Tag Archives: steam road train

Miscellaneous Steam-Powered Road Vehicles – Scotte Steam Road Vehicles

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Société des Chaudières et Voitures à Vapeur système Scotte was a French manufacturer of steam-powered trucks, tractors, and omnibuses in Paris from 1893 to circa. 1914. The company also built the Train Scotte, an early road train for passenger or freight transport. [1]

I first encountered the Train Scotte when reading about the Cuneo-Ventimiglia-Nice international railway line in a book by Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928. [2] The partial opening of the that railway from Cuneo to Vievola in October 1900 left travellers heading for the Mediterranean in the middle of nowhere!

An experimental steam road train was trialled on the roads from Vievola to Ventimiglia. It was supplied by Société des Chaudières et Voitures à Vapeur système Scotte.

At this time, Vievola was a railway terminal for traffic to and from Piedmont and a hub for road connections onwards to Nice and Liguria. Banaudo et al point us to a magazine published in 1899, which mentions a trial of a steam-powered road vehicle which it was hoped would provide a service to Nice and the coast until such time as a railway was built. [1: p40][37] The service was a trial organised by the House of Ascenso et Cie, and ran from Vievola to Ventimiglia. The journey, lasted a total of six hours, including a 43-kilometre climb. The vehicles used were Scotte trains. The car wagon carried a 27-horsepower engine and seated 16 passengers; it also towed a second 24-seater wagon. [2: p40]

La Locomotion Automobile, 1899, p467, included the paragraph below, quoted/translated above, © Public Domain. [3]

Industrialist Joanny Scotte, [10] originally from Epernay in the Marne department, began his business in the mid-1880s producing steam-powered cars. From 1897, he offered road trains consisting of a tractor or a steam-powered car, pulling one or more trailers designed for the transport of passengers or goods. These vehicles travelled on roads using solid tires. They never really went beyond the experimental stage due to their slowness, the difficulties of driving the vehicles on the narrow roads of the time and the damage caused to the cobbled and cylindered roads. [2: p40] Scotte road train services were reported in the last decade of the 19th century in the Île-de-France region (Fontainebleau, Pont-de-Neuilly, Courbevoie), in the Aube region (Arcis-sur-Aube – Brienne-le-Château), in the Manche region (Pont-l’Abbé-Picauville – Chef-du-Pont), in the Drôme region (Valence – Crest), and for military use. Scotte partnered with the Lyon-based car manufacturers Buire and Audibert-Lavirotte to produce some of its vehicles. [2: p41]

An invitation to a road test of a ‘Train Scotte’ in circa 1895, © Public Domain. [6]
A French pamphlet advertising the ‘Train Scotte’. The wording inside the pamphlet translates as: Scotte trains are made available to buyers after undergoing track and road tests to assess their power, which makes them capable of climbing 7% grades with full load without difficulty, their speed, their rapid stopping and starting, and finally the admirable flexibility of their steering, which allows them to be operated with absolute safety on the busiest and most congested tracks. These preliminary tests are carried out in Paris, before delivery, in the presence of the buyers. Scotte trains have obtained operating authorizations from the various competent authorities. ………. The Scotte passenger train consists of:

1. A power car (steam omnibus) capable of carrying fourteen passengers and the two engine crew;
Weight of the empty car with all equipment: Motor: approximately 3,500 kg; Total length: 5m 20 cm; Width at the waist: 1 m 80 cm; and

2. An unpowered car capable of holding 24 passengers. Weight of the empty car: 1,500 kg; Total length: 4m 65 cm; Width at the waist: 1,080 cm, © Public Domain. [5]
Le ‘Train Scotte’ à voyageurs (Le Génie civil 1897) – in Histoire de l’automobile, Pierre Souvestre, éd. H. Dunod et E. Pinat, 1907. …………………… An English Translation: The ‘Train Scotte’ passenger version (Le Génie civil 1897) – in History of the automobile, Pierre Souvestre, ed. H. Dunod and E. Pinat, 1907, © Public Domain. [1]
Scott steam train in motion at Contrexéville (Vosges). A handwritten note in the margin of the glass plate reads: “Contrexéville. Test of the Scott train.” The newspaper “Le Nouvelliste des Vosges” provides valuable information on the first experiments: “The passenger train, composed of a steam omnibus and a towed car, capable of carrying together forty people at a speed of 12 to 15 kilometers (…) The route adopted for the Scotte train tests is as follows: Châtenois, Aulnois-Bulgnéville, Saint-Ouen-les-Parey, Bulgnéville, Contrexéville, Vittel, Ville-sur-Illon, Épinal via Darnieulles, Thaon, Épinal, Remiremont, Gérardmer via Le Tholy, La Schlucht, Gérardmer, Saint-Dié, Raon-l’Étape, the Celles valley, Rambervillers, Épinal, Xertigny, Bains, Fontenoy-le-Château, Allevillers, Plombières, Remiremont, Val-d’Ajol, Fougerolles, Luxeuil. This journey takes ten to twelve days. We will stay a day or two in Épinal for tests. Later from Giromagny to Saint-Maurice… (Le Nouvelliste des Vosges, Sunday, August 2 to Sunday, August 9, 1896), © Public Domain. [7]
Also at Contrexéville (Vosges) with a crowd of curious onlookers gathered around the Scotte steam train. [8]
The ‘Train Scotte’ in 1897 at Poids, Lourds In trials of early commercial vehicles. The Train Scotte’s motor wagon is loaded with 2 tons and the trailer with 3.5 tons. A series of competing steam road tractors were assessed by a delegation from Liverpool, UK. The delegation formed the opinion that of a range of manufacturers submissions (Scotte, Weidknecht, Le Blant, Do Dietrich, Panhard and Levassor, De Dion-Bouton, De Ellen and Maison Parisienne) to the trials, only the Scotte and De Ellen vehicles were capable of dealing with loads such as Liverpool required to move, © Public Domain. [4]

