[ljf]

It is also a sign of where something is in its cycle - when engines were first invented they laboured in mines originally, then moving traction engines/tractors, then trains - it was a long time before the average person owned an engine for their own use.

[sokka_h2otribe]

This was largely driven by the efficiency and fuel density.. so like, the mines specifically were coal mines which flood and need pumps, but obviously have unlimited coal. The engines/tractors were competing against oxen and horse, and it's hard to get a lot of power out of them. The trains had an easy time to carry lots of coal due to their nature.

I'm not actually sure where tractors fit in. I haven't heard of them in the equation early on. I think at some point they were probably viable, but I never heard of a coal powered tractor (maybe there were some). I suppose tractors could leave piles of coal and stuff if they needed to by the fields.

[MangoToupe]

Steam Tractors were definitely a thing long before the development of the ICE. I'm not sure what the fuel used was, though. Hell we still have "steamrollers" that no longer run on steam.