![Rocket Verkehrsmuseum Nuernberg 12092010 side view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Rocket_Verkehrsmuseum_Nuernberg_12092010_side_view.JPG)
Stephenson's ''Rocket'' is an early
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...
of
0-2-2
An 0-2-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is one that has two coupled driving wheels followed by two trailing wheels, with no leading wheels. The configuration was briefly built by Robert St ...
wheel arrangement
In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...
. It was built for and won the
Rainhill Trials of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...
(L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be more efficient than
stationary steam engine
Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from Steam locomotive, locomotive engines used on Rail transport, railways, traction engines for heavy s ...
s.
''Rocket'' was designed and built by
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
in 1829, and built at the
Forth Street Works of his company in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
.
Though ''Rocket'' was by no means the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years.
The locomotive was preserved and displayed in the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
in London until 2018, after which it was displayed at the
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...
in York.
Design
Overall layout
The locomotive had a tall smokestack chimney at the front, a cylindrical boiler in the middle, and a separate
firebox
Firebox may refer to:
* Firebox (steam engine), the area where the fuel is burned in a steam engine
* Firebox (architecture), the part of a fireplace where fuel is combusted
*Firebox Records, a Finnish 8101705801record label
* Firebox.com, an elect ...
at the rear.
The large front pair of wooden wheels was driven by two external cylinders set at an angle. The smaller rear wheels were not coupled to the driving wheels, giving an 0-2-2 wheel arrangement.
Design objectives
Stephenson designed ''Rocket'' for the
Rainhill trials, and the specific rules of that contest. As the first railway intended for passengers more than freight, the rules emphasised speed and would require reliability, but the weight of the locomotive was also tightly restricted. Six-wheeled locomotives were limited to six tons, four-wheeled locomotives to four and a half tons. In particular, the weight of the train expected to be hauled was to be no more than three times the actual weight of the locomotive. Stephenson realised that whatever the size of previously successful locomotives, this new contest would favour a fast, light locomotive of only moderate hauling power.
Innovations
Single pair of driving wheels
Stephenson's most visible decision was to use a single pair of driving wheels, with a small carrying axle behind. This was the first
0-2-2
An 0-2-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is one that has two coupled driving wheels followed by two trailing wheels, with no leading wheels. The configuration was briefly built by Robert St ...
and first single driver locomotive. The use of single drivers gave several advantages. The weight of
coupling rods
A coupling rod or side rod connects the driving wheels of a locomotive. Steam locomotives in particular usually have them, but some diesel and electric locomotives, especially older ones and shunters, also have them. The coupling rods transfer ...
was avoided and the second axle could be smaller and lightweight, as it only carried a small portion of the weight. ''Rocket'' placed just over tons of its ton total weight onto its driving wheels, a higher axle load than ''
Sans Pareil
''Sans Pareil'' is a steam locomotive built by Timothy Hackworth which took part in the 1829 Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, held to select a builder of locomotives. The name is French and means 'peerless' or 'with ...
'', even though the
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
was heavier overall at 5 ton, and officially disqualified by being over the ton limit. Early locomotive designers had been concerned that the adhesion of a locomotive's driving wheels would be inadequate, but Stephenson's past experience convinced him that this would not be a problem, particularly with the light trains of the trials contest.
Multiple boiler fire-tubes
''Rocket'' uses a multi-tubular boiler design. Previous locomotive boilers consisted of a single pipe surrounded by water (though the ''
Lancashire Witch
''Lancashire Witch'' was an early steam locomotive built by Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1828. It was a development of ''Locomotion''.
Description
''Lancashire Witch'' was an 0-4-0 locomotive with rear mounted cy ...
'' did have twin flues). ''Rocket'' had 25 copper fire-tubes that carry the hot exhaust gas from the firebox, through the wet boiler to the blast pipe and chimney. This arrangement resulted in a greatly increased surface contact area of hot pipe with boiler water when compared to a
single large flue. Additionally, radiant heating from the enlarged separate firebox helped deliver a further increase in steaming and hence boiler efficiency.
