History of steam road vehicles
Encyclopedia
The history of steam road vehicles describes the development of vehicle
s 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 haulage work, such as the traction engine
.
The first experimental vehicles were built in the 17th and 18th century, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick
had developed the use of high-pressure steam, around 1800, that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. The first half of the 19th century saw great progress in steam vehicle design, and by the 1850s it was viable to produce them on a commercial basis. The next sixty years saw continuing improvements in vehicle technology and manufacturing techniques and steam road vehicles were used for many applications. In the twentieth century, the rapid development of internal combustion engine
technology, coupled with adverse legislation, led to the demise of the steam engine as a source of propulsion of vehicles on a commercial basis, with relatively few remaining in use after the Second World War. However, many vehicles were acquired by enthusiasts for preservation, and numerous examples are still in existence. Moreover, the threat of Global Warming
, and the search for renewable energy sources, has led to a resurgence of interest in utilising steam as a power source for road vehicles in the future.
before 1700 was closely linked to the quest for self-propelled vehicles and ships; the first practical applications from 1712 were stationary plant working at very low pressure which entailed engines of very large dimensions. The size reduction necessary for road transport meant an increase in steam pressure with all the attendant dangers, due to the inadequate boiler technology of the period. A strong opponent of high pressure steam was James Watt
who, along with Matthew Boulton
did all he could to dissuade William Murdoch
from developing and patenting his steam carriage, built in model form in 1784.
Ferdinand Verbiest
is suggested to have built what may have been the first steam powered car in about 1672, but very little concrete information on this is known to exist.
During the latter part of the 18th century, there were numerous attempts to produce self-propelled steerable vehicles. Many remained in the form of models. Progress was dogged by many problems inherent to road vehicles in general, such as suitable power-plant giving steady rotative motion, suspension, braking, steering, adequate road surfaces, tyres, and vibration-resistant bodywork, among other issues. The extreme complexity of these issues can be said to have hampered progress over more than a hundred years, as much as hostile legislation.
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
's "machine à feu pour le transport de wagons et surtout de l'artillerie" ("fire engine for transporting wagons and especially artillery") was built from 1769 in two versions for use by the French Army. Cugnot's fardier, a term usually applied to a massive two-wheeled cart for exceptionally heavy loads, was intended to be capable of transporting 4 tonnes (3.9 tons), and of travelling at up to 4 km/h (2.5 mph). The vehicle was of tricycle
layout, with two rear wheels and a steerable front wheel controlled by a tiller
. There is considerable evidence from the period this vehicle actually ran, making it probably the first to do so; however it remained a short-lived experiment due to inherent instability and the vehicle's failure to meet the Army's specified performance level.
In 1801, Richard Trevithick
constructed an experimental steam-driven vehicle (Puffing Devil) which was equipped with a firebox enclosed within the boiler, with one vertical cylinder, the motion of the single piston being transmitted directly to the driving wheels by means of connecting rod
s. It was reported as weighing 1520 kg fully loaded, with a speed of 14.5 km/h (9 mph) on the flat. During its first trip it was left unattended and "self-destructed". Trevithick soon built the London Steam Carriage
that ran successfully in London in 1803, but the venture failed to attract interest and soon folded up.
built the "Oruktor Amphibolis" (literally 'amphibious digger'), a steam-powered, flat-bottomed dredger that he modified to be self-propelled on both land and water. It is widely believed to be the first amphibious vehicle
, and the first steam-powered road vehicle to run in the United States. However, no designs for the machine survive, and the only accounts of its achievements come from Evans himself. Later analysis of Evans's descriptions suggests that the 5hp engine was unlikely to have been powerful enough to move the vehicle either on land or water, and that the chosen route for its demonstration would have had the benefit of gravity, river currents and tides to assist with the vehicles' progress. The dredger was not a success, and after a few years lying idle, was dismantled for parts.
and associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, among others. However, the heavy road tolls imposed by the Turnpike Acts discouraged steam road vehicles and for a short time allowed the continued monopoly of horse traction until railway trunk routes became established in the 1840s and '50s.
