In the 1890s there started to be references to another form of traction/steam engine - the steam roller - which was to remain on Jamaica's roads, perhaps into the 1950s. Did I actually see one when I came here in the mid-'50s, or is that just a memory from the Devonshire roads of my wartime childhood?
From the early 1890s there were pleas for steam rollers to be acquired to prepare road surfaces properly, especially to reduce the injury and pain caused by sharp stones to animals being ridden, or pulling carts. In the summer of 1897 Kingston's Resident Engineer, Mr A G Nash, was able to announce that 'a ten ton steam roller has been ordered and will be out here in a few months.' Daily Gleaner, June 1, 1897.
In the following years steam rollers were regularly used in doing street improvement in Kingston, and the authorities were urged to use them even more systematically to improve street surfaces, especially after heavy rains had carried away the finer particles of the marl which was still used to surface Kingston's streets.
[N.B. strictly speaking a 'steam roller' was powered by steam; rollers powered by gasoline engines would perhaps more properly just be called 'road rollers'!]
In the following years steam rollers were regularly used in doing street improvement in Kingston, and the authorities were urged to use them even more systematically to improve street surfaces, especially after heavy rains had carried away the finer particles of the marl which was still used to surface Kingston's streets.
[N.B. strictly speaking a 'steam roller' was powered by steam; rollers powered by gasoline engines would perhaps more properly just be called 'road rollers'!]