Stephenson's Rocket

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Rocket
A contemporary drawing of Rocket
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Robert Stephenson and Company Build date 1829
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-2-2  • UIC A1 n2 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Driver dia. 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1.435 m) Trailing dia. 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m) Wheelbase 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) Axle load 2 long tons 12 cwt 1 qr (5,850 lb or 2.65 t)[1] Loco weight 4 long tons 5 cwt (9,500 lb or 4.3 t) Fuel type Coke Firebox: ​  • Grate area 6 sq ft (1 m2) Boiler 3 ft 4 in (1 m) diameter x 6 ft (2 m) length[2] x 0.25 in (6 mm) thick[3] Boiler pressure 50 lbf/in2 (340 kPa) Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 1.6 m2 (17 sq ft)[2] x 2 ft (0.61 m) width x 3 ft (0.91 m) height[4]  • Tubes 12.8 m2 (138 sq ft)[2]  • Tubes and flues 25 3 in (76 mm) copper tubes  • Total surface 15.2 m2 (164 sq ft)[2] Cylinders Two, outside. Angled at 38°[3] Cylinder size 8 in × 16.5 in (203 mm × 419 mm)[5] Valve gear slip eccentric with manual override Valve type flat slide valve with exhaust cavity
Performance figures Maximum speed 30 mph (48 km/h)[6] Tractive effort 825 lbf
Career Operators Liverpool and Manchester Railway Lord Carlisle's Railway Current owner Science Museum Disposition On static display

Stephenson's Rocket is an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be more efficient than stationary steam engines.^[