The wikipedia webpage relating to the ‘Train Scotte’ provides a series of photographs and drawings of the company’s products, including one advertising poster. All are in the public domain and are shown below:

Le train Scotte n°10 au Paris-Rouen 1894 (omnibus de M. J. Scotte, Epernay 51), Voitures sans chevaux. Concours organisé par le Petit Journal, 22 juillet 1894, coll. R.Girard BNF/Gallica – Premier omnibus à traction mécanique – Société des Chaudières et Voitures à Vapeur système Scotte et Buffaud & Robatel. ……………….. An English translation: Scotte train No. 10 on the Paris-Rouen route in 1894 (Mr. J. Scotte’s omnibus, Epernay 51), Horseless Carriages. Competition organized by the Petit Journal, July 22, 1894, R. Girard collection, BNF/Gallica – First mechanically powered omnibus – Scotte and Buffaud & Robatel Boiler and Steam Carriage Company, © Public Domain. [1]
A drawing of the same vehicle, based on the photograph above and carried in the same journal, © Public Domain. [1]
[Collection Jules Beau. Photographie sportive] : T. 12. Années 1899 et 1900 / Jules Beau : F. 48v. [Transsibérien, décembre 1900]; Entre 1899 et 1900. ……………………………… An English Translation: [Jules Beau Collection. Sports Photography]: Vol. 12. Years 1899 and 1900 / Jules Beau: F. 48v. [Trans-Siberian, December 1900]; Dated between 1899 and 1900, © Public Domain. [1]

[Collection Jules Beau. Photographie sportive] : T. 7. Année 1898 / Jules Beau : F. 14v. Train Scotte ; Laszewski; 1898. ……………………………. An English Translation: [Jules Beau Collection. Sports Photography]: Vol. 7. Year 1898 / Jules Beau: F. 14v. Scotte Train; Laszewski; Date 1898, © Public Domain. [1]
Le Train Scotte et son attelage, en 1900; Le Sport universel illustré, 29 septembre 1900, p.618. ……………….. An English Translation: The Scotte train and its train of wagons, in 1900. Source: Le Sport universel Train , September 29, 1900, p. 618, © Public Domain. [1]
Affiche par Henri Gray (1858-1924) pour le transport en commun à vapeur : le Train Scotte [1897];
Source gallica.bnf.fr/Bibliothèque nationale de France. An English Translation: Poster by Henri Gray (1858-1924) for steam-powered public transport: the Scotte Train [1897]. Source: gallica.bnf.fr/Bibliothèque nationale de France, © Public Domain. [1]
Another view of the ‘Train Scotte’. [9]

The tractor was equipped with a vertical Field system boiler, 600 litres of water for which were stored under the passenger seats, and a 14 horsepower, 2-cylinder engine. Coke or coal was its fuel (200 kg for 4 hours of operation). The movement was transmitted to the rear axle by a chain. The trailer was coupled to the tractor by a pivoting front axle. To stop, the steam omnibus had a quick brake operated by a pedal, a screw brake operated by a flywheel and, in an emergency, could work on the gear change. Steering was provided by a steering wheel. [9]

The Train Scotte train ran on wooden spoked wheels with iron tires. The seats were also made of wood, passengers needed to bring a cushion. The machine was quite noisy. It could be heard coming from afar and some houses shook as it passed. Its speed wasn’t very high, 12 to 15 km/h, so there was time to admire the scenery.

When carrying only goods, up to 5 to 6 tons, its speed was reduced to 6 to 7 km/h.

The experiment failed. The attempt to use the ‘Train Scotte’ between Vievola and Ventimiglia was abandoned quite quickly, probably no more than a few weeks after it commenced: driving was difficult, damage to road surfaces occurred, the road gradients were steep. [2: p41]

Elsewhere, experimental journeys had mixed success. Steam road vehicles were slow and they faced serious competition from similar vehicles with internal combustion engines. For a very short time around the turn of the 20th century, these vehicles seemed to have a future but ultimately the experiment failed!

References

  1. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Scotte_vehicles, accessed on 25th July 2025.
  2. Jose Banaudo, Michel Braun and Gerard de Santos; Les Trains du Col de Tende Volume 1: 1858-1928; FACS Patrimoine Ferroviaire, Les Editions du Cabri, 2018.
  3. La Locomotion Automobile, 1899, p467; via https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t53333638/f5.item, accessed on 25th July 2025.
  4. What is France Doing: Fully Illustrated Account of Trails Now in Progress; in Commercial Motor; August 1905, p8-15. The report seems to relate, at least in part, to trials in 1897.
  5. https://www.livre-rare-book.com/book/5472786/AUTO477, accessed on 26th July 2025.
  6. https://ebay.us/m/d270lw, accessed on 26th July 2025.
  7. https://www.image-est.fr/fiche-documentaire-train-scotte-contrexeville-1284-15027-2-0.html, accessed on 26th July 2025.
  8. https://www.image-est.fr/fiche-documentaire-train-scotte-contrexeville-1442-15028-2-0.html, accessed on 26th July 2025.
  9. https://www.archigny.net/spip.php?article=617, accessed on 26th July 2025.
  10. Contrary to what one might think, the name Scotte is not of English origin, but entirely French. Mr. Scotte was previously called Mr. Crotte. Tired of the dubious jokes, he had an S added before the C, then removed the R from the patronymic spelling of his name. [9]