The original innovator of multiple fire-tubes is unclear, between Stephenson and
Marc Seguin
Marc Seguin (20 April 1786 – 24 February 1875) was a French engineer, inventor of the wire- cable suspension bridge and the multi-tubular steam-engine boiler.
Early life
Seguin was born in Annonay, Ardèche to Marc François Seguin, th ...
. It is known that Seguin visited Stephenson to observe
''Locomotion'' and that he also built two multi-tubular locomotives of his own design for the
Saint-Étienne–Lyon railway
The Saint-Étienne to Lyon line is a railway linking Saint-Étienne to Lyon. The line was built between 1828 and 1833 by Camille Seguin and Marc Seguin at a cost of 14,500,000 FRF.
History
Construction
Construction began in September 1 ...
before ''Rocket''. ''Rocket''s boiler was of the more highly developed form, with the separate firebox and a blastpipe for draught, rather than Seguin's cumbersome fans, but ''Rocket'' was not the first multi-tubular boiler, although it remains unclear just whose invention it was.
The benefits of increasing the fire-tube area had also been attempted with
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in inform ...
and
Braithwaite
Braithwaite is a village in the northern Lake District, in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just to the west of Keswick and to the east of the Grisedale Pike ridge, in the Borough of Allerdale. It forms part of the ...
's
''Novelty'' at Rainhill. Their design though used a single fire-tube, folded in three. This offered an increased surface area, but only at the cost of a proportionately increased length and so poor draught on the fire. Its arrangement also made tube cleaning impractical.
The advantages of the multiple-tube boiler were quickly recognised, even for heavy, slow freight locomotives. By 1830, Stephenson's past employee
Timothy Hackworth
Timothy Hackworth (22 December 1786 – 7 July 1850) was an English steam locomotive engineer who lived in Shildon, County Durham, England and was the first locomotive superintendent of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
Youth and early wor ...
had re-designed his
return-flued ''Royal George'' as the return-tubed ''Wilberforce'' class.
Blastpipe
''Rocket'' also used a
blastpipe The blastpipe is part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the fire.
History
The primacy of discovery of th ...
, feeding the exhaust steam from the cylinders into the base of the chimney so as to induce a partial vacuum and pull air through the fire. Credit for the invention of the blastpipe is disputed, though Stephenson used it as early as 1814. The blastpipe worked well on the multi-tube boiler of ''Rocket'' but on earlier designs with a single flue through the boiler it had created so much suction that it tended to rip the top off the fire and throw burning cinders out of the chimney, vastly increasing the fuel consumption.
Cylinders closer to the horizontal
![Rocket Cylinder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Rocket_Cylinder.jpg)
Like the ''Lancashire Witch'', ''Rocket'' had two cylinders set at angle from the horizontal, with the pistons driving a pair of diameter wheels. Most previous designs had the cylinders positioned vertically, which gave the engines an uneven swaying motion as they progressed along the track. Subsequently, ''Rocket'' was modified so that the cylinders were set close to horizontal, a layout that influenced nearly all designs that followed.
Pistons directly connected to driving wheels
Again like the ''Lancashire Witch'', the pistons were connected directly to the driving wheels, an arrangement which is found in subsequent steam locomotives.
[
]
Separate firebox
The firebox was separate from the boiler and was double walled, with a water jacket between them. Stephenson recognised that the hottest part of the boiler, and thus the most effective for evaporating water, was that surrounding the fire itself. This firebox was heated by radiant heat
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of particles in matter. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is ...
from the glowing coke, not just convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the c ...
from the hot exhaust gas.
Locomotives of ''Rocket''s era were fired by coke rather than coal. Local landowners were already familiar with the dark clouds of smoke from coal-fired stationary engines and had imposed regulations on most new railways that locomotives would 'consume their own smoke'. The smoke from a burning coke fire was much cleaner than that from coal. It was not until 30 years later and the development of the long firebox and brick arch that locomotives would be effectively able to burn coal directly.
''Rocket''s first firebox was of copper sheet and of a somewhat triangular shape from the side. The throatplate was of firebrick, possibly the backhead too. When rebuilt around 1831, this was replaced by a wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
backhead and throatplate, with a drum wrapper (now missing), presumed to be of copper, between them. This gave a larger internal volume and encouraged better combustion within the firebox, rather than inside the tubes. These early fireboxes formed a separate water space from the boiler drum and were connected by prominent external copper pipes.
