Steam carriage

“ I have a Steam Carriage now constructed, from which I could abstract 900lbs, of iron without making it too weak to travel even on rough roads, but I should not be induced to do so except as a matter of economy in case the tolls are levied upon the weight and at too high a rate. The Steam Carriage as used upon common roads, being an invention of recent date, sufficient has not been done with them for practical men to decide what arrangements of machinery are best for their construction. ”

“ FIG. 185.—TREVITHICK’S STEAM CARRIAGE, 1801.
It is not possible to trace the succeeding steps in steam carriage development by James and Anderson, by Gurney, in 1822, by Marcerone and Squire in 1833, by Russel in 1846, and many others; it is sufficient to [267] know that bad roads and the success attending the steam locomotive on rails diverted attention from the steam road carriage, and not until the latter part of the Nineteenth Century was there any marked revival of interest in this field. Then came first the ponderous road engine, known as a traction engine, and used for heavy hauling ”

“ The question is, whether all the machinery of a Steam Carriage should be made twice as strong and heavy as is necessary for impelling it with safety on a tolerable level road, merely that it may have power within itself for going up a few occasional bills, or whether it is better to make the machinery lighter, and take the occasional assistance of a pair of post horses. ”

“ A steam-carriage of ten horse power cannot under any circumstances, when it encounters a newly mended part of the road, or a softer soil, put forth an additional power for a minute or two, as a team of horses can do; so that equality of exertion is nearly indispensable for the full advantage of an engine. We accordingly find that the opponents of steam-travelling on common roads, gained their object by covering the highway with a coating of broken stones fourteen inches deep. ”

“ He was the first to run a steam carriage for hire on a common road, and is still the only person who has ventured in a steam vehicle to traverse the most crowded streets of the metropolis at the busiest periods of the day; he has built a greater number of steam carriages (if not better) than anyone else, and has been thus enabled to try a greater variety of forms of construction, out of which to choose the best. ”

“ In the early days of railway construction vehicles were used which combined a steam locomotive with an ordinary passenger carriage. After being abandoned for many years, the "steam carriage" was revived, in 1902, by the London and South Western and Great Western railways for local service and the handling of passenger traffic on branch lines. Since that year rail motor-cars have multiplied; some being run by steam, others by petrol engines, and others, again, by electricity generated by petrol engines. ”

“ This Report confirms my foregoing opinion, that a steam carriage may be constructed to travel on common roads, with very light loads. But they cannot be made capable of transmitting goods and passengers to any public or private advantage. If the strength of the engine and carriage is increased, the weight must be increased to eight or ten tons, and eight or ten tons would break down the road, on which they are designed to travel.
London, November, 1833 ”

“ A Steam Carriage never needs the wheel chained, or to be still in going down hill, because if a throttle cock is put between the dis charge pipe and the piston, it cannot go down hill any faster than the Steam is permitted to make its escape from before the piston, and if required would stand still instantly. Below is stated the commencement of both my high pressure and locomotive Steam Engines, with the advantages derived from them.— Since 1804, at which time I invented and erected this high pressure Engine, up to the present time, little improvement has been made in addition to my own. ”

“ Evans’ interest in the steam carriage forthwith ceased, but in his writings, published about that time, he remarked: “The time will come when people will travel in stages moved by steam engines from one city to another, almost as fast as birds fly, fifteen or twenty miles an hour. Passing through the air with such velocity, changing the scene in such rapid succession, will be the most rapid exhilarating exercise. ”

“ Are there not Steam Engines in which the cylinder is within the boiler?—Yes; those are commonly used now in the high-pressure Steam Engines.
Have you ever considered what toll should be charged upon Steam Carriages, assuming that a Steam Carriage of 40 cwt, is equal to four horses, and does no more damage than four horses would do upon a road?—I should judge that there would be no need to fix them heavier than just to pay for repairing the road, whatever it may be; people are not to get their maintenance out of roads ”

“ He describes his trip as follows: “I may state that such a feat as going over the Ord of Caithness has never before been accomplished by steam, as I believe we rose one thousand feet in about five miles. The Ord is one of the largest and steepest hills in Scotland. The turns in the road are very sharp. All this I got over without trouble. There is, I am confident, no difficulty in driving a steam carriage on a common road. It is cheap, and on a level I got as much as nineteen miles an hour.” ”

“ Considerable space might be devoted to discussing the niceties of the art of driving a steam carriage, but they may be summarised as consisting in the maintenance of an even steam pressure and mean water level on all conditions of roads, with a minimum consumption of fuel and water. If the owner takes the trouble thoroughly to understand his car and its mechanism first, and then bears this rule in mind, he will soon acquire the art, and will learn to take advantage of every variation in the gradient and road surface. ”

“ Does that produce any disagreeable effect to the passengers?—None whatever; all the waste steam is blown into the furnace, which entirely prevents any noise that can be beard on the road.
İt has been stated to the Committee, that in some Steam Carriages actually in operation, there is a very peculiar noise from the escape of the steam, from whence does that proceed?—It proceeds in one Carriage, which I have seen running along the roads, from the steam being blown in at the bottom part of the chimney of the furnace, at a distance very near to the open air. ”

“ This was the first real steam carriage constructed in this country, the Philadelphia machine of Evans being but a rude affair, although it involved the essential principles of steam propulsion. The Blanchard carriage was perfectly [Pg 69] manageable, could turn corners and go backwards and forwards with all the readiness of a well-trained horse, and on ascending a hill the power could be increased. Its performance on the highway was altogether satisfactory, and a patent was issued to its inventor. ”

