This article is about the construction vehicle. For the smoking pipe, see Steamroller (pipe). A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for levelling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The levelling/flattening action is achieved through a combination of the size and weight of the vehicle and the rolls: the smooth wheels and the large cylinder or drum fitted in place of treaded road wheels. A common glass steamroller. ...
It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
// The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ...
The majority of steam rollers are outwardly similar to traction engines as many traction engine manufacturers later produced rollers based on their existing designs, and the patents owned by certain roller manufacturers tended to influence the general arrangements used by others. The key difference between the two vehicles is that on a roller the main roll replaces the front wheels and axle that would be fitted to a traction engine. Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 2373 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 2373 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
// The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ...
// A traction engine (sometimes called a road locomotive) is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ...
For other uses, see Wheel (disambiguation). ...
// A traction engine (sometimes called a road locomotive) is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ...
In many parts of the world, the term steam roller is still used to refer to a road roller, regardless of the method of propulsion. This typically only applies to the largest examples (used for road-making). It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
This article concentrates on steam-powered rollers; see road roller for a description of motor (eg diesel) rollers. It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
Configurations The majority of rollers were of the same basic configuration, with two large smooth wheels at the back and a single wide roll at the front. However, there was also a distinctive variant, the tandem, which had two wide rolls, one front, one rear (see photo). This configuration is still used frequently for small motor road rollers for use on minor pavement and road repairs. It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
Another variation was the convertible: a combined engine which could be either a steam roller or a traction engine and could be changed from one form to the other in a relatively short time – i.e. less than half a day. Convertible engines were liked by local authorities since the same machine could be used for haulage in the winter and road-mending in the summer (for example).
Design features Although most steam roller designs are derived from traction engines, and were manufactured by the same companies, there are a number of features that set them apart. // A traction engine (sometimes called a road locomotive) is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ...
Wheels The most obvious difference is in the wheels. All traction engines were built with large fabricated spoked steel wheels with wide rims. Those intended for road use would have continuous solid rubber 'tyres' bolted around the rims, to improve traction on tarmac. Engines intended for agricultural use would have a series of 'strakes' bolted diagonally across the rims (like the tread on a modern pneumatic tractor tyre), and the wheels were typically wider to spread the load more evenly.
Steam rollers, on the other hand, had smooth rear wheels and a roller at the front. The roller was a single wide cylinder supported at either end. This replaced the separate wheels and axle of a traction engine.
Smokebox In the conventional arrangement, the front roller is mounted centrally, forward of the chimney. In order to allow enough clearance from the boiler (and hence a larger front roll), the smokebox is extended forward substantially at the top to incorporate a support plate on which to mount the bearing for the roller assembly. This gives the distinctive 'hooded' look to the front of a steam roller. It also necessitates a different design of smokebox door – it has to drop down, rather than opening sideways, due to the limited access available. The smokebox (outlined in red) of Soo Line 1003. ...
Special equipment The rear rollers were fitted with scraper bars. As the vehicle moved along, these removed any surface material that had become stuck to the roll, to prevent a build-up of material and ensure a flat finish was maintained.
Some steam rollers were fitted with a scarifier mounted on the tender box at the rear. They could be swung down to road level and used to rip up the old surface before a road was remade.
Another 'extra' was a tar sprayer - a bar mounted on the back of the roller. This was not a common fixture.
Use (UK) A number of companies owned fleets of steam rollers and contracted them out to local authorities.
Many were still in use into the 1960s, and part of the M1 motorway was made with the help of steam rollers. [1] The M1 motorway heading south towards junction 37 at Barnsley, South Yorkshire. ...
A few steam rollers were still being used for road maintenance in the early 1970s, and this may go some way to explaining why road rollers are still colloquially known as steam rollers to this day. It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
Manufacturers Britain was a large exporter of steam rollers to the world over the years with the firm of Aveling and Porter probably being the most famous and the most prolific. Aveling & Porter engine Margaret Aveling and Porter railway engine for industrial use. ...
Many other traction engine manufacturers built steam rollers, but after Aveling and Porter, the most popular were Marshall, Sons & Co., John Fowler & Co., and Wallis and Steevens. // A traction engine (sometimes called a road locomotive) is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ...
Marshall, Sons & Co. ...
1916-built John Fowler & Co. ...
In America, the Buffalo-Springfield Company was a large builder. J. I. Case made a roller variant of their famed farm engines, but had a small market share. Other nations had makers including the Czechs, Swiss, Swedes, Germans and Dutch which produced steam rollers. Case Corporation was a manufacturer of construction and agricultural equipment. ...
Current use Many steam rollers are preserved in operating condition, and can be seen in operation during special live steam festivals, where operating scale models may also be displayed. A Live Steam Festival displaying equipment ranging from small stationary engines to full-size locomotives. ...
