During the late 18th century several engineers considered
constructing mechanically propelled carriages to avoid the need for horses
which required a lot of arable land which could be better used to feed
Britain's rapidly expanding population. James Watt, the leading manufacturer of
industrial steam engines even went so far as to take out a patent on a carriage
propelled by a steam engine. In the event he did not pursue the idea becuse he
realised that the condensing engines of the time produced too little power
relative to their weight, to be of practical use on the road.
Watt's rival, the mining engineer Richard Trevithick, was promoting the use of
the new 'high pressure' steam engines which some, including Watt, considered to
be dangerous and he had developed these to a stage where they had become
lighter and more efficient than Watt's engines.
When Watt's patent ran out Trevithick built a prototype road locomotive at
Camborne, Cornwall and in 1801 he ran this for several hundred yards up a hill
with several people hanging on to it. Unfortunately, while they were in a pub
celebrating the event, it set fire to the shed it was in and destroyed
itself.
Undaunted, the following year Trevithick took out a patent fo a passenger
carrying steam road carriage, also describing other uses for his new high
pressure engines. The steam carriage was assembled at Felton's carriage works
at Leather Lane, London, many of the engine components having been brought from
Cornwall where they were made. The engine may have been tested in another
machine called the Tuckingmill locomotive which was reported to have been stuck
on the road between Camborne and Redruth 'because its wheels could not get
sufficient grip of the road', but for which unfortunately no drawings are known
to have survived.
On completion, the London Steam Carriage was driven about ten miles throught
the streets of London to Paddington and back through Islington with seven or
eight guest passengers, the streets having been closed to other vehicles.
This was the first trip of a self powered passenger carrying vehicle in the
world. It is worth mentioning that the Frenchman, Cugnot, had built
tractors for towing Napoleon's guns about thirty years earlier but these were
slow moving and were not built to carry passengers. |
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