Used in the building of roads, the steamroller was fundamentally a traction engine that had smooth rear wheels with an extended smokebox incorporating a support plate from which the front roller assembly was mounted. Fans of "Thomas the Tank Engine" will recognize the steamroller as one of his friends "George". Although the name Buffalo-Springfield may be better known to some as a late-sixties rock band, the Buffalo-Springfield Roller Company of Springfield, Ohio became the dominate American producer of steamrollers when in 1916, it was formed from the merger of Kelly-Springfield and Buffalo Pitts.