Steam Wagons in Preservation

The Steam lorry (or wagon, as it is more commonly known) developed alongside the internal combustion engine truck. Its heyday was between 1900 and the early 1930s, but there could be only one winner and, by the mid-1930s with the adoption of the more efficient diesel engine and with punitive legislation, the end was in sight for steam. There had been two main manufacturers of steam wagons and eventually both turned to diesel. Other makers had already switched or fallen by the wayside. By 1960 the commercial life of these wagons had almost come to an end, but hundreds have survived into preservation to tell their story.