Credit for the design
There have been differences in opinion on who should be given the credit for designing ''Rocket''. George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians
In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...
had designed several locomotives before but none as advanced as ''Rocket''. At the time that ''Rocket'' was being designed and built at the Forth Banks Works, he was living in Liverpool overseeing the building of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...
. His son Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
had recently returned from a stint working in South America and resumed as managing director of Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines.
Famous early locomoti ...
. He was in daily charge of designing and constructing the new locomotive. Although he was in frequent contact with his father in Liverpool and probably received advice from him, it is difficult not to give the majority of the credit for the design to Robert. A third person who may deserve a significant amount of credit is Henry Booth, the treasurer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. He is believed to have suggested to Robert Stephenson that a multi-tube boiler should be used.
Evolution of the Stephenson locomotive design
Before ''Rocket''
''Rocket'' was built at a time of rapid development of steam engine technology. It was based on experience gained from earlier designs by George and Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...
, including the Killingworth locomotive ''Blücher'' (1814); ''Locomotion
Locomotion means the act or ability of something to transport or move itself from place to place.
Locomotion may refer to:
Motion
* Motion (physics)
* Robot locomotion, of man-made devices
By environment
* Aquatic locomotion
* Flight
* Locomo ...
'' (1825); and the ''Lancashire Witch
''Lancashire Witch'' was an early steam locomotive built by Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1828. It was a development of ''Locomotion''.
Description
''Lancashire Witch'' was an 0-4-0 locomotive with rear mounted cy ...
'' (1828).
''Rocket'' type locomotives
''Rocket'' was followed by a number of other engines of similar 0-2-2
An 0-2-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is one that has two coupled driving wheels followed by two trailing wheels, with no leading wheels. The configuration was briefly built by Robert St ...
layout with rear-mounted cylinders built for the L&MR before it opened on 15 September 1830, culminating in the ''Northumbrian'' (1830), by which time the cylinders were horizontal. Other engines of the ''Rocket'' design which were delivered to the Liverpool and Manchester railway included ''Arrow'', ''Comet'', ''Dart'' and ''Meteor'', all being delivered to the railway during 1830.
After ''Rocket''
At around the same time, Stephenson experimented with front-mounted cylinders. The unsuccessful 0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...
''Invicta'', built in 1829 immediately after ''Rocket'', still had them at an angle. The successful 2-2-0
Under Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and no trailing wheels. This configuration, which became ...
locomotive ''Planet'' (1830) had internal front-mounted cylinders set to the horizontal.
Engines built to the ''Planet'' design and the subsequent 2-2-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangemen ...
''Patentee'' design of 1833 made the design of ''Rocket'' obsolete.
Rainhill Trials
On 20 April 1829, the board of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway project passed a resolution for a competition to be held to prove their railway could be reliably operated by steam locomotives, there being advice from eminent engineers of the age that stationary engines would be required. A prize of £500 was offered as an incentive to the winner, with strict conditions a locomotive would need to meet to enter the trial. Robert Stephenson was able to report to Henry Booth on 5 September 1829 that ''Rocket'' had performed initial manufacturer tests with flying colours at Killingworth
Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town in North Tyneside, England.
Killingworth was built as a planned town in the 1960s, next to Killingworth Village, which existed for centuries before the Township. Other nearby towns an ...
. ''Rocket'' was dismantled at Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and began the long trip to Rainhill: by horse wagon to Carlisle; lighter
A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...
to Port Carlisle
Port Carlisle is a coastal village in Allerdale, Cumbria, England. It is in the civil parish of Bowness-on-Solway. Its original name was Fisher's Cross, but when it became the terminus of the Carlisle Canal it was renamed Port Carlisle. Durin ...
then by the ''Cumberland'' steamer to Liverpool for re-assembly on 18 September 1829. ''Rocket'' passed the trial requirement of achieving an average speed of over by over 40 percent. Demonstrations also saw ''Rocket'' consistently and easily haul a carriage of over 20 person up the Whiston incline at over , and light engine running of around . No other locomotive at the trials was able to achieve anything like the level of performance reliably, with partners Booth and Stephensons sharing the £500 winnings, and perhaps more importantly the need for stationary engines being demonstrated as unnecessary with sceptics such as Rastrick
Rastrick is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, between Halifax, 5 miles (8 km) north-east and Huddersfield, 4 miles (7 km) south.