“ The driving wheels, being fully proved not to slip upon the road, do not produce any effects more injurious than the ordinary rolling wheels; consequently the wear occasioned by a steam carriage upon a road is not more than that produced by a carriage drawn by horses of an equivalent weight and the same or equal tires; but the wear produced by the pounding and digging of horses' feet in draught is many times greater than that produced by the wear of any carriage. ”

“ I am of opinion, that if the Steam Carriage and its accompanying Carriage be constructed with wheels of a proper width, and of the same diameter as the Waggon wheels, and travel with the same velocity, that the injury on well-made solid roads will not be more than that caused by the Waggon and horses; in fact, if the proportion of injury before stated be correct, it will be less; but it must be recollected that weak roads suffer more than solid ones from the heavy pressure of wheels, and in such cases the Steam Carriage and its tender would be more injurious. ”

“ The steam carriage built by the Tangye Brothers, of England, about 1852, was a simple affair. It had seating capacity in the body for six or eight persons, while three or four more could be accommodated in front. The driver who sat in front had full control of the stop valve and reversing lever, so that the engine could be stopped or reversed by him as occasion required. The speed of twenty miles an hour could be attained, and the engine with its load easily ascended the steepest gradients. ”

“ As it is probable that Steam Carriages or locomotive Engines will be used for ploughing, or to draw the plough to it, the Engine remaining during that time in its location, and only moving when the plough has completed its furrow, yet, in going and returning to the field, it may travel upon a turnpike road, and be subject to the toll of a Steam Carriage ”

“ But, as no more rapid or powerful means of locomotion had been invented than horse-power, many persons labored to devise some sort of steam apparatus for the purpose. The merit of inventing a self-acting steam carriage is due to Richard Trevethick, who in 1802 took out a patent for a steam locomotive which successfully drew wagons on rails. ”

“ The furnace being necessarily smaller and less powerful than those used in locomotive engines on railroads, the steam can be generated with sufficient abundance and rapidity, only by exposing to the action of the fire a much greater quantity of surface, in proportion to the whole quantity of water, than is attempted in engines on railways; and it is in the attainment of this object that the ingenuity of steam-carriage projectors has been for the most part displayed. ”

“ I have considered the thing well in every point, and I think it is much better to construct the Carriage both for passengers and machinery on one arrangement, not to have the thing divided: my reason for considering it an improvement is this; for instance, if a new road is made, the object of the proprietors of that road is to get as heavy a roller as they can, even if it requires eight horses to draw the roller; they do that in order to imbed the gravel to make it solid, and the nearer that Steam Coach approaches that roller, the better it is for the propelling wheels. ”

“ Would horses drawing 80 cwt, upon a road, with a slow walking pace, in your opinion do more injury to the road than an engine doing the same work?—I have had no experience of drawing heavy weights by Steam to enable me to form an opinion respecting the effect that the broad wheels, which must then be used, would have on the road, and what advancing power they would have before they began to slip on the road, without advancing the Carriage forwards ”

“ A Steam Carriage only calculated to convey six passengers will be solely used where great speed is required, and will be so light as to cause very little wear of the road, probably much less than many Carriages drawn by the number of horses which the Committee recommend as the standard of charge for this class. ”

“ The quick-travelling Carriages on the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, when drawn by the last improved Engines, are extremely easy in their motion.
Is it your opinion, that a road would suffer less injury, from the fore and hind wheels of a Steam Carriage following each other, in the same tracks on the road, than if they run on different tracks?—That depends upon what kind of action the wheels exert on the road ”

“ What height would the shaft be, as applied to your Steam Carriage?—It does not require to be higher than a common Steam Carriage.
Have the Steam Carriages that now ply on the roads a shaft?—No; they get their fuel through a fire door, but it will answer best to fill through you get considerable advantage. In the first place, you have a less boiler; by having a less boiler it is lighter; it is much stronger by getting a greater pressure; there is 75 per cent, of the fuel; if you take the average of the advantages, it will save daily nearly ten to one on travelling Engines. ”

“ The road steam carriage was such a novelty, that people hardly knew what to make of it, so a Select Committee of the House of Commons upon it was appointed, who reported thereon to the House on October 12, 1831. The conclusion of the report was as follows:—
"Sufficient evidence has been adduced to convince your Committee—
"1. That carriages can be propelled by steam on common roads at an average rate of ten miles per hour.
"2. That at this rate they have conveyed upwards of fourteen passengers.
"3. That their weight, including engine, fuel, water, and attendants, may be under three tons. ”

“ For this reason, a road. as well as because the transport of a large quantity of cold water could not be conveniently effected, high-pressure engines alone are preferable to all others for locomotive purposes; and even with these, it is necessary to resort to extraordinary means to combine sufficient powers of steam for the loads that it is necessary to draw, with a sufficient heating power to produce that steam, in the quantity necessary to maintain the speed at which the engine is capable to travel.
A travelling steam-engine is placed like an ordinary carriage, upon four wheels. ”

“ I am confident that Carriages to be impelled by Steam machinery turning the wheels cannot be made to answer any good purpose, either for conveyance of travellers or goods, so long as they materially injure the roads, because if the wheels slip materially on the road, or if they cut sensible ruts in the road, they will not advance the Carriage efficiently. ”