Preston steam wagon pioneers break the railway monopoly, T Coulthard and Company

A Coulthard built steam lorry of 1897 Pic: Graces’ Guide — A Coulthard built steam lorry of 1897 Pic: Grace’s Guide

The shipment of goods was dominated by the railways until the early 20th century. Preston was at the heart of attempts to break that monopoly. T Coulthard and Company of Preston were cotton machinery manufacturers. However they also made inroads into steam lorry manufacture. In 1896 Coulthard became part owner of J Summer of Leyland. James Summer developed various steam wagons and later Coulthard and Summer formed the Lancashire Steam Motor Company. This company eventually became Leyland Motors.

Why steam lorries?

Up until the turn of the 20th century, the railways had a monopoly on long distance goods shipping. However by 1910, road transport was beginning to make some impact. This was in no small part due to the fledgling Leyland motors and their steam lorries.

1899 steam lorry Pic: Grace's Guide — 1899 steam lorry Pic: Grace’s Guide

Most towns had large goods yards and a vast range of items came in via the railways. Local distribution from the station was often also provided by the railways. This continued on into BR days. The image below was taken at the Butler Street goods station, and shows a BR owned Scammel Mechanical Horse.

Scammel Mechanical Horse at Butler Street Goods Station Pic: Grace's Guide — Scammel Mechanical Horse at Butler Street Goods Station Pic: Grace’s Guide

Early steam lorries

Steam power had been used for agriculture since the mid 19th century. Cumbersome creatures known as traction or ploughing engines, were used in pairs to pull a plough across a field. They could pull a trailer but were too fuel hungry to travel long distances.

The Preston company of T Coulthard began experimenting with lighter steam lorries in 1895. A few problems had to be solved, including the need to shovel coal as well as drive! Another problem was the very inefficient delivery of power. The coal problem was solved by running the steam engine on oil. Compound engines had been used for ships for several years and by 1895, these were being adapted to road use. They had three cylinders and improved the efficiency of steam engines by a great amount. However the efficiency was still only about 11 per cent compared to the early diesel engines at 29 per cent.

Advert for Coulthard’s steam lorries Pic: Preston Digital Archive

Originally the Preston designed lorries had uni-directional engines that could not reverse. Not very practical. Eventually triple expansion engines with a reverser were used. The lorries were also fitted with a gear box to better control the speed. Notably, the back wheels were driven by two chains. They were not very speedy but could haul a considerable weight.

Preston hauliers break the monopoly

Steam wagon at Preston Docks Pic: Preston Digital Archive

Locally built steam lorries were popular with Preston companies. They were used for all kinds of bulk goods including grain shipments from Preston Docks. They were also used over relatively long distances, for example bringing in raw cotton from Liverpool. Eventually Private hauliers broke the railway monopoly. The final nail in the coffin of rail goods shipment was the rail strike of 1955. This led to many customers abandoning the railways in favour of road transport.

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