The population of the Calderdale Civil Ward at the 2011 census was 11,351. It is perhaps best ...
on the way to conversion.
Operation and subsequent history
Opening-day accident
The opening ceremony of the L&MR on 15 September 1830 was a considerable event, drawing luminaries from the government and industry, including the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...
. The day started with a procession of eight trains setting out from Liverpool for Manchester. The parade was led by ''Northumbrian'' driven by George Stephenson, and included ''Phoenix'' driven by his son Robert, ''North Star'' driven by his brother Robert Sr. and ''Rocket'' driven by assistant engineer Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as on ...
. The day was marred by the death of William Huskisson
William Huskisson (11 March 177015 September 1830) was a British statesman, financier, and Member of Parliament for several constituencies, including Liverpool.
He is commonly known as the world's first widely reported railway passenger casu ...
, the Member of Parliament for Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, who was struck and killed by ''Rocket'' at Parkside.
Service
History between 1830 and 1840 is only vaguely documented.
From 1830 to 1834, ''Rocket'' served on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
After service on the L&MR, ''Rocket'' was used between 1836 and 1840 on Lord Carlisle's Railway near Brampton, in Cumberland (now Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
), England.
Modifications
Built as a prototype to win a speed trial, the engine was soon superseded by improved designs, such as Stephenson's ''Northumbrian'' and ''Planet'' designs, both of 1830.
Within a few years, the ''Rocket'' itself had been much modified to be similar to the ''Northumbrian'' class. The cylinder
A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
s were altered to a near-horizontal position, compared to the angled arrangement as new; the firebox capacity was enlarged and the shape simplified; and the locomotive was given a drum smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is e ...
. These arrangements can be seen in the engine today.
Such are the changes in the engine from 1829 that ''The Engineer'' magazine, circa 1884, concluded that "it seems to us indisputable that the ''Rocket'' of 1829 and 1830 were totally different engines".
Lord Dundonald's rotary engine
In 1834, the engine was selected for further (unsuccessful) modifications to test a newly developed rotary steam engine designed by Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
The 10th Earl of Dundonald. At a cost of nearly £80, ''Rocket''s cylinders and driving rods were removed and two of the engines were installed directly on its driving axle with a feedwater pump in between. On 22 October, of that year, an operational trial was held with disappointing results; one witness observing, that "the engine could not be made to draw a train of empty carriages". Due to inherent design flaws and engineering difficulties associated with their design, Lord Dundonald's engines were simply too feeble for the task.
Lord Carlisle's Railway
In 1836, ''Rocket'' was sold for £300 and began service on the Brampton Railway
The Brampton Railway was a mineral railway built in 1798 to bring coal from workings on Tindale Fell to staiths at Brampton. It was a development of short sections of earlier wooden railways.
When the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway was opened i ...
, a mineral railway in Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
that had recently converted to Stephenson gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, International Union of Railways, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and Europea ...
. It remained here at Tindale, after service, until 1862 and its donation to the Patent Office Museum, London.
Preservation
In 1862, ''Rocket'' was donated to the Patent Office Museum in London (now the Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
)[ by the Thompsons of Milton Hall, near ]Brampton
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...
.
The locomotive still exists, though it has not been operated since becoming a museum exhibit. It was displayed at the Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
for 150 years, although in a form much modified from its state at the Rainhill Trials. In 2018, it was displayed first in Newcastle and then in Manchester at the Science and Industry Museum
The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, England, traces the development of science, technology and industry with emphasis on the city's achievements in these fields. The museum is part of the Science Museum Group, a non-departmental pub ...
from 25 September 2018 to 8 September 2019. From 2019, it has been displayed at the National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...
, York.
