Robert Stephenson and Co: Rocket
George Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement, built by Robert Stephenson and Co; George Stephenson was assisted by his draughtsman George Henry Phipps, in 1829. This Rocket was built at the same time as another having the same name, i.e. Rocket, which had 6-coupled wheels and return flue-type boiler.
The Rocket was designed and built to compete in the Rainhill Trials, a competition to select the locomotive type for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, on 6 to 14 October 1829. All the other competitors broke down and Rocket was declared the winner. Rocket fulfilled the key requirement of the contest that a full simulated 50 mile (90-km) round trip under load be completed with satisfactory fuel consumption. It averaged 12 miles per hour while hauling 13 tons and 29 miles per hour running alone.
At the official opening of the railway almost a year later on 15 September 1830 the first run of Rocket was marred by the first fatal railway accident, the death of William Huskisson MP.
After service on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the Rocket was used near Tindale village and on Lord Carlisle's Railway.
In 1862 Rocket was donated to the Patent Museum in London by the Thompsons of Milton Hall, near Brampton, in Cumbria. The locomotive still exists in a much modified form compared to its state at the Rainhill Trials. The cylinders were altered to the horizontal position, compared to the slanted arrangement as new, and the locomotive was given a proper smokebox. 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 1979 a replica Rocket was built by Locomotion Enterprises for the 150th anniversary celebrations. It has a shorter chimney than the original in order to the clear the bridge at Rainhill: the trackbed is thicker than in the 19th century, giving less headroom.
The Rocket was displayed in the London Science Museum, but has now been moved.
From Engineering 1935/04/19:
'An interesting ceremony took place at the Science
Museum, South Kensington, on Thursday, April 11,
when a replica of the historical locomotive, the
“Rocket,” as it was at the time of the Rainhill
trials in 1829, was unveiled by the Minister of
Transport (Mr. Leslie Hore-Belisha). This replica
has been purchased by the Museum with the assistance of contributions from the four main line railway companies, and has been constructed by
Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Company, Limited,
Darlington, the firm which built the original engine.
As a result of a great deal of research, it represents
its prototype in form, materials and workmanship as
nearly as possible, except that one side has been
left open so that the movements of the parts are
visible. Though the Museum contains the actual
“ Rocket,” it may be recalled that this is not in its
original condition.For after the Rainhill trials, it
was altered before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened in 1830, while a year later the
cylinders were lowered to a nearly horizontal position, and a complete smoke-box and shorter chimney
were fitted. In 1836, the “Rocket” was sold to
Messrs. Thompson, of Kirkhouse, and worked on
the Midgeholme Railway until 1844. During this
period it is said on one occasion to have covered
four miles in four minutes. In 1851, it was sent to
Newcastle to be prepared for display at the Great
Exhibition of that year, but this intention was not
carried out, and the engine remained in that city
until 1862, when such parts of it as remained were
presented to the Patent Office Museum. The success
of the original engine was mainly due to the use of
the tubular boiler, while it incorporated a separate
firebox and a direct drive to the road wheels, all
features which are equally prominent in the design of its modern descendants. Its cylinders were fastened to plates on the boiler and were inclined downwards at an angle of 35 deg., so as to drive
crank pins on the front wheels. The cylinders were
8 in. in diameter, the stroke being 17 in. and the
diameter of the driving wheels 56.5 in. The
trailing wheels were 30 in. in diameter and the wheelbase was 86 in. The boiler barrel was 40 in. in
diameter by 6 ft. long, and contained twenty-five
3-in. copper tubes. The heating surface was
138 sq. ft. and the grate area 6 sq. ft. The firebox
was formed with dry front and back plates, while
the top and sides consisted of a pair of copper plates
pinched together all round and riveted, leaving a
water space of 3 in. between them. The plates were
stayed together at 3 in. intervals and the two sides
were tied together at the bottom by four bars,
on which the fire bars rested. The working pressure
was 50 lb. per square inch. The track on which the
engine stands is also a reproduction of the original
and consists of T section wrought-iron rails, weighing 35 lb. per yard.'[1]
See Also
Sources of Information
[1] Wikipedia