The steam engine and railroad extended civilization’s reach. There was hardly a city on Earth you couldn’t get to by railroad.
It seems almost selfish and ungrateful to point this out, but…once you get used to the idea of traveling wherever you want, you start to think about traveling whenever you want. How much fun would it be to travel where the rails don’t go—and not worry about a train schedule?
Of course people still traveled on horseback or by horse-and-buggy. Horses need food and water, though, and they poop (that made a town’s streets pretty unsanitary). If you travel long distances, you’ll want to replace your horse at intervals so you don’t run him to death. There are drawbacks to long-distance horse travel.
So you think, why not use steam to power a personal car—like a small locomotive? There were disadvantages: the boiler needs time to heat up before you can use it. An engine strong enough to propel a car has to be big. Fuel (coal or wood) takes up space. You have to keep feeding the fire. You need gallons and gallons of water. Many challenges to overcome!
Nevertheless, there were steam-driven road-machines, and they were magnificent.
The Stanley Steamer
Jay Leno takes us for a ride in his White steam car—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBU8IPyUyTk
And check out this baby—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9FuCDRRb7k
Face it, the guy really knows his steam—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Me8b0ed59s
I’ve been to the Pioneer Steam and Gas Engine Society shows in Western Pennsylvania and they are a blast! Maybe next year we’ll get our sanity back—http://pioneersteamandgas.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_car
Here’s everything you need to know about how a Stanley steam carriage works—http://www.stanleymotorcarriage.com/Parts/howitworks.htm
I must admit, I can’t figure out why there isn’t a smokestack. I know the steam car is using liquid fuel instead of wood or coal. Is it because the whole design is contained and under pressure? I guess that’s it but I would expect there to be some exhaust.
This article makes the case for stream-driven cars—https://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/why-does-nobody-make-a-steam-powered-car
John Manders' Blog 
So much research. Fascinating.
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Thanks, Marsha! Hurray for research! When I began writing this post I (naïvely) intended to point out how impractical steam cars were, and that the gas-powered internal combustion engine was the only way to go. Then I stumbled across Jay Leno’s videos. If it weren’t for the fact that steam cars require more expertise or knowledge than gas cars, we’d have a lot more steam on the road, I think. Steam is superior to gas.
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Good post, John. In theory, I like the idea of steam power, but wonder if widespread use of it would affect climate change, heat-wise?
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They do get hot but I don’t think we need to worry about widespread use of steam cars! I like the way they look. Did you watch any of the videos? What fun. I’m reading some more about how they work.
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Haven’t seen the videos yet. Will check later, thanks!
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