1892 Philion Road Carraige Road Carraige

Achille Philion was a traveling showman known as 'The Marvelous Equilibrist and Originator.' He began working on his steam carriage in 1887, and took the unfinished machine with him wherever he went, to work on it as time allowed. The carriage was first run in 1880, was patented in 1892, and was displayed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. This is the only example of the Philion steam carriage ever built. Steam was a common motive power then and coal was used as fuel (this was later changed to oil); a chauffeur sat behind the boiler and was responsible for maintaining steam. The carriage could be steered from either the front or the rear, and a speed of 8 mph was possible.