Although engineers developed ingenious steam-powered road vehicles, they did not enjoy the same level of acceptance and expansion as steam power at sea and on the railways in the middle and late 19th century of the "Age of Steam".
Harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically propelled vehicles from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years, the Locomotive Act
of 1861 imposing restrictive speed limits on "road locomotives" of 5 mph (8 km/h) in towns and cities, and 10 mph (16 km/h) in the country. In 1865 the Locomotives Act of that year (the famous Red Flag Act) further reduced the speed limits to 4 mph (6.4 km/h) in the country and just 2 mph (3.2 km/h) in towns and cities, additionally requiring a man bearing a red flag to precede every vehicle. At the same time, the act gave local authorities the power to specify the hours during which any such vehicle might use the roads. The sole exceptions were street trams which from 1879 onwards were authorised under licence from the Board of Trade
.
In France the situation was radically different from the extent of the 1861 ministerial ruling formally authorising the circulation of steam vehicles on ordinary roads. Whilst this led to considerable technological advances throughout the 1870s and '80s, steam vehicles nevertheless remained a rarity.
To an extent competition from the successful railway network reduced the need for steam vehicles. From the 1860s onwards, attention was turned more to the development of various forms of traction engine
which could either be used for stationary work such as sawing wood and threshing, or for transporting outsize loads too voluminous to go by rail. Steam trucks were also developed but their use was generally confined to the local distribution of heavy materials such as coal and building materials from railway stations and ports.
of Buckingham
built the first of several steam carriages. Instead of looking like a carriage, it resembled a small locomotive. It consisted of a steam-engine mounted on three wheels: two large driven rear wheels and one smaller front wheel by which the vehicle was steered. The whole was driven by a chain drive
and a maximum speed of twelve miles per hour was reached. The weight of the machine was 1.5 tonnes and somewhat lighter than Rickett's steam carriage.
Two years later, in 1860, Rickett built a similar but heavier vehicle. This model incorporated spur-gear drive instead of chain. In his final design, resembling a railway locomotive, the cylinder
s were coupled directly outside the crank
s of the driving-axle.
commercial steam engine was attached to a Pierre Michaux
metal framed velocipede
, creating the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede
. Along with the Roper steam velocipede
, it might have been the first motorcycle. The only Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede made is in the Musée de l'Île-de-France, Sceaux
, and was included in the The Art of the Motorcycle
exhibition in New York in 1998.
drove around Boston
, Massachusetts on a steam carriage he invented in 1863. One of his 1863 carriages went to the Henry Ford Museum
, and another is in the Smithsonian Institution
. Around 1867–1869 he built a steam velocipede
, which may have been the first motorcycle
. Roper died in 1896 of heart failure while testing a later version of his steam motorcycle.
and sprocket wheels.
was mounted at the rear with a polished copper casing over the fire box and chimney; the boiler was enclosed in a mahogany casing. The front wheel was used for steering and the weight was only 19 cwt
.
of Farnham
built a four wheeled steam carriage which originally only had a single-cylinder engine.
became famous because of wheels were shod with heavy solid rubber tyres.
was 15 feet (5 m) in length, weighed four and a half tons, but had a maximum speed of only 6 miles per hour. Two vertical twin-cylinder engines where independent of one another and each drove one of the rear wheels by spur-gearing. The entire vehicle was enclosed and fitted with windows all around, carried six people, and even had two driving mirrors for observing traffic approaching from behind, the earliest recorded instance of such a device.
constructed a 3-wheeled steam vehicle which travelled a maximum of 15 miles per hour. This vehicle is still in existence, preserved in the Bristol City Museum.
of Le Mans
built a series of steam-powered passenger vehicles able to carry 6 to 12 people at speeds up to 60 km/h (38 mph), with such names as Rapide and L'Obeissante. In his vehicles the boiler was mounted behind the passenger compartment with the engine at the front of the vehicle, driving the differential through a shaft with chain drive to the rear wheels. The driver sat behind the engine and steered by means of a wheel mounted on a vertical shaft. The lay-out more closely resembled much later motor cars than other steam vehicles. L'Obeissante, moreover, in 1873 had independent suspension
on all four corners.
in 1894. It was not a success.
