Traction engines developed in the mid 1860s and were usually dirty, noisy and somewhat crude to handle. They were driven initially by men who were perhaps not very skilled in handling them but these men were not just drivers ndash; they developed the task into an art. This book brings together much information about these engines, from the earliest to the latest. Attention is also given to the various derivatives of the traction engine ndash; the humble portable, the well-known steam roller, the little steam tractor, majestic road locomotives and ploughing engines and, not least, the King of the Road, the glorious and glittering showman's engine. About the author Derek Rayner first drove a traction engine in 1963. He and two friends purchased a 1915 Aveling & Porter steam roller in 1964 and he has been its sole owner since 1968. Mr Rayner is president of the Leeds & District Traction Engine Club and is assistant editor of Steaming, the magazine of the National Traction Engine Trust. Other titles for Shire by this author: Road Rollers Steam Wagons