SH Archive Early 19th Century: Highway Steam Locomotives, Related Laws and Roads

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Username: jd755
Date: 2019-10-08 07:59:34
Reaction Score: 1

Were it just me passing an opinion or belief I held or worse quoting the mainstream ad nauseum, the reasns why the things went out of use would be of no relevance but it's the man himself Mr Hancock and people who actually rode in the machines whose words are on that graces guide page and again in your quoted page above, its contemporary with the time the machines were in use AS far as we can tell from our perspective.
All steam powered machines, indeed any machine that is fueled and moves, is inherently limited in how far it can travel before the fuel runs out.
These steam carriages had to carry coke and water. The operation of the engine consumed both of these resources and produced clinker ash and steam as well as locomotion. Ergo there had to be fresh supplies within the travelling distance of the onboard supplies or else it simply stopped moving.
There had to be stops to clear the ash and clinker as the efficiency of the machine fell to the point it wouldn't reach its next supply point. This stuff had to be cleared out to get the efficiency back up. I know because I have lived with coal and wood fired heating and hot water all my life nd witnessed steam engines, traction engines, large and small having their fireboxes cleared of clinker and ash and heard the tales from my mother of her father who was a railway worker at the locomotive shed where the raile riding locomotives were essentially taken apart to have firebox, boiler, tubes cleaned and repaired rather frequently.
Never mind the breakdowns mentioned by the people on the Graces guide page due to mechanical failure or the issue of smoke and wind getting to the passengers.

This isn't mainstream narrative its as close as we can get to the reality relating to these machines from today. To me always to me.

 

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Username: KorbenDallas
Date: 2019-10-08 08:19:56
Reaction Score: 1

I did not expect to find something like this on Wikipedia but there it goes:

• Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were pioneered in England in the 1830s by Walter Hancock and by associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney among others, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation.
• Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, and did not "run away with" the customer as horses sometimes did. They travelled faster than horse-drawn carriages (24 mph over four miles and an average of 12 mph over longer distances).
• They could run at a half to a third of the cost of horse-drawn carriages. Their brakes did not lock and drag like horse-drawn transport (a phenomenon that increased damage to roads).
• According to engineers, steam carriages caused one-third the damage to the road surface as that caused by the action of horses' feet. Indeed, the wide tires of the steam carriages (designed for better traction) caused virtually no damage to the streets, whereas the narrow wheels of the horse-drawn carriages (designed to reduce the effort required of horses) tended to cause rutting.
• However, the heavy road tolls imposed by the Turnpike Acts discouraged steam road vehicles and left the way clear for the horse bus companies, and from 1861 onwards, harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically propelled vehicles altogether from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years, the Locomotive Act of that year imposing restrictive speed limits on "road locomotives" of 5 mph in towns and cities, and 10 mph in the country.
• In 1865 the Locomotives Act of that year (the famous Red Flag Act) further reduced the speed limits to 4 mph in the country and just 2 mph in towns and cities, additionally requiring a man bearing a red flag to precede every vehicle. At the same time, the act gave local authorities the power to specify the hours during which any such vehicle might use the roads. The sole exceptions were street trams which from 1879 onwards were authorised under licence from the Board of Trade.
• In 1881, the engineer John Inshaw built a steam carriage for use in Aston, Birmingham, UK. Capable of carrying ten people at speeds of up to 12 mph, Inshaw discontinued his experiments due to the legislation then in force.
• Steam bus - Wikipedia

But then came this.

 

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Username: Willmatron
Date: 2020-05-30 20:09:36
Reaction Score: 0

Initial steam engines could power vehicles that were faster than cars, but slower than internal combustion engines. So it makes sense why they wouldn't be used now days.