Road Locomotives and Tractors

Steam-driven locomotives played a major role in the 19th century where they took over the heavy haulage tasks from horses and ushered a new era in the history of transport.

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Steam-driven locomotives played a major role in the nineteenth century, when they took over the heavy haulage tasks from horses and ushered in a new era in the history of transport. They undertook multitudes of tasks, from powering funfairs to heavy haulage for industry, and often looked stunning while working – and certainly when now shown in a preserved state.

In Road Locomotives and Tractors, Eric Sawford celebrates the many remarkable examples of these vehicles, from the magnificent showmen’s engines to the huge road locomotives, as well as the smaller ones better suited to general haulage. The commercial owners and the companies that made them are identified, and fascinating details are given about the road locomotives’ evolving designs. Featuring over 200 photographs of surviving road locomotives and tractors, Sawford takes the reader on a stunning visual tour of an era long past.