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<p>A satire on the coming age of free-running steam carriages (which largely never materialized, but see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hancock" class="extiw" title="en:Walter Hancock">Walter Hancock</a>).
</p><p>The two large steam coaches are named "The Infernal Defiance — From Yarmouth to London" and "The Dreadful Vengeance — Colchester, London".  On the rear of the coach in front is a banner proclaiming "Warranted free from Damp", the small delivery wagon has "Bread served Hot" on its side, and the service station proclaims "Coals Sold Here: only 4s. 6d. per Pound(?)"
</p><p>As documented in Paul Johnson's book <i>The Birth of the Modern</i>, the early British railroad companies used their political influence to preclude possible competition from free-running steam coaches (which may not have been ultimately too practicable at that time anyway...)
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A futuristic view of the traffic and pollution problems to come, 1831. Steam carriages had already been tried, with limited success</div>
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H. T. Alken</div>
1831<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1831-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
1831 caricature by H. T. Alken scanned by H. Churchyard from Dorothy George's <i>Hogarth to Cruikshank</i>