Overview

The first self-propelled agricultural steam locomotives were built around the middle of the nineteenth century, and with their great pulling power and ability to provide power for other equipment, they revolutionised both road haulage and agriculture, until the introduction of the internal combustion engine after the First World War saw their popularity rapidly decline. Great makers like Burrell and Garrett from East Anglia, Taskers and Wallis & Stevens from Hampshire, Marshalls and Foster from Lincolnshire, and Fowlers and McLaren from Leeds filled Britain (and much of the rest of the world) with their engines, operating ploughing equipment and providing power for threshing machines on farms, hauling heavy loads on the road, and generating electricity to power all the latest attractions at the fairground. They ranged in size from the small 3nhp road locomotives like Taskers' Little Giant, up to giant Fowler ploughing engines of 22nhp and the grandest Burrell 10nhp showmans engine, resplendent in gold-lined paintwork and twisted brass canopy supports. The period of the traction engine's ascendency was relatively short, but they have left an indelible mark, with enthusiasts up and down the country having saved hundreds of machines from the scrapmen to entertain us every weekend at steam fairs and other vintage events.

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9781445668864

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Anthony Coulls is Senior Curator of Rail Transport and Technology at the National Railway Museum, York. The author of several books and articles, he lives in County Durham with his family and vintage road roller.

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