Richard Dudgeon's Steam Carriage, 1853

Richard Dudgeon immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland, and became a skilled machinist while working at an iron works.  He started his own shop, and was very successful in selling a hydraulic jack that he patented for use in the shipbuilding and railroad industries.   

Dudgeon then turned his skills to building a steam powered carriage, and sometime between 1853 and 1857 built an eight passenger carriage.  It was exhibited in the Crystal Palace industrial exposition in New York City, and was destroyed when the Crystal Palace burned down.  He built a second steam carriage shown below, which was finished in 1866. 


The 1866 Dudgeon steam carriage seated a driver and eight passengers.  Water tanks were placed under the passenger seats, and riders put their feet on the boiler.  It could travel at 25-30 mph, and was driven around New York City and the inventor's home on Long Island.  The 1866 Dudgeon vehicle is in the Smithsonian Museum.  

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