Rocket by fishers

Rocket

Jesika (@jesika2) asked me if Stephenson's 'Rocket' is still in the railway museum in York. Yes it is, and it is there on a long term basis. I haven't been to the museum for some months, but looking back through the archive I found these shots of 'Rocket'. Some were taken at the railway museum in York, while others were taken at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

'Rocket' was built in 1829 for a competition to see if steam locomotives could operate the Liverpool to Manchester railway which was under construction, or if rope haulage and stationary steam engines would be better.

'Rocket' was designed by Robert Stephenson in 1829, and built at the Forth Street Works of his company in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Though 'Rocket' was not 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.

'Rocket' won the Rainhill Trials convincingly, and Robert Stephenson got a contract to provide more locomotives of a simular design for the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1830. They provided the power to operate the first 'inter city' railway in the world.

The current display shows a much changed locomotive from the original design, with for example the cylinsers at a much lower angle than originally built. The original tender has not survived.

There are also two replica copies of the 'Rocket' at the railway museum, a cut-away version from 1935 which reveals some of the inner workings, and a working replica built in 1980 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

Ian
Great collage
August 30th, 2020  
Great collage of neat images
August 30th, 2020  
Lovely collage - you have put a lot of effort into this!
August 30th, 2020  
Magnificent collage and info! Never knew the history of Rocket and how it helped improve the railway
Thanks for sharing
August 30th, 2020  
Super collage and history
August 30th, 2020  
Thank you, hope to get to see it in person day. Lovely collage of an historical turning point
August 30th, 2020  
A super collage, detailing the Rocket. Fav! 😀
August 30th, 2020  
Lovely capture ...
August 30th, 2020  
what a nice collage of these beautiful pieces
August 30th, 2020  
What a great collage. When we first got married David was going to build me a model of the Rocket. 50 years later and I am still waiting, ha ha.
August 31st, 2020  
Great shots.
August 31st, 2020  
Great collage and interesting information
August 31st, 2020  
Beautiful collage. The information is very interesting.
August 31st, 2020  
Great collage. You find some amazing things to capture.
August 31st, 2020  
@bkbinthecity @seattlite @cmp @ninaganci @craftymeg @jesika2 @carolmw @pdulis @santina @pyrrhula @onewing @kwind @kjarn @sangwann @vernabeth

Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.

It is quite remarkable that so much of this historical machine has survived.

@pyrrhula - I love your steam locomotive, it is a marvelous piece of work!

@onewing - some years ago, Katharine made a model of the Rocket from an Airfix construction kit!

Ian
August 31st, 2020  
Pat
Super collage of this wonderful machine and a great fascinating narrative too, fav.
August 31st, 2020  
Bri
A fantastic collage of this historic machine
August 31st, 2020  
@fishers Thanks.
September 1st, 2020  
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