Thomson's 'New Favourite' Road Steamer at Edinburgh
Anonymous wood engraving published in The Graphic, 11th June 1870

Steam was well established for railways and passenger boats but attempts to pull carriages on roads proved much less successful. R. William Thomson (1822-1873) was born at Stonehaven and became a civil engineer. The print shows Thomson's three-wheeled steam tractor pulling a two-wheeled omnibus. The accompanying text explains that previous experiments had failed because of the difficulty of producing adequate traction without destroying the road surface. 'The great peculiarity of this road-steamer is that the wheels are bound round to the depth of fives inches with India-rubber tire. This covering ... possesses innumerable advantages, being at the same time perfectly noiseless and exceedingly durable'.
 
Courtesy of Andrew Fraser

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