Recent from talks
Steam wagon
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
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 the engine relative to the boiler. Manufacturers tended to concentrate on one form or the other.
Steam wagons were a widespread 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-powered vehicles and adverse legislation meant that few remained in commercial use beyond the Second World War.
Although the majority of steam wagons have been scrapped, a significant number have been preserved in working order and may be seen in operation at steam fairs, particularly in the UK.
The steam wagon came in two basic forms:
Both forms were built in parallel from the early 1900s to the early 1930s. The purported advantages of overtype wagons were their simplicity and familiarity for users of traction engines, whereas undertypes were marketed as having a much better view of the road due to the forward position of the driver.
Construction of wheels was a significant challenge, as wheels on horse-drawn vehicles had only been responsible for weight of the vehicle, but were now also required to transmit the power to the road. The earliest examples typically used either built up steel traction engine-type type wheels, or wooden artillery wheels, both types using steel bands for the contact with the road. Some variations were used, such as the composite wheels used by Alley & MacLellan on early Sentinels, using a cast steel centre with wooden felloes, or steel plate wheels as used by Mann. As press-on solid rubber tyres of sufficient capacity became available around 1910, the wheel designs were updated to allow for their use. This meant making the wheel smaller, so that with the added rubber, the wheel would remain approximately the same overall diameter. By the 1920s the predominant wheel design was a cast steel centre with a pressed on solid rubber tyre. By the late 1920s pneumatic tyres had evolved to the point that they were capable of sustaining the tyre loads imposed by steam wagons. Their advantages were a smoother ride, and due to the lower loading applied to the road, were subject to lower taxes. Some late steam wagons by Sentinel, Foden, Garrett and Yorkshire were built with pneumatic tyres, and steam wagons that remained in haulage use after increases in taxation in 1934 were typically converted to pneumatic tyres.
The earliest steam wagons typically had very spartan accommodation for the crew - often not even including a roof to protect them from the weather. By around 1910 such features were more common, but the cabs were still open at the sides and front. As speeds increased, in the early 1920s companies began to fit glazed windscreens to provide more protection, and the final designs of steam wagon from the late 1920s and 1930s typically included fully glazed cabs with side windows.
Following a relaxation in the legislation covering the use of steam-powered vehicles on common roads, manufacturers started to investigate the possibility of using steam power for a self-contained goods vehicle. Prior to this point, goods were carried in a trailer towed behind a traction engine, or more frequently a horse. The first steam wagon was produced in 1870 and occasional experiments continued over the next two decades.
Hub AI
Steam wagon AI simulator
(@Steam wagon_simulator)
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 the engine relative to the boiler. Manufacturers tended to concentrate on one form or the other.
Steam wagons were a widespread 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-powered vehicles and adverse legislation meant that few remained in commercial use beyond the Second World War.
Although the majority of steam wagons have been scrapped, a significant number have been preserved in working order and may be seen in operation at steam fairs, particularly in the UK.
The steam wagon came in two basic forms:
Both forms were built in parallel from the early 1900s to the early 1930s. The purported advantages of overtype wagons were their simplicity and familiarity for users of traction engines, whereas undertypes were marketed as having a much better view of the road due to the forward position of the driver.
Construction of wheels was a significant challenge, as wheels on horse-drawn vehicles had only been responsible for weight of the vehicle, but were now also required to transmit the power to the road. The earliest examples typically used either built up steel traction engine-type type wheels, or wooden artillery wheels, both types using steel bands for the contact with the road. Some variations were used, such as the composite wheels used by Alley & MacLellan on early Sentinels, using a cast steel centre with wooden felloes, or steel plate wheels as used by Mann. As press-on solid rubber tyres of sufficient capacity became available around 1910, the wheel designs were updated to allow for their use. This meant making the wheel smaller, so that with the added rubber, the wheel would remain approximately the same overall diameter. By the 1920s the predominant wheel design was a cast steel centre with a pressed on solid rubber tyre. By the late 1920s pneumatic tyres had evolved to the point that they were capable of sustaining the tyre loads imposed by steam wagons. Their advantages were a smoother ride, and due to the lower loading applied to the road, were subject to lower taxes. Some late steam wagons by Sentinel, Foden, Garrett and Yorkshire were built with pneumatic tyres, and steam wagons that remained in haulage use after increases in taxation in 1934 were typically converted to pneumatic tyres.
The earliest steam wagons typically had very spartan accommodation for the crew - often not even including a roof to protect them from the weather. By around 1910 such features were more common, but the cabs were still open at the sides and front. As speeds increased, in the early 1920s companies began to fit glazed windscreens to provide more protection, and the final designs of steam wagon from the late 1920s and 1930s typically included fully glazed cabs with side windows.
Following a relaxation in the legislation covering the use of steam-powered vehicles on common roads, manufacturers started to investigate the possibility of using steam power for a self-contained goods vehicle. Prior to this point, goods were carried in a trailer towed behind a traction engine, or more frequently a horse. The first steam wagon was produced in 1870 and occasional experiments continued over the next two decades.
Recent media