Replicas
In 1923, Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...
had a functioning replica built for the film ''Our Hospitality
''Our Hospitality'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone. Starring Keaton, Joe Roberts, and Natalie Talmadge and distributed by Metro Pictures Corporation, it uses slapstick and situational com ...
''. Two years later, the replica was used again in the Al St. John
Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...
film, '' The Iron Mule'', directed by Keaton's mentor, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...
. The subsequent whereabouts of the replica are unknown. There are, however, at least two other replicas of ''Rocket'' in the US, both built by Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns in 1929; one is at the Henry Ford Museum
The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. The museum collection contains ...
in the Metro Detroit
The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. State of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and its surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the ...
suburb of Dearborn, Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, the other at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is a science museum located in Chicago, Illinois, in Jackson Park (Chicago), Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood between Lake Michigan and The University of Chicago. It is house ...
.
The earliest full-size replica of ''Rocket'' seems to have been one depicted on a London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
postcard (therefore pre-1923).
A cut-away static replica (see photo above) was built in 1935 and displayed for many years next to the original at London's Science Museum.
In 1979, a further, working replica
A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...
''Rocket'' was built by Locomotion Enterprises in the Springwell workshops at the Bowes Railway for the 150th anniversary celebrations. It first worked in public on a short length of track in front of the Albert Memorial
The Albert Memorial, directly north of the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, London, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic ...
in Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde P ...
from 25 August to 2 September 1979, before going to Newcastle on 9 September, York on 16 October and running the measured mile, between Lea Green and Rainhill, on the last two days at the Rocket 150 celebrations from 24 to 26 May 1980. It has a shorter chimney
A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...
than the original to clear the bridge at Rainhill: successive additions of ballast
Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...
and heavier rail have raised the track, leaving less headroom than in the 19th century. As of 2022, both of these replicas were based at the National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...
, York, with the original ''Rocket''.
Models
In 1963, Tri-ang Railways
Tri-ang Railways was a British manufacturer of toy trains, one of the elements of the Lines Bros Ltd company who traded using the brands Tri-ang, Minic, Pedigree, and Frog. The Tri-ang Railways name was dropped a few years after Lines Bros took ...
released a 00 Gauge model of ''Rocket'' containing three coaches and crew members. It was produced until 1969 by Tri-ang Hornby.
It was re-introduced to the Hornby range in 1982 until 1983 in Hornby Railways packaging. However this 1982 re-introduced model was un-catalogued, and it was only available through exclusive retailers and from Hornby directly.
In 1980, as part of the Rocket 150 anniversary, Hornby launched a gauge live steam
Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment.
A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that ar ...
''Rocket'' locomotive, with additional track and coaches available separately.
In 2020, Hornby announced a newly tooled 00 Gauge model of Stephenson's ''Rocket'' with three coaches and crew members as part of their Centenary range. It was available as a standard model and a limited edition with commemorative certificate of authentication in retro 1963 Hornby Centenary Tri-ang Railways packaging.
See also
* ''Novelty''
* ''Invicta''
* ''Lion''
* ''Tom Thumb'' (first American-built steam locomotive)
* ''John Bull''
* ''Locomotion''
* Rainhill Trials
*''Sans Pareil
''Sans Pareil'' is a steam locomotive built by Timothy Hackworth which took part in the 1829 Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, held to select a builder of locomotives. The name is French and means 'peerless' or 'with ...
''
* ''Stourbridge Lion
The ''Stourbridge Lion'' was a railroad steam locomotive. It was the first foreign built locomotive to be operated in the United States, and one of the first locomotives to operate outside Britain. It takes its name from the lion's face painted ...
'' (first American-operated steam locomotive)
Notes
Footnotes
References
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External links
The Science Museum – Stephenson's ''Rocket'' locomotive, 1829
''The Engineer''
magazine examines the differences between the 1829 and 1830 ''Rocket'', as reprinted in ''Scientific American'' Supplement, No. 460, 25 October 1884.
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{{Authority control
Railway locomotives introduced in 1829
Rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
Early steam locomotives
English inventions
History of Northumberland
Rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
Land speed record rail vehicles
Liverpool and Manchester Railway locomotives
Preserved steam locomotives of Great Britain
Rainhill Trials locomotives
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain
Steam engines in the Science Museum, London