Steamroller

The most obvious difference is in the wheels. Traction engines were generally built with large fabricated spoked steel wheels with wide rims. Those intended for road use would have continuous solid rubber tyres bolted around the rims, to improve traction on tarmac. Engines intended for agricultural use would have a series of strakes bolted diagonally across the rims, like the tread on a modern pneumatic tractor tyre, and the wheels were typically wider to spread the load more evenly.

Steam rollers, on the other hand, had smooth rear wheels and a roller at the front. The roller consisted of a pair of adjacent wide cylinders supported at both ends. This replaced the separate wheels and axle of a traction engine.

In the conventional arrangement, the front roller is mounted centrally, forward of the chimney. In order to allow enough clearance from the boiler (and hence a larger front roll), the smokebox is extended forward substantially at the top to incorporate a support plate on which to mount the bearing for the roller assembly. This gives the distinctive, hooded look to the front of a steam roller. It also necessitates a different design of smokebox door – it has to hinge up or down, rather than opening sideways, due to the limited access available. Access to the boiler tubes for cleaning is limited and the brush usually has to be inserted through the small gap between the top of the roll and the fork.

The front and rear rolls were usually fitted with scraper bars. As the vehicle moved along, these removed any surface material that had become stuck to the roll, to prevent a build-up of material and ensure a flat finish was maintained.

Some steam rollers were fitted with a scarifier mounted on the tender box at the rear. They could be swung down to road level and used to rip up the old surface before a road was remade.

Another accessory was a tar sprayer – a bar mounted on the back of the roller. This was not a common fixture.

Many steam rollers are preserved in working order, and can be seen in operation during special live steam festivals, where operating scale models may also be displayed. At some of the UK steam fairs and rallies, demonstrations of road building using the old techniques, tools and machines are re-enacted by 'Road Gangs' in authentic dress; steam rollers feature prominently in these demonstrations. The annual Great Dorset Steam Fair has a section dedicated to road-making machinery, including a line-up of working steam rollers.

Unlike the often-lethal movie roles by their diesel-powered equivalents, the film appearances by steam rollers are relatively benign:

The 1934 short film Mickey's Steam Roller involves a steamroller hijacking by Mickey Mouse's nephews which leads to devastating but non-lethal results.

A steam roller was part of the supporting cast in the 1953 British film The Titfield Thunderbolt, which encountered a GWR tank locomotive in the film. In the 1971 film Dad's Army, the Walmington-on-Sea platoon is sent on an exercise for Home Guard training. On the way, an incident that disables Jones's van results in Capt. Mainwaring commandeering a passing steam roller to tow the van to the exercise. Unfortunately, on arrival at the training camp, Mainwaring and Jones discover that neither knows how to stop the roller, and they end up flattening their tents and equipment.

In 'Allo 'Allo!, in one episode (Series 3 episode 4, "Flight Of Fancy"), Colonel Kurt Von Strohm and Captain Hans Geering drive a steamroller to infiltrate an old railway parade but find they cannot stop and accidentally run over and crush Herr Flick's Gestapo staff car.

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit Judge Doom attempts to crush detective Eddie Valiant with a steamroller while Eddie is trapped to a barrel by giant toon magnet. Valiant is able to escape grabbing a portable hole with his foot moments before the steamroller crush him and fights Doom, ultimately crushing him with the steamroller. This event would ultimately lead to the reveal of Doom's true identity.

In 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, the titular character drives a modern diesel-powered steamroller over a security guard, killing him, but not before an overly long comical sequence where he sees the impending danger and remains 'helpless' for several seconds until his demise.

Several characters in children's popular fiction have been based on steam rollers. George the Steamroller appears in the Rev W. Awdry's Railway Series books and also in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, the TV adaptation. Buster the Steamroller, a member of the Sodor Construction Company, has also appeared in the TV series.

Roley is one of the main vehicle characters in the children's television series Bob the Builder. He is a green road roller with a cab, enclosed power unit and no chimney, and so is obviously diesel-powered – nevertheless, his official title is Roley the Steamroller. This is an example of how use of the term "steam roller" to describe a modern road roller still persists in the English language.

Poet Marianne Moore wrote an ode "To a Steam Roller," suggesting similarities between the machine and some people: "You crush all the particles down / into close conformity, and then walk back and forth on them."

Steam rollers have had an influence on popular music, for example, the group Buffalo Springfield named themselves after (the manufacturer of) a steam roller parked outside the house. The song Steamroller Blues was written and performed by James Taylor in 1970 and subsequently became a favourite of live concerts by Elvis Presley. Verdi's Il Trovatore Anvil Chorus is associated with steamrolling and power in some parts of the world. The name of American music group Mannheim Steamroller is the result of blending the word "steamroller" with "Mannheim roller", an 18th-century German musical technique characterized by a crescendo passage having a rising melodic line over an ostinato bass line, popularized by the Mannheim school of composition. See also Steam (Peter Gabriel song).

Also, the name of ex-Yugoslav and Croatian rock band Parni Valjak means "steamroller".