The development by Serpollet of the flash steam boiler brought about the appearance of various diminutive steam tricycles and quadricycles during the late 80s and early 90s, notably by de Dion & Bouton; these successfully competed in long distance races but soon met with stiff competition for public favour from the internal combustion engine cars being developed, notably by Peugeot, that quickly cornered most of the popular market. In the face of the flood of IC cars, proponents of the steam car had to fight a long rear-guard battle that was to last into modern times.
This American firm bought the patents from the Stanley Brothers and began building their steam buggies from 1898 to 1905. Locomobile Company of America went into building gas cars and
lasted until the Depression.
was broken by a Stanley steam car, piloted by Fred Marriot, which achieved 127 mph (203 km/h) at Ormond Beach, Florida
. This annual week-long "Speed Week" was the forerunner of today's Daytona 500
. This record was not exceeded by any land vehicle until 1910, and stood as the steam-powered world speed record till 25 August 2009.
Attempts were made to bring more advanced steam cars on the market, the most remarkable being the Doble Steam Car
which shortened start-up time very noticeably by incorporating a highly efficient monotube steam generator to heat a much smaller quantity of water along with effective automation of burner and water feed control. By 1923, Doble's
steam cars could be started from cold with the turn of a key and driven off in 40 seconds or less.
engine for the Paxton Phoenix steam car, built by the Paxton Engineering Division of McCulloch Motors Corporation
, Los Angeles. Its sustained maximum power was 120 bhp. The project was eventually dropped in 1954.
, which hugely reduced the cost of owning a conventional automobile, was also a strong factor in the steam car's demise as the Model T was both cheap and reliable.
, Thermo-Electron Corp. of Waltham, Mass. and Kinetics Inc, of Sarasota, Fla have all built high-performance steam engines in the same period.
In 1970, a variant of the steam car was made by Wallace L.Minto, which works on Ucon U-113 fluorocarbon
as the working fluid (instead of steam) and kerosene, gasoline, ... as a fuel. The car was called the Minto car.
ran their steam powered car "Inspiration" at Edwards Air Force Base
in the Mojave Desert
, and averaged 139.84 mi/h over two runs, driven by Charles Burnett III. The car was 7.62 m (300 in) long and weighed 3000 kg (6,614 lb), built from carbon fibre
and aluminium
and contained 12 boiler
s with over 2 miles (3.2 km) of steam
tubing.
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
s powered by a steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
for use on land and independent of rails
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
; whether for conventional road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
use, such as the steam car
Steam car
A steam car is a light car powered by a steam engine.Steam locomotives, steam engines capable of propelling themselves along either road or rails, developed around one hundred years earlier than internal combustion engine cars although their weight restricted them to agricultural and heavy haulage...
and steam waggon, or for agricultural or heavy haulage work, such as the traction engine
Traction engine
A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine 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...
.
The first experimental vehicles were built in the 17th and 18th century, but it was not until after Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
had developed the use of high-pressure steam, around 1800, that mobile steam engines became a practical proposition. The first half of the 19th century saw great progress in steam vehicle design, and by the 1850s it was viable to produce them on a commercial basis. The next sixty years saw continuing improvements in vehicle technology and manufacturing techniques and steam road vehicles were used for many applications. In the twentieth century, the rapid development of internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
technology, coupled with adverse legislation, led to the demise of the steam engine as a source of propulsion of vehicles on a commercial basis, with relatively few remaining in use after the Second World War. However, many vehicles were acquired by enthusiasts for preservation, and numerous examples are still in existence. Moreover, the threat of Global Warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, and the search for renewable energy sources, has led to a resurgence of interest in utilising steam as a power source for road vehicles in the future.
