The concept of using steam to provide power has been around a long time. James Watt is generally credited for inventing the modern steam engine with separate condenser in 1769 but Thomas Newcomen built a steam-powered pump in 1712 and Thomas Savery had patented a primitive engine in 1698! I've heard rumors even that the Romans had small stationary steam engines but didn't think them useful because slave labor was so plentiful. With all of our self-congratulation over spaceflight and the Internet and the wonders of this century we have forgotten that steam power dominated industry for the better part of three centuries. Certainly the effect of the steam locomotive on the American landscape is well known, but the world of steam traction in agriculture is less deified in myth.
Still, the wonder and awe of steam persists in a few small pockets of society. I suspect that part of the appeal of steam is that it is mostly mechanical. When an electrical device is in operation, it doesn't move, it just sits there and hums. With steam you can see every rod and lever and shaft and gear and follow them here and there and understand what they do. The air is warm around a boiler and the smoke has a woody, enjoyable smell. There are hisses and clanks and toots of the whistle, dials with vibrating indicators, and eccentric wheels bobbing up and down. Steam is an experience that effects all of the senses.
Steam rallys are mostly populated by preservationists, old guys in coveralls who want to remind folks of the way things used to be. In the sci-fi world, a form of speculative fiction called steampunk has asked the question of what the world would be like now if things hadn't gotten so sped up and miniaturized, if everything had to be mechanical, and if Victorian society had evolved into our chaotic, postapocalyptic landscape. The late 1800s were a time when bicycles could look like anything, when men flew from kites, when submarine cables were being laid, and innovation was encouraged in any direction. What I'm trying to do is to bridge those two worlds, to be a living steampunk, to bring back the golden age of cycling and steam with Victorian costumes modernized by spikes and gas masks. What IF the world hadn't gotten so sped up? What if people never stopped dressing up to go outside, still tipped their hats in hello on the streets, encouraged innovation and speculation to a degree that makes the tech boom pale by comparison, and traveled through a countryside where the chirping of the birds was only interrupted by the occasional glub-glub-glub of a steam tractor hard at work? The punk in steampunk comes from refusing to accept the way the world is now, and choosing instead to live the way you wish the world was. You are all welcome to join me in bringing this fantasy to life.
| An interesting thing about these traction engines is the way they are steered. This winch winds up a chain, which pulls the tiller right or left, just like on an ox-drawn cart. |  |
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Here are some movies you can download of these engines in action: |