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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
of
0-2-2 wheel arrangement. 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 Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It ...
(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 locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam car ...
s.
''Rocket'' was designed and built by
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (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 hi ...
in 1829, and built at the
Forth Street Works of his company in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
.
Though ''Rocket'' was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations that produced the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson, and became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years.
The locomotive was 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 (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
in London until 2018, after which it was briefly exhibited at sites around the UK, ultimately at
National Railway Museum in York. Since 2023, it has been based at the
Locomotion Museum in
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
.
History
Prior developments
''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 , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (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 hi ...
, including the
Killingworth locomotive ''Blücher'' (1814) ''
Locomotion'' (1825), and ''
Lancashire Witch'' (1828).
Conception
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 an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...
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 Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It ...
. 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'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
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 Steam locomotive, railway engines.
Famou ...
. 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.
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.
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. ''Rocket'' was dismantled at
Newcastle and began the long trip to Rainhill: by horse wagon to Carlisle;
lighter to
Port Carlisle 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 with over 20 persons up the Whiston Incline at over , and light engine running of around . No other locomotive at the trials could match anything like Rocket's performance reliably, with partners Booth and Stephensons sharing the £500 winnings and showing that stationary engines were unnecessary, with sceptics such as
Rastrick being convinced.
Operation
A replica coach and ''Rocket'' at the ''Rocket'' 150 event
''Rocket'' as preserved in the .">Science Museum, London.
A closer view
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. 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. The day was marred by the death of
William Huskisson, the Member of Parliament for
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, who was struck and killed by ''Rocket'' at Parkside.
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 county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
), England.
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
cylinders 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. 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".
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 many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Thomas Cochrane, 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 flaws and engineering difficulties associated with their design, Lord Dundonald's engines were simply too underpowered for the task.
In April 1837, ''Rocket'' was sold for £300 and began service on the
Brampton Railway, a mineral railway in
Cumberland that had recently converted to
Stephenson gauge. Rocket was acquired to haul mineral trains, but was too light and was laid aside in 1840. It remained at
Tindale 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 (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
)
[ by the Thompsons of Milton Hall, near ]Brampton
Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
.
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 (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
for 150 years, although in a much modified form from its state at the Rainhill Trials. In 2018, it was displayed in Newcastle and then in Manchester at the Science and Industry Museum. From 2019, it was displayed at the National Railway Museum, York, and has been exhibited at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
, County Durham, since 2023.
Design
Replica of the ''Rocket'' in its original condition in the Transport Museum in during the exhibition "Adler, Rocket and Co."">Nuremberg during the exhibition "Adler, Rocket and Co."
Side elevation of ''Rocket''
The locomotive had a tall 16 ft smokestack chimney at the front, a cylindrical boiler in the middle, and a separate firebox at the rear.
The large front pair of wooden wheels was driven by two external cylinders set at an angle of 38°. The smaller rear wheels were not coupled to the driving wheels, giving an 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. One of the cylinders drove a small 1.25 inch diameter feedwater pump which pumped water from the tender to the boiler, a valve could be adjusted to control the amount of water needed.
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 and first single driver locomotive. The use of single drivers gave several advantages. The weight of coupling rods 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'', 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.
Boiler
''Rocket'' uses a multi-tubular boiler design. Previous locomotive boilers consisted of a single pipe surrounded by water (though the '' Lancashire Witch'' did have twin flues). ''Rocket'' had 25 copper fire-tubes that carried 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. 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 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
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
and Braithwaite's ''Novelty
Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...
'' 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 had re-designed his return-flued ''Royal George'' as the return-tubed ''Wilberforce'' class.
Blastpipe
''Rocket'' also used a blastpipe, 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 and pistons
A cutaway view of the cylinder and steam valve of the replica Rocket
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.
Again like the ''Lancashire Witch'', the pistons were connected directly to the driving wheels, an arrangement which is found in subsequent steam locomotives.[
]
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 from the glowing coke, not just convection
Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...
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 rectangular 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 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...
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.
Other ''Rocket''-type locomotives
''Rocket'' was followed by a number of other engines of similar 0-2-2 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.
Subsequent designs
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 locomotive ''Planet'' (1830) had internal front-mounted cylinders set to the horizontal.
Engines built to the ''Planet'' design and the subsequent 2-2-2 ''Patentee'' design of 1833 made the design of ''Rocket'' obsolete.
Replicas
thumb , left , made whimsical use of his replica ''Rocket'' in ''Our Hospitality">Buster Keaton made whimsical use of his replica ''Rocket'' in ''Our Hospitality''.
file:Rocket_and_Albert_Hall.jpg, Rocket steam replica, Albert Hall and a British European Airways#City centre check-in facilities, BEA Routemaster bus in 1979
In 1923, Buster Keaton had a functioning replica built for the film '' Our Hospitality''. Two years later, the replica was used again in the Al St. John film, '' The Iron Mule'', directed by Keaton's mentor, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. 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 in the Metro Detroit
Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...
suburb of Dearborn, Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, the other at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
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 LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world.
Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...
postcard (therefore pre-1923).
A cut-away static replica 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 replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake 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 ...
''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 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 Pa ...
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 typical ...
than the original to clear the bridge at Rainhill: successive additions of ballast 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, York, with the original ''Rocket''.
Models
In 1963, Tri-ang Railways 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 ''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
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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 , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
Early steam locomotives
English inventions
History of Northumberland
Individual locomotives of Great Britain
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