A scale model of the Tower of London. ...
In popular culture
On television UK steeplejack, and engineering enthusiast Fred Dibnah was known as a National Institution in Great Britain for the conservation of steam rollers and traction engines. The first engine he restored to working order was an Aveling & Porter steam roller, registration no. DM3079. Built in 1912, it was a 10 ton slide-valve, single-cylinder, 4-shaft, road roller. [1] The profession of steeplejack is reserved for a general craftsman who is prepared to scale tall buildings and in particular church steeples with the object of carrying out general repairs. ...
Fred Dibnah MBE (28 April 1938 – 6 November 2004), born in Bolton, Lancashire, was an English steeplejack, engineer and eccentric who became a television personality, a cult figure[2] and, latterly, a national institution. ...
Aveling & Porter engine Margaret Thomas Aveling and Richard Thomas Porter entered into partnership in 1862, developed a steam engine 1865 three years later, and produced more of the machines than all the other British manufacturers combined. ...
1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
Originally named "Allison", after his first wife, Fred renamed the engine "Betsy" (his mother's name) following his divorce – Fred's view being "wives may change but your mother remains your mother!"
This roller was featured in many of Fred's early television programmes. It may still be seen at steam rallies in Britain and was in steam at the Great Dorset Steam Fair in 2006, working in the road-mending demonstration. The Great Dorset Steam Fair is an annual show featuring steam powered vehicles and machinery. ...
On film - In the film Dad's Army, the Walmington-on-Sea platoon are sent on an exercise for Home Guard training. On the way, an incident that disables Jones's van results in Capt. Mainwaring commandeering a passing steam roller to tow the van to the exercise. Unfortunately, on arrival at the training camp, Mainwaring and Jones discover that neither knows how to stop the roller, and they end up flattening their tents and equipment.
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1952 film about a story of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. ...
The original Bristol Temple Meads station, first terminus of the GWR, is the building to the left of this picture The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England, the West Country and South Wales with London. ...
The Titfield Thunderbolt is a 1952 film about a story of villagers trying to prevent British Railways from closing the fictional Titfield branch line. ...
Dads Army was a 1971 feature film based on the BBC television sitcom Dads Army. ...
In fiction - Roley is one of the main vehicle characters in the children's books and TV series, Bob the Builder. He is a green roller with a cab, enclosed power unit and no chimney, and so is obviously diesel-powered - nevertheless, his official title is Roley the Steamroller. This is another example of why the use of 'steam roller', to describe a modern road roller, still persists in the English language.
Image File history File links Georgesteamroller. ...
Image File history File links Georgesteamroller. ...
Thomas & Friends (formerly Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, also known as Thomas the Tank Engine) is a British childrens television series which was first broadcast in 1984. ...
George the Steamroller is a fictional character from the Thomas the Tank Engine childrens books and TV Series. ...
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE, (June 15, 1911 – March 21, 1997), better known as the Reverend W. Awdry, was a clergyman, railway enthusiast and childrens author. ...
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Railway Series The Railway Series is a set of story books about a fictional railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor and the engines that lived on it. ...
Thomas & Friends (formerly Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, also known as Thomas the Tank Engine) is a British childrens television series which was first broadcast in 1984. ...
Bob the Builder is a childrens television clay character created by Keith Chapman. ...
It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
In music Buffalo Springfield was a magnifcent short-lived but influential folk rock group that served as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina and is most famous for the song For What Its Worth. ...
References Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ...
is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to: steam rollers Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...
// A traction engine (sometimes called a road locomotive) is a wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. ...
It has been suggested that Steamroller be merged into this article or section. ...
The roller is an agricultural tool used for flattening land or breaking up large clumps of dirt, especially after plowing. ...
Roller may mean: In biology: Roller, family of brightly coloured near passerine birds in the genera Coracias and Eurystomus In industry: Roller (machine part), a cylindrical machine component or a component of a roller bearing Roller (agricultural tool), an agricultural or gardening implement for levelling ground Road roller (also called...
steam aircraft (steam ball) aeolipile (steam bath) sauna steam brig steam car steam donkey steam dummy (dummy engine) (steam electric power plant) fossil fuel power plant (FFPP) (steam electrolysis) high-temperature electrolysis steam engine steam explosion steam generator Steam generator (nuclear power) steam hammer steam locomotive nomenclature steam locomotive production...
Paddys Motorbike An English (or possibly Irish) navvy colloquialism for a type of spark ignition petrol earth (or hardcore) compactor. ...
External links - Road Roller Association – UK-based society dedicated to the preservation of steam (and motor) rollers and ancillary road-making equipment.
- "Steam Dinosaur" – world's oldest surviving traction engine: immediate ancestor of Aveling's earliest rollers.
(Article includes lots of detail about early Aveling roller design.) | 
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