Who's idea was this?

The content author of Steam Trek is Commodore Maxby (a.k.a. Stephen Vossler) with inspiration from numerous sources including: Space 1889 RPG, The Challenger Corps and all it's members, The United Kingdom of Planets Project created by Admiral Gross, The Panhistoria Novel "To Boldly Go Where No Gentleman Has Gone Before", the numerous Star Trek sources and all things Steampunk.