5: De road engine.

Another type of engine that could be seen on the roads was the road engine, which was designed for transport over the roadways
If we look to the outside of this engines, it has very much similarities with the agricultural engine which I discussed earlier.
However, the road engine has its own characteristics, eg one of the differences is the closed flywheel.
Because the road engines were designed for transport of heavy loads over (long) distances, the were equipped with extra watertanks. These watertanks were installed under the boiler and that has given them the name belly tanks. Sometimes extra watertanks were installed on top of the boiler, like a saddle, as is seen on some railway locomotives. The name saddletank is a typical word used in the world of railways.
Another difference between an agricultural engine and a roadengine is the application of springs to enable a “smooth” drive. The roads in these days were not comparable with our modern highways! In the later days road engines were equipped with massive rubber tires around the steel wheels to avoid damage of the roadsurface when that was improved.
In the Netherlands the road engine has not had the popularity as it has had in England. In England they were part of the daily streettraffic: a road engine with eg 2 or 3 loads behind the engine was normal.
Many different types of roadengines have been constructed. Just like agricultural engines, the period of construction could be recognised from certain external marks: old engines have a relative short smokebox, and the old engines did not have separate nameplates. The name of the manufacturer and town were only mentioned on the steamvalvebox.