Early pioneers
Early research on the steam engineSteam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
before 1700 was closely linked to the quest for self-propelled vehicles and ships; the first practical applications from 1712 were stationary plant working at very low pressure which entailed engines of very large dimensions. The size reduction necessary for road transport meant an increase in steam pressure with all the attendant dangers, due to the inadequate boiler technology of the period. A strong opponent of high pressure steam was James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
who, along with Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
did all he could to dissuade William Murdoch
William Murdoch
William Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and long-term inventor.Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham, England.He was the inventor of the oscillating steam...
from developing and patenting his steam carriage, built in model form in 1784.
Ferdinand Verbiest
Ferdinand Verbiest
Father Ferdinand Verbiest was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt in Flanders, later part of the modern state of Belgium. He is known as Nan Huairen in Chinese...
is suggested to have built what may have been the first steam powered car in about 1672, but very little concrete information on this is known to exist.
During the latter part of the 18th century, there were numerous attempts to produce self-propelled steerable vehicles. Many remained in the form of models. Progress was dogged by many problems inherent to road vehicles in general, such as suitable power-plant giving steady rotative motion, suspension, braking, steering, adequate road surfaces, tyres, and vibration-resistant bodywork, among other issues. The extreme complexity of these issues can be said to have hampered progress over more than a hundred years, as much as hostile legislation.
Cugnot's "Fardier à vapeur"
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot was a French inventor. He is believed to have built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle...
's "machine à feu pour le transport de wagons et surtout de l'artillerie" ("fire engine for transporting wagons and especially artillery") was built from 1769 in two versions for use by the French Army. Cugnot's fardier, a term usually applied to a massive two-wheeled cart for exceptionally heavy loads, was intended to be capable of transporting 4 tonnes (3.9 tons), and of travelling at up to 4 km/h (2.5 mph). The vehicle was of tricycle
Tricycle
A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...
layout, with two rear wheels and a steerable front wheel controlled by a tiller
Tiller
A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post or rudder stock of a boat that provides leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder...
. There is considerable evidence from the period this vehicle actually ran, making it probably the first to do so; however it remained a short-lived experiment due to inherent instability and the vehicle's failure to meet the Army's specified performance level.
Trevithick's steam carriage
Richard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
constructed an experimental steam-driven vehicle (Puffing Devil) which was equipped with a firebox enclosed within the boiler, with one vertical cylinder, the motion of the single piston being transmitted directly to the driving wheels by means of connecting rod
Connecting rod
In a reciprocating piston engine, the connecting rod or conrod connects the piston to the crank or crankshaft. Together with the crank, they form a simple mechanism that converts linear motion into rotating motion....
s. It was reported as weighing 1520 kg fully loaded, with a speed of 14.5 km/h (9 mph) on the flat. During its first trip it was left unattended and "self-destructed". Trevithick soon built the London Steam Carriage
London Steam Carriage
The London Steam Carriage was an early steam-powered road vehicle constructed by Richard Trevithick in 1803 and the world's first self-propelled passenger-carrying vehicle...
that ran successfully in London in 1803, but the venture failed to attract interest and soon folded up.
Steam-powered amphibious craft
In 1805 Oliver EvansOliver Evans
Oliver Evans was an American inventor. Evans was born in Newport, Delaware to a family of Welsh settlers. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a wheelwright....
built the "Oruktor Amphibolis" (literally 'amphibious digger'), a steam-powered, flat-bottomed dredger that he modified to be self-propelled on both land and water. It is widely believed to be the first amphibious vehicle
Amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle , is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water – just like an amphibian....
, and the first steam-powered road vehicle to run in the United States. However, no designs for the machine survive, and the only accounts of its achievements come from Evans himself. Later analysis of Evans's descriptions suggests that the 5hp engine was unlikely to have been powerful enough to move the vehicle either on land or water, and that the chosen route for its demonstration would have had the benefit of gravity, river currents and tides to assist with the vehicles' progress. The dredger was not a success, and after a few years lying idle, was dismantled for parts.
