A steam tricycle is a steam-driven three-wheeled vehicle.

History

In the early days of motorized vehicle development, several experimenters built steam-powered vehicles with three wheels. The first steam tricycle – and probably the first true self-propelled land vehicle – was

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (26 February 1725 – 2 October 1804) was a French inventor who built the world's first full-size and working self-propelled mechanical land-vehicle, the "Fardier à vapeur" – effectively the world's first automobile. B ...

's 1769 ''Fardier à vapeur'' (steam dray), a three-wheeled machine with a top speed of around 3 km/h (2 mph) originally designed for hauling

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

. Failing to meet the army's design criteria, no further development was undertaken. The

Long steam tricycle The Long steam tricycle appears to be one of the earliest preserved examples of a steam tricycle, built by George A. Long around 1880 and patented in 1883. One example was built, which after some years of use was dismantled and the parts dispers ...

appears to be one of the earliest preserved examples, built by George A. Long around 1880 and patented sometime around 1882; an example is on display at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. In 1881 the Parkyns-Bateman steam tricycle was demonstrated in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It used a petroleum-fired steam boiler (making it the first petroleum-powered vehicle), driving a double-acting two cylinder steam engine on the chassis of a Cheylesmore tricycle. Although numerous orders were reportedly placed, British law made such vehicles essentially illegal on public roads. An example was displayed in the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

from 1912 to 1922. A small steam tricycle was built by Albert, Comte de Dion in 1887. This had two wheels in the front, between which was mounted to the boiler, and a single rear wheel driven by the engine. It was fitted with pneumatic tires. In the same year

Léon Serpollet Léon Serpollet (4 October 1858 – 1 February 1907) was a French engineer and developer of flash steam boilers and steam automobiles. Léon Serpollet was born in Culoz, in the Ain department of France in 1859, son of the carpenter August ...

also constructed a coal-fired steam tricycle, with the "steam generator" (boiler) mounted between two rear wheels. These and other experimenters also built four-wheeled steam-powered vehicles. The invention of the

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

led to the replacement of steam in most cases, although

steam car A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE), whereas the gasoline and diesel engines that eventually became standard are internal combustion engines (ICE). ECEs have a low ...

s continue to be built to the present day in small numbers.

Bibliography

* Singer, Charles Joseph; Raper, Richard. A history of technology : edited by Charles Singer ... t al. Clarendon Press, 1954–1978. History e-book project.. ACLS Humanities E-book. Vol 5. Chapter 18. pp. 423–424.

References

{{Early motorcycles

Tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...

Three-wheeled motor vehicles

History

Bibliography

See also

References