Editing Road train (section)

== History ==
Early road trains consisted of [[traction engine]]s pulling multiple wagons. The first identified road trains operated into [[South Australia]]'s [[Flinders Ranges]] from the [[Port Augusta]] area in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fuller|first1=Basil |title=The Ghan: The Story of the Alice Springs Railway|date=1975|publisher=Rigby|isbn=978-0727000163}}</ref> They displaced bullock teams for the carriage of minerals to port and were, in turn, superseded by railways.

During the [[Crimean War]], a traction engine was used to pull multiple open trucks.<ref name=Beavan-217>{{cite book|last=Beavan|first=Arthur H.|title=Tube, Train, Tram, and Car or Up-to-date Locomotion|year=1903|publisher=G. Routledge & sons|location=London|url=https://archive.org/stream/tubetraintramcar00beavrich#page/216/mode/2up|page=217}}</ref> By 1898 steam traction engine trains with up to four wagons were employed in military manoeuvres in England.<ref name=war-20>{{cite book|title=Mechanical traction in war for road transport, with notes on automobiles generally|year=1900|publisher=S. Low, Marston and Company|location=London|url=http://home.us.archive.org/stream/mechanicaltract00layrgoog#page/n50/mode/2up |last1=Layriz|first1=Otfrie |last2=Marston|first2=Robert Bright|page=20}}</ref>

In 1900, [[John Fowler & Co.]] provided armoured road trains for use by the [[British Armed Forces]] in the [[Second Boer War]].<ref name=Beavan-217/><ref>{{cite book|title=The Illustrated war news|url=https://archive.org/stream/nsillustratedwar03londuoft#page/10/mode/1up |date=29 November 1916}}</ref> [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] stated that he had around 45 steam road trains at his disposal.<ref name=wyatt-43>{{cite book|last=Wyatt|first=Horace Matthew|title=Motor transports in war|year=1914|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|url=https://archive.org/stream/motortransportsi00wyatrich#page/43 |pages=43–44}}</ref>

A road train devised by Captain [[Charles Renard]] of the French Engineering Corps was displayed at the 1903 Paris Salon. After his death, [[Daimler Company|Daimler]], which had acquired the rights, attempted to market it in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/4752385/A-good-idea-at-the-time-Renard-Road-Train.html |title=A good idea at the time: Renard Road Train|last=Burgess-Wise|first=David |date=17 August 2001|work=The Telegraph|access-date=5 August 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fm4nAAAAMAAJ&q=1907+%22the+auto%22+road+train&pg=PA242|title=The Auto: The Motorist's Pictorial|last=Spooner|first=Stanley |date=1907|publisher=Pictorial Press|language=en}}</ref> Four of these vehicles were successfully delivered to [[Queensland]], Australia, before the company ceased production upon the start of [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.farinarestoration.com/page4/page81/index.html |title = Farina 2016 works}}</ref>

In the 1930s/40s, the government of Australia operated an [[AEC Roadtrain]] to transport freight and supplies into the Northern Territory, replacing the [[Afghan (Australia)|Afghan]] [[camel]] trains that had been trekking through the deserts since the late 19th century. This truck pulled two or three {{convert|6|m|ftin|abbr=on}} Dyson four-axle self-tracking trailers. At {{convert|130|hp|kW|abbr=on|lk=on}}, the AEC was grossly underpowered by today's standards, and drivers and offsiders (a partner or assistant) routinely froze in winter and sweltered in summer due to the truck's open cab design and the position of the engine radiator, with its {{convert|1.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} cooling fan, behind the seats.

Australian [[Kurt Johannsen (bush mechanic)|Kurt Johannsen]], a bush mechanic, is recognised as the inventor of the modern road train.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/history/hindsight/features/north/epis_4.htm View From The North – Episode Four: Roads North<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> After transporting stud bulls {{convert|200|mi|km|abbr=on}} to an [[outback]] property, Johannsen was challenged to build a truck to carry 100 head of [[cattle]] instead of the original load of 20. Provided with financing of about 2000 [[Australian pound|pound]]s and inspired by the tracking abilities of the Government roadtrain, Johannsen began construction. Two years later his first road train was running.<ref>[[BBC Worldwide]], [[Jeremy Clarkson's Motorworld]], Australian episode</ref>

Johannsen's first road train<!--is it 1 word, 2, or hyphenated...?--> consisted of a [[United States Army]] [[World War II]] surplus [[Diamond T tank transporter|Diamond-T tank carrier]], nicknamed "Bertha", and two home-built self-tracking trailers. Both wheel sets on each trailer could steer, and therefore could negotiate the tight and narrow tracks and creek crossings that existed throughout [[Central Australia]] in the earlier part of the 20th century. Freighter Trailers in Australia viewed this improved invention and went on to build self-tracking trailers for Kurt and other customers, and went on to become innovators in transport machinery for Australia.

This first example of the modern road train, along with the AEC Government Roadtrain, forms part of the huge collection at the [[National Road Transport Hall of Fame]] in [[Alice Springs]], [[Northern Territory]].

In 2023, Janus launched the first [[Battery electric vehicle|BEV]] triple road train with 620 kWh battery, also the world's heaviest [[street-legal]] BEV truck at 170 tonnes (gross weight).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Graham |first=James |date=19 April 2023 |title=World-first electric triple road train launches in SA |url=https://bigrigs.com.au/2023/04/19/world-first-electric-triple-road-train-launches-in-sa/ |access-date=24 April 2024 |website=Big Rigs |language=en-US}}</ref>