Early steam carriage services
More commercially successful for a time than Trevithick's carriage were the steam carriage services operated in England in the 1830s, principally by Walter HancockWalter Hancock
Walter Hancock was an English inventor of the Victorian period. He is chiefly remembered for his steam powered road vehicles, but also received a patent for preparing and cutting indiarubber into sheets...
and associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, among others. However, the heavy road tolls imposed by the Turnpike Acts discouraged steam road vehicles and for a short time allowed the continued monopoly of horse traction until railway trunk routes became established in the 1840s and '50s.
Victorian Age of Steam
Harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically propelled vehicles from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years, the Locomotive Act
Locomotive Act
The Locomotive Acts were a series of Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom to control the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on British public highways during the latter part of the 19th century...
of 1861 imposing restrictive speed limits on "road locomotives" of 5 mph (8 km/h) in towns and cities, and 10 mph (16 km/h) in the country. In 1865 the Locomotives Act of that year (the famous Red Flag Act) further reduced the speed limits to 4 mph (6.4 km/h) in the country and just 2 mph (3.2 km/h) in towns and cities, additionally requiring a man bearing a red flag to precede every vehicle. At the same time, the act gave local authorities the power to specify the hours during which any such vehicle might use the roads. The sole exceptions were street trams which from 1879 onwards were authorised under licence from the Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
.
In France the situation was radically different from the extent of the 1861 ministerial ruling formally authorising the circulation of steam vehicles on ordinary roads. Whilst this led to considerable technological advances throughout the 1870s and '80s, steam vehicles nevertheless remained a rarity.
To an extent competition from the successful railway network reduced the need for steam vehicles. From the 1860s onwards, attention was turned more to the development of various forms of traction engine
Traction engine
A traction engine is a self-propelled steam engine 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...
which could either be used for stationary work such as sawing wood and threshing, or for transporting outsize loads too voluminous to go by rail. Steam trucks were also developed but their use was generally confined to the local distribution of heavy materials such as coal and building materials from railway stations and ports.
Thomas Rickett of Buckingham
Hence, in 1858, Thomas RickettRickett (car)
Thomas Rickett from Buckingham, England, made a steam powered car in 1860. Several examples made and it was also advertised.Rickett was manager of the Castle Foundry in Buckingham, makers of agricultural implements, who in 1857 also started to make steam engines. In 1858 he combined the two to...
of Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...
built the first of several steam carriages. Instead of looking like a carriage, it resembled a small locomotive. It consisted of a steam-engine mounted on three wheels: two large driven rear wheels and one smaller front wheel by which the vehicle was steered. The whole was driven by a chain drive
Chain drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles...
and a maximum speed of twelve miles per hour was reached. The weight of the machine was 1.5 tonnes and somewhat lighter than Rickett's steam carriage.
Two years later, in 1860, Rickett built a similar but heavier vehicle. This model incorporated spur-gear drive instead of chain. In his final design, resembling a railway locomotive, the cylinder
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
s were coupled directly outside the crank
Crank (mechanism)
A crank is an arm attached at right angles to a rotating shaft by which reciprocating motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. It is used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm...
s of the driving-axle.
Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede
Around 1867–1869 in France, a Louis-Guillaume PerreauxLouis-Guillaume Perreaux
Louis-Guillaume Perreaux was born in a village called Almenêches, in Normandy, France on 19 February 1816 was a French inventor and engineer who submitted one of the first patents for a working motorcycle in 1869...
commercial steam engine was attached to a Pierre Michaux
Pierre Michaux
Pierre Michaux was a blacksmith who furnished parts for the carriage trade in Paris during the 1850s and 1860s. He started building bicycles with pedals in the early 1860s. He, or his son Ernest, may have been the inventor of this machine, by adapting cranks and pedals on the front wheel of a...
metal framed velocipede
Velocipede
Velocipede is an umbrella term for any human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle....
, creating the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede
Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede
The Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede was a steam powered velocipede made in France sometime from 1867 to 1871, when a small Louis-Guillaume Perreaux commercial steam engine was attached to a Pierre Michaux manufactured iron framed pedal bicycle...
