Traction engines: books - history, models and technology

Steam Traction on the Road - From Trevithick to Sentinel: 150 Years of Design and Development

This is the story of how for more than a 100 years steam power played a vital role in the development of road transport. It all began with tentative attempts to build steam carriages by pioneers such as Cugnot in France and Trevithick in Britain, and in the early part of the 19th century there were significant attempts to develop steam carriages and omnibuses. That these attempts ultimately failed was largely due to opposition by road authorities and draconian legislation.

Steam power did, however, find a real purpose in agriculture, where the traction engine was used for a variety of tasks from towing and working threshing machines, to ploughing.
Once the value of the traction engine had been established, it soon found a use in many parts of the world for heavy haulage work and appeared in an exotic guise as the showman's engine. The latter was not only used to haul rides to fairgrounds but also powered a dynamo that could light up the fair at night.

By the end of the 19th century, steam on the road took on a new life with the development of steam cars and trucks. For a time they vied the new internal combustion engine for supremacy on the road. The American Doble Company even developed a 100mph steam sports car.
Ultimately steam lost the war, but steam vehicles survive and delight us still thanks to enthusiastic owners and restorers.

Traction Engines

The first traction engines were built around the middle of the nineteenth century. Their great pulling power and ability to provide power for other equipment revolutionised road haulage and agriculture.
Great makers like Burrell and Garrett from East Anglia, Taskers and Wallis & Steevens 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. They ranged in size from the small road locomotives like Taskers' Little Giant, up to giant Fowler ploughing engines and the grandest Burrell showman's engine, resplendent in gold-lined paintwork and twisted brass canopy supports.

The age of the traction engine was relatively short, declining rapidly after the First World War, 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.
This book is part of the Britain's Heritage series, which provides definitive introductions to the riches of Britain's past, and is the perfect way to get acquainted with traction engines in all their variety.

Traction Engine Album

The age of the traction engine is now past, but these romantic leviathans of road and field excite great interest not only among those who remember them in their heyday, but also those brought up in the age of the lorry and tractor.

Malcolm Ranieri, who has been photographing preserved steam for over twenty years, has assembled this classic selection of photographs of the best of British traction engines, rollers, steam wagons and more.
Photographed at work and at rest at locations all over the United Kingdom, all the major manufacturers with famous names like Fowler, Burrell and Aveling & Porter are represented.

Traction Engines - Preservation and Power

It is remarkable that unlike so many of the historical artifacts which are preserved and displayed in museums, the vast majority of steam traction engines are owned and maintained by private individuals and enthusiasts, but for whom our industrial steam heritage would be much the poorer.

These enthusiasts have purchased, restored, maintained and preserved traction engines as an important part of our heritage.
In addition to conserving these engines they are also preserving not only the techniques needed to safely run them, but also the engineering and boiler-making experience required to maintain the engines both for the present and for future generations.

In this fabulous collection of images, Paul Stratford has captured the magnificence of these superb machines, often in settings that look much the same as they did fifty or a hundred years ago.

Traction Engine Rallies - An Appreciation Over Seventy Years, 1950-2019

NEW

The commercial era of traction engines and steam wagons waned in the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, preservation and public display, notably in rallies, gained prominence.
The traction engine rally movement traces its roots to a race between two engine-owning farmers in Appleford, Berkshire, in August 1950. Over time, regional preservation societies formed, with some enduring for over half a century, albeit not always in the same locations. Others thrived briefly before ceasing activities for various reasons, and there were occasional one-time events.

Rallies have evolved from their initial format. Rather than mere ring events, many now include working areas where diverse engine types showcase their intended tasks.

This book delves into various rallies, beginning with those from the 1950s and 1960s, exploring unique one-time events, examining rallies that have discontinued, and concluding with current flourishing examples. It provides a glimpse into the distinct character of each rally and highlights from events the author has attended over the past five decades.

Classic Traction Engines

In more than 140 superlative images of traction engines in settings which recall their original glory, Paul Stratford captures the essence of these magnificent machines.This large format pictorial album is intended as a tribute the traction engine manufacturers and to those who have laboured long and hard to preserve and restore some of these remarkable engines.

The Traction Engine - Its Use and Abuse - The Classic Traction Engine Handbook from 1900

Developed in the late 1850s, the traction engine revolutionized the agriculture industry. James H. Maggard, an authority on steam power, wrote The Traction Engine for the "rough and tumble engineers" tasked with operating these machines in the field.
That was not an altogether easy task, even for a seasoned professional. Breakdowns, boiler explosions, and injury could result, if one was inattentive.

This reprint of the 1900 edition of the book features expanded chapters on the subject of threshing machines and the new internal combustion engine models. Illustrated throughout, and featuring a highly readable text, this is a wonderful book for anyone who is a fan of steam technology.

Aveling & Porter- An Illustrated History

Thomas Aveling, a farmer and self-taught engineer, became the 'father of the traction engine'. This resulted from efforts to improve agricultural machinery. After success with steam ploughing, his conversion of the portable steam engine, making it self-propelling, produced the first commercially successful traction engine.

Establishing a factory in Strood, Kent in 1861, Aveling's need for finance lead to a partnership with Richard Porter in 1862. This was an ideal relationship that freed Aveling to concentrate on the engineering aspects of the firm. Aveling's innovations included numerous patents covering improvements to engine layout, to steering and to geared drive.

The product that brought the firm international recognition was the steam road roller marketed in 1867. As the world's most prolific manufacturer, Aveling & Porter became synonymous with the road roller. Profitable as a firm until the failure of the Agricultural and General Engineers combine, the firm was to be resurrected as Aveling Barford at Grantham in 1934.

Aveling & Porter - From the John Crawley Collection

An eminent early preservationist, John Crawley was able to amass an enviable photographic archive of steam traction engines and road rollers in their working days, of which this Aveling & Porter selection formed just a part.
Organiser of over eighty steam rallies, John saved up to thirty steam traction engines for preservation from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, at a time when they were considered not much more than worthless scrap. Indeed, he became the first owner of no fewer than twenty-two of them.

Utilising this incredible and unique collection of images, most of which are previously unpublished, Colin Tyson tells the story of this important manufacturer and iconic British brand.

Aveling & Porter of Rochester (Traction Engines & Recollections)

Aveling & Porter as a firm are justly famed for their steam road rollers, the basic design continuing for 50 years, whilst other manufacturers made rollers, some in high numbers,it is the Aveling with which the public identify as the humble road making steam engine which came down every road and street,until superseded by modern technology.
This book describes the history of the company and its products.