240 Landmarks Top ＞ Buses ＞ Yamaba Steam Bus 　Yamaba Steam Bus Torao Yamaba was the operator of Yamaba Denki Kojo, a repair facility for steam engines, electric generators, and motors that supplied power to factories. At the Fifth Domestic Industrial Exposition, held in Osaka in 1903, Fusazo Mori, a wealthy man from Okayama, saw for himself the power of a steam bus and a gasoline bus and decided to start an urban bus company in Okayama. He asked Torao Yamaba to build his buses, and the result was the steam bus seen here. Yamaba visited his older brother Kontaro Yamanaka, an interpreter for the importer Nikkel Shokai in Kobe, where he studied actual gasoline and steam cars, as well as engineers' notes and drawings, to guide him in designing his bus. The imported steam car at that time was probably a Locomobile, which used a two-cylinder engine and an oil-burning flash boiler, and Yamaba adopted its basic design for his own vehicle, with water pipes for the boiler, the engine positioned in the middle of the body, and the rear axle driven by a chain. Because the boiler engine that Yamaba built was heavy and the bus would carry up to ten passengers, he reinforced the axles and springs, which were almost the same as the Locomobile's, and used a tiller-type steering system. He used solid rubber tires for the wire-spoke wheels, because he could not make pneumatic tires. However, the tires proved to be a fatal weakness, and the vehicle failed in test runs and was later disassembled. Storage location : TOYOTA AUTOMOBILE MUSEUM (41-100, Yokomichi, Nagakute, Nagakute-cho, Aichi-gun, Aichi-ken 480-1131) Year manufactured : 1904 Manufacturer : Torao Yamaba Classification : Model/literature Current status : On public display: static Vehicle name / Manufacture Vehicle name : Yamaba Steam Bus Company name : Yamaba Denki Kojo Year manufactured : 1904 Designed by : Torao Yamaba Collaboration : Fusazo Mori (client) Vehicle type/usage : Public bus Location of actual vehicle/replica : None/Replica still in existence Model / Weight Style : 10-seater open bus Number of doors : Rear boarding door Passenger capacity : 2 crew members, 10 passengers Vehicle weight : Approx. 900 kg Points of interest, topicality : The boiler is at the front end and the engine is under the floor at the center of the vehicle. Body / Size Structure : Wood frame, boarding Bumpers : None Step : 2 for front seats, 1 for passengers Overall length : Approx. 4500 mm Overall width : Approx. 1800 mm Overall height : 2200 mm Tire size : 3.50-20 in Features : Wooden open body, bench seat, 10-seater bus, solid tires, wire spokes Body / Axle / Driving / Others Frame : Wood ladder frame Front axle : Rigid, 1/2 leaf + coil Rear axle : Rigid, 1/2 leaf, axle reinforcement Wheelbase : Approx. 2700 mm Front tread x rear tread : Both 1600 mm Steering : Tiller (steering bar type) Dampers : None Stabilizer : None Driving stability devices : None Features : All wooden frame and body, steel tube axle Engine / Size / Power Cooling/cylinder arrangement : None/inline 2-cylinder Valve train : Slide valve Max. power/r.p.m. : 25 hp Fetures : Vertical 2 cylinders, 25 hp, steam reciprocating engine, water pipe oil-burning boiler Hybrid Hybrid system type : None Drive-train Transmission : None Drive system : Mid Performance Mode fuel efficiency : - Reference materials : San-ei Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd., Kokusan-sha 100 Nen No Kiseki (1978) 240 Landmarks Top ＞ Buses ＞ Yamaba Steam Bus