. Along with the Roper steam velocipede
Roper steam velocipede
The Roper steam velocipede was a steam-powered velocipede built by inventor Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States sometime from 1867–1869. It is one of three machines which have been called the first motorcycle, along with the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede,...
, it might have been the first motorcycle. The only Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede made is in the Musée de l'Île-de-France, Sceaux
Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine
Sceaux is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Wealth:Sceaux is famous for the Château of Sceaux, set in its large park , designed by André Le Nôtre, measuring...
, and was included in the The Art of the Motorcycle
The Art of the Motorcycle
The Art of the Motorcycle was an exhibition that presented 114 motorcycles chosen for their historic importance or design excellence in a display designed by Frank Gehry in the curved rotunda of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, running for three months...
exhibition in New York in 1998.
Sylvester H. Roper
Sylvester H. RoperSylvester H. Roper
Sylvester H. Roper was an inventor from Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, and a pioneering builder of early automobiles and motorcycles. In 1863 he built a steam carriage, one of the earliest automobiles...
drove around Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts on a steam carriage he invented in 1863. One of his 1863 carriages went to the Henry Ford Museum
The Henry Ford
The Henry Ford, a National Historic Landmark, , in the Metro Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, USA, is a large indoor and outdoor history museum complex...
, and another is in the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. Around 1867–1869 he built a steam velocipede
Roper steam velocipede
The Roper steam velocipede was a steam-powered velocipede built by inventor Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States sometime from 1867–1869. It is one of three machines which have been called the first motorcycle, along with the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede,...
, which may have been the first motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
. Roper died in 1896 of heart failure while testing a later version of his steam motorcycle.
H.P. Holt
H.P. Holt constructed a small road-steamer in 1866. Able to reach a speed of twenty miles per hour on level roads, it had a vertical boiler at the rear and two separate twin cylinder engines, each of which drove one rear wheel by means of a chainChain drive
Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles...
and sprocket wheels.
Catley and Ayres of York
In 1869, a small three wheeled vehicle propelled by a horizontal twin cylinder engine which drove the rear axle by spur-gearing; only one rear wheel was driven, the other turning freely on the axle. A vertical fire-tube boilerBoiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
was mounted at the rear with a polished copper casing over the fire box and chimney; the boiler was enclosed in a mahogany casing. The front wheel was used for steering and the weight was only 19 cwt
Hundredweight
The hundredweight or centum weight is a unit of mass defined in terms of the pound . The definition used in Britain differs from that used in North America. The two are distinguished by the terms long hundredweight and short hundredweight:* The long hundredweight is defined as 112 lb, which...
.
J.H. Knight of Farnham
1868 - 1870, John Henry KnightJohn Henry Knight
John Henry Knight , from Farnham, was a wealthy engineer, landowner and inventor. With the help of the engineer George Parfitt, he built Britain’s first petrol-powered motor vehicle...
of Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
built a four wheeled steam carriage which originally only had a single-cylinder engine.
R.W. Thomson of Aberdeen
1871, The road-steamer of R.W. Thomson of AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
became famous because of wheels were shod with heavy solid rubber tyres.
Charles Randolph of Glasgow
1872, a steam-coach by Charles Randolph of GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
was 15 feet (5 m) in length, weighed four and a half tons, but had a maximum speed of only 6 miles per hour. Two vertical twin-cylinder engines where independent of one another and each drove one of the rear wheels by spur-gearing. The entire vehicle was enclosed and fitted with windows all around, carried six people, and even had two driving mirrors for observing traffic approaching from behind, the earliest recorded instance of such a device.
R. Neville Grenville of Glastonbury
In 1875, R. Neville Grenville of GlastonburyGlastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
constructed a 3-wheeled steam vehicle which travelled a maximum of 15 miles per hour. This vehicle is still in existence, preserved in the Bristol City Museum.
