2-995-833 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Locomotive Steam-carriage for common roads, built for the Earl of Caithness, 1860. '...a steam-carriage...with which his Lordship, accompanied by Lady Caithness, the Rev, W. Ross, and Mr. Rickett, "travelled north; " in fact, drove from Inverness to Barrogell Castle, a distance of 150 miles, virtually in two days, and which is considered the boldest and most difficult enterprise recorded in the annals of road locomotion...on those parts of the road where some distance forward could be seen, he attained a speed of eighteen miles an hour...on stopping for water, egress from the carriage was almost impossible from the crowd of Gaelic fishermen assembled...These carriages are designed by Mr. Rickett to carry three persons at ten miles per hour on any ordinary roads...They require about the same space as a horse and chaise, carry sufficient water for ten to fifteen miles, and coal for thirty miles, weigh thirty cwt., and are well mounted on springs, the only noise being that of the escaping steam, which can be stopped instantly when horses appear frightened...In the Engraving the splashers are taken off the wheels in order to show the machinery, which when working is protected from dust and dirt'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.