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment.
A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that ar ...
*
Museum of English Rural Life
The Museum of English Rural Life, also known as The MERL, is a museum, library and archive dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. The museum is run by the University of Reading, and is situated in Red ...
(MERL) –
''UK national collection of history of farming''
*
Steam car
A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE) in which the fuel is combusted outside of the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) in which fuel is combusted ins ...
*
Steam roller
A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved through ...
*
Steam shovel
A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. Steam shovels played a major role in public works in the 19th and e ...
*
Steam tractor
:''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine''
A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling.
In North America, the term ''steam t ...
*
Steam tricycle
A steam tricycle is a steam-driven three-wheeled vehicle.
History
In the early days of motorised vehicle development, a number of experimenters built steam-powered vehicles with three wheels. The first steam tricycle – and probably the first ...
*
Steam wagon
A steam wagon (or steam lorry, steam waggon or steamtruck) is a steam-powered truck for carrying freight. It was the earliest form of lorry (truck) and came in two basic forms: ''overtype'' and ''undertype'', the distinction being the position of ...
*
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
*
Stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars ...
References
External links
Research
Database of historical agricultural engineering companies of the UK– ''(
MERL)''
Steam Traction magazine – searchable article archive (1951-date) ''Covers US traction engines and
steam tractors
:''This article refers to the steam-powered agricultural tractor; for other types of steam tractor, see: Traction engine''
A steam tractor is a vehicle powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling.
In North America, the term ''steam t ...
,
threshing machine
A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out.
Before such machines were developed, threshi ...
s and steam-powered agricultural machinery.''
Steam Scenes – extensive searchable photo library– ''preserved traction engines in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand''
– ''UK-based preserved traction engines''
Traction Time – vast searchable photo library & discussion forums– ''Information about UK-based traction engines''
History
History of mechanisation in farming– ''Timeline, 1700–1914 (
MERL)''-->
Concise history of the traction engine– ''evolution, from earliest experiments to widespread manufacture, plus definitions of the six main types''
– ''particularly covers the very early years as different techniques were tried''
of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh.
The Society had its root in 1723 when the Society of Improvers of the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland was ...
– ''(c.1871) report of trial of Fiskens Steam Cultivation Machinery (a windlass ploughing apparatus) -- including description and diagram''
History of Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company (Iowa)– ''the first gasoline-powered traction engine, and forerunner of the John Deere tractor range''
''(plus much history of early Aveling products)''
The Road Locomotive Society– ''charitable society founded in 1937 for education and research into history of traction engines and portable engines''
Preservation
Hollycombe Steam CollectionNational Traction Engine TrustEast Anglian Traction Engine SocietyUK Traction engine rallies
Further information
*
ttp://www.steam-up.co.uk/useful_terms.htm Glossary of traction engine terminologybr>
''Vintage Spirit''magazine
''Old Glory''magazine
Types of Steam Traction EnginesThe Traction Engine Register– ''The official website of The Traction Engine Register''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Traction Engine
Steam engines
Steam road vehicles
Agricultural machinery
Articles containing video clips