Amédée Bollée
From 1873 to 1883 Amédée BolléeAmédée Bollée
Amédée-Ernest Bollée was a French bellfounder and inventor who specialized in steam cars. After 1867 he was known as "Amédée père" to distinguish him from his similarly named son, Amédée-Ernest-Marie Bollée .-Biography:...
of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
built a series of steam-powered passenger vehicles able to carry 6 to 12 people at speeds up to 60 km/h (38 mph), with such names as Rapide and L'Obeissante. In his vehicles the boiler was mounted behind the passenger compartment with the engine at the front of the vehicle, driving the differential through a shaft with chain drive to the rear wheels. The driver sat behind the engine and steered by means of a wheel mounted on a vertical shaft. The lay-out more closely resembled much later motor cars than other steam vehicles. L'Obeissante, moreover, in 1873 had independent suspension
Independent suspension
Independent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically independently of each other. This is contrasted with a beam axle, live axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked – movement on one side affects...
on all four corners.
Cederholm brothers
In 1892, painter Joens Cederholm and his brother, André, a blacksmith, designed their first car, a two-seater, introducing a condensorSteam locomotive condensing apparatus
A steam locomotive condensing apparatus differs in purpose from the usual closed cycle steam engine condenser, in that its function is primarily either to recover water, or to avoid excessive emissions to the atmosphere, rather than maintaining a vacuum to improve both efficiency and power...
in 1894. It was not a success.
De Dion & Bouton steam vehicles
- See steam tricycleSteam tricycleA 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 development by Serpollet of the flash steam boiler brought about the appearance of various diminutive steam tricycles and quadricycles during the late 80s and early 90s, notably by de Dion & Bouton; these successfully competed in long distance races but soon met with stiff competition for public favour from the internal combustion engine cars being developed, notably by Peugeot, that quickly cornered most of the popular market. In the face of the flood of IC cars, proponents of the steam car had to fight a long rear-guard battle that was to last into modern times.
Locomobile Company of America
lasted until the Depression.
Stanley Motor Carriage Company
In 1902, Francis E. Stanley (1849–1918) and Freelan O. Stanley formed the Stanley Motor Carriage Company. They made famous models such as the 1906 Stanley Rocket, 1908 Stanley K Raceabout and 1923 Stanley Steam Car.Early 20th century
In 1906 the Land Speed RecordLand speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
was broken by a Stanley steam car, piloted by Fred Marriot, which achieved 127 mph (203 km/h) at Ormond Beach, Florida
Ormond Beach, Florida
Ormond Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The population was 36,301 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 37,929. Ormond Beach is the northern neighbor of Daytona Beach and is home to Tomoka State Park.-History:Ormond Beach was...
. This annual week-long "Speed Week" was the forerunner of today's Daytona 500
Daytona 500
The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
. This record was not exceeded by any land vehicle until 1910, and stood as the steam-powered world speed record till 25 August 2009.
Doble Steam Car
Doble steam car
Any of several makes of steam-powered automobile in the early 20th century, including Doble Detroit, Doble Steam Car, and Doble Automobile, are referred to as a Doble because of their founding or association with Abner DobleFox Stephen...
which shortened start-up time very noticeably by incorporating a highly efficient monotube steam generator to heat a much smaller quantity of water along with effective automation of burner and water feed control. By 1923, Doble's
Abner Doble
Abner Doble , was an American mechanical engineer who built and sold steam-powered automobiles. His father was William Ashton Doble, inventor of the Doble water wheel, and his grandfather and namesake was the founder of the Abner Doble Company.Abner Doble began apprenticing at his family's factory...
steam cars could be started from cold with the turn of a key and driven off in 40 seconds or less.
Paxton Phoenix
Abner Doble developed the Doble UltimaxDoble steam car
Any of several makes of steam-powered automobile in the early 20th century, including Doble Detroit, Doble Steam Car, and Doble Automobile, are referred to as a Doble because of their founding or association with Abner DobleFox Stephen...
engine for the Paxton Phoenix steam car, built by the Paxton Engineering Division of McCulloch Motors Corporation
McCulloch (company)
McCulloch Motors Corporation is a manufacturer of chainsaws. The company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1943 by Robert Paxton McCulloch as a manufacturer of small two-stroke gasoline engines and introduced its first chainsaw in 1948, the Model 5-49....
, Los Angeles. Its sustained maximum power was 120 bhp. The project was eventually dropped in 1954.
Decline of steam car development
Steam cars dropped-off in popularity following the adoption of the electric starter, which eliminated the need for risky hand cranking to start gasoline-powered cars. The introduction of assembly-line mass production by Henry FordHenry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, which hugely reduced the cost of owning a conventional automobile, was also a strong factor in the steam car's demise as the Model T was both cheap and reliable.
Late 20th Century
Renewed interest
In 1968, renewed interest was shown, sometimes prompted by newly available techniques. An older idea that has been resurrected is to use a water-tube generator with water around it, as opposed to using firetubes heating a boiler of water. A prototype car was built by Charles J. & Calvin E. Williams of Ambler, Pa. Other high-performance steam cars were built by Richard J.Smith of Santa Ana, California, and A.M. and E. Pritchard of Caulfeld, Australia. Companies/organisations as Controlled Steam Dynamics of Mesa, Arizona, General MotorsGeneral Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, Thermo-Electron Corp. of Waltham, Mass. and Kinetics Inc, of Sarasota, Fla have all built high-performance steam engines in the same period.
In 1970, a variant of the steam car was made by Wallace L.Minto, which works on Ucon U-113 fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbon
Fluorocarbons, sometimes referred to as perfluorocarbons or PFCs, are organofluorine compounds that contain only carbon and fluorine bonded together in strong carbon–fluorine bonds. Fluoroalkanes that contain only single bonds are more chemically and thermally stable than alkanes...
as the working fluid (instead of steam) and kerosene, gasoline, ... as a fuel. The car was called the Minto car.
Land speed record
On 25 August 2009, a team of British engineers from HampshireHampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
ran their steam powered car "Inspiration" at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, and averaged 139.84 mi/h over two runs, driven by Charles Burnett III. The car was 7.62 m (300 in) long and weighed 3000 kg (6,614 lb), built from carbon fibre
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
and aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
and contained 12 boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s with over 2 miles (3.2 km) of steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
tubing.
Modern steam vehicles
Today most of these problems have been satisfactorily solved, but currently the re-introduction of any modern steam car project would run up against the problem of a general loss of steam engine culture which would make it difficult to set up an infrastructure of spares and qualified mechanics. It would also be necessary to meet more stringent safety standards and legislation than existed in the heyday of steam-powered road vehicles. The biggest arguments in favour of such a movement would be: greatly reduced pollution by particulates and noxious gases without recourse to filters, silence in operation, and direct drive without a gearbox. However the competition which development of a modern steam-powered vehicle has to consider is not so much from gasoline-powered cars as from electric, hydrogen-powered and hybrid vehicles.See also
- History of the automobileHistory of the automobileThe history of the automobile begins as early as 1769, with the creation of steam engined automobiles capable of human transport. In 1806, the first cars powered by an internal combustion engine running on fuel gas appeared, which led to the introduction in 1885 of the ubiquitous modern gasoline-...
– mainly covers later, internal combustion vehicles - Steam engineSteam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
- Steam busSteam busA steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too.-History:...
- The Steam HouseThe Steam HouseThe Steam House is a Jules Verne novel recounting the travels of a group of British colonists in the Raj in a wheeled house pulled by a steam-powered mechanical elephant...
(Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
novel) - Timeline of motor vehicle brandsTimeline of motor vehicle brandsThis is a chronological index for the start year for motor vehicle brands . For manufacturers that went on to produce many models, it represents the start date of the whole brand; for the others, it usually represents the date of appearance of the main model that was produced.This also gives an...
External links
- History of the Automobile – includes drawings of many early steam vehicles (Newton, Cugnot, Trevithick, Gurney, Hancock) including plan views
- Steamcar history – Some early drawings, plus detail of Verbiest's toy and a related book title...
- Smithsonian library entry for book about model of Verbiest's 'toy'. and Amazon entry for the same book by Horst O. Hardenberg