Road locomotive
Encyclopedia
Road locomotive could refer to:
- A type of (steam-powered) traction engine, usually referring to those designed for heavy haulage on common roads
- Showman's road locomotiveShowman's road locomotiveA Showman's road locomotive or showman's engine is a steam-powered road-going 'locomotive' designed to provide power and transport for a travelling fair or circus...
, a form of the steam-powered road locomotive adapted and decorated for use hauling and powering funfair rides
- Showman's road locomotive
- A ballast tractorBallast tractorA ballast tractor is a heavy haulage road vehicle designed to pull or push heavy or exceptionally large loads. Unlike the tractor unit from an articulated trailer, the ballast tractor is designed or adapted to pull or push loads from a drawbar...
, the modern diesel-powered equivalent of the steam road locomotive - (US) A railway locomotiveLocomotiveA locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
intended for hauling freight trains between terminals (as opposed to switching within a yard) - An early, experimental steam-powered road vehicle, such as Richard TrevithickRichard TrevithickRichard 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...
's Puffing Devil. The term is often used to describe such vehicles that cannot be readily classified as 'carriages', 'wagons', or 'automobiles', for example. (See History of steam road vehiclesHistory of steam road vehiclesThe history of steam road vehicles describes 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 haulage work, such as the traction engine.The first...
.)