As wheat farming spread, the invention of ingenious machines to take the load off human labourers gradually saw the deployment of the steam engine throughout the continent. The first steam engine arrived in Asutralia in 1813, imported for use in a Sydney flour mill. But it took over a century from then for steam-driven heavy agricultural machinery to replace the horse - which was plentiful and so, for a long time, provided the most economical method. The early steam traction engines were huge lumbering machines, but they had the very real advantage of doing the work of scores of horses. And they operated efficiently in the sandy, rough country of the outback.
From the steam traction engine, it was a short road to the transport revolution. In 1896, when Herbert Thompson drove his steam-powered 2-cylinder motor car the length and breadth of Victoria, he led Australia's rush to enjoy mechanised, personalised transport. Source: Booklet accompanying the 1997 Masterpieces in Silver - The Opening of the Continent - Set. Steam Traction Engines are featured on the following Australian coins:
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