Thompson’s Motor Phaeton was the first self-propelled road vehicle seen in the Riverina. Photo: Museums Victoria.
On the Friday afternoon of 4 May 1900, residents of Wagga Wagga were treated to the extraordinary sights and sounds of a horseless carriage clattering its way across the dusty, rutted surface of Fitzmaurice Street.
“No small amount of interest was created in town yesterday afternoon, by the arrival of a motor car, the first which has made its appearance in Wagga,” wrote the Wagga Wagga Express.
“The vehicle was a ‘Thompson’ make, and was in charge of the inventor Mr H Thompson, and Mr S L Holmes.”
Through the middle of the 19th century steam power had steadily transformed Australia’s waterways and the expanding railway networks had linked the far-flung cities and regions. But at the turn of the century the roads remained little more than dusty tracks ruled by horse-drawn vehicles and bullock drays.
As inventors across the globe tinkered with the idea of self-propelled road vehicles, Melbourne cousins Herbert Thompson and Edward Holmes were determined to demonstrate that the motor car was the way of the future down under.
Herbert constructed his first steam engine at 19 for use in a launch on the Yarra River and, after training as an engineer, he set himself up as a manufacturer of steam engines and boilers in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale. He and Edward built their steam-powered ‘Motor Phaeton’ in 1896 and had it fully operational by July 1899.
It was described as “quiet and smooth-running” and the six-seat carriage was made of fiddle-back ash and silky oak. It had a kerosene fuelled, two-cylinder engine and was proving to be a hit during exhibitions at sporting grounds and public events.
The wooden bodied steam car created by Herbert Thomson completed a 794 km trip from Bathurst to Melbourne in April / May 1900. Museums Victoria.
The phaeton caused a stir on the nation’s biggest stage at the 1900 Easter Show in Sydney where locals debated the safety of introducing such an unwieldly looking contraption to the city’s busy streets.
The cousins deftly demonstrated their ability to control the motorised marvel and announced their intention for a record setting interstate drive from the Central West to Melbourne via the Riverina.
“The Thompson car, the production of a Melbourne engineer, is propelled by steam, and is built as a phaeton fitted with Dunlop pneumatic carriage tires, the whole forming a compact and handsome turnout,” recorded the Queenslander newspaper.
“It is the intention of the builder and designer to attempt an overland trip with his car from Sydney to Melbourne, 604 miles, a route that is hilly and rough enough to test the strength and endurance of a bullock-waggon, let alone a light phaeton.”
In late April, Herbert and Edward loaded the phaeton with water and kerosene and set off from Bathurst at an average speed of 14 km/h. Herbert explained that he wanted to “err on the side of safety”, however on one downhill section of the journey they reached hair-raising speeds of 24 km/h and managed to outpace a pair of horses over a 19 km stretch.
The journey was far from straightforward with inevitable mechanical breakdowns and frequent stops for repairs and to replenish water supplies for the thirsty steam boiler. It also had only one forward gear, meaning that the belt needed to be manually shortened before a climb.
Steep, rocky hills tested the vehicle’s capabilities, while boggy sections and river crossings often required ingenuity and the occasional assistance of a passing bullock dray or horse-drawn wagon.
The Cootamundra Herald described the excitement as the never-before-seen spectacle rolled through town.
“As it glided through the streets, heads were bobbing at every door. But a quarter of an hour and the interesting piece of mechanism was on the road once more, en route to Buthungra, leaving knots of curious people collected wherever it had halted,” they wrote.
“A cyclist accompanied them a few miles along the road to view the action of the machine upon the hills, and he came back to report that it ‘took the three’ of them all their time, with full steam on, to push the heavy vehicle up the gap hill.
“Doubtless this weakness will in time be overcome, and then the old horse will have to stand aside.”
According to the Wagga Wagga Express, the 70 km journey from Bethungra to Wagga was covered in 2 hours 20 minutes and included a “slight mishap” at Junee where Herbert swerved to avoid a rut and damaged a tyre.
In the end, the marathon run from Bathurst to Melbourne was completed in just five days and stands as an important milestone in Australian motoring history, marking the beginning of the country’s transition to the automobile.
Original Article published by Chris Roe on Region Riverina.
