Locomobile

The first mobile steam engines, called locomobiles, appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, when agriculture was beginning to be mechanised, but their use did not spread until the 1850s. Locomobiles had a tubular boiler that produced huge quantities of steam, but which was not yet used to move the machine, which still had to be drawn from farm to farm by horses. The power produced by the locomobile drove agricultural machinery machines via belts. The Tuxford locomobile was shown at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, where Arthur Morin acquired it for the Conservatoire.