pulled by steam-propelled tractors. Gurney's conveyances 

 were taken over and improved upon by Dance, who, from 

 February to June 1831, ran a regular service with them four 

 times a day between Gloucester and Cheltenham, a distance 

 of 9 miles. The speed, including stops, was a little over 10 

 miles an hour. 



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Figure 2. — One of Walter Hancock's steam carriages, 1 836. 



Between 1827 and 1838 Hancock built nine steam car- 

 riages of various types, all of which were mechanically suc- 

 cessful. One of these is shown in figure 2. In 1832 he 

 started a regular steam omnibus service between Padding- 

 ton and London. One of the best of his carriages weighed 

 about 7,000 pounds and carried 16 passengers. There were 

 two vertical cylinders, 9 inches in diameter with 12-inch 

 stroke, driving a crankshaft connected by chain to driving 

 wheels 48 inches in diameter. Steam was supplied by a 

 sheet-flue boiler 2 feet square and 3 feet high, placed over 

 a grate which had a closed ashpit and a fan draft. 



In 1832 Church's steam carriages (fig. 3) ran between 

 London and Birmingham, but they were subsequently given 

 up because of the competition from the newly opened 

 railroad. 



The steam carriages of Squire and Maceroni, built about 

 1833, regularly ran at an average speed of 14 miles an hour, 

 while their maximum speed was 20. 



By 1836 steam road carriages were practically abandoned 

 in England because of the heavy tolls imposed on mechani- 

 cally propelled vehicles on the highways. Also, the rail- 



10 



