This photograph is a bit of a rarity as well. It is of an experimental Botrail Tractor on Redcar beach around the 1920s. I couldn’t see this as being very successful due to the length of the treads. Too many parts to go wrong. Perhaps that is why we never see this kind of thing to day. It must have been quite a bumpy ride too. Derick Pearson explained: “In 1912 a patent was issued to Frank Bottrill an engineer in Australia for improvements relating to Ped-rail Shoes for heavy road vehicles. in the UK, it was called a Botrail Tractor. However to throw in more controversy there are two of the largest in the world still in use in Australia and over there they use the name Bottrill after the patent holder. So in the UK it is Botrail for models sometime after 1913 and in Australia Botrill.” Whilst Julie Riddiough confirms: “This is Redcar beach, judging by the pier end and the vents on top of the pier ballroom.”
Image from a collection courtesy of Derick Pearson; thanks to Derick Pearson and Julie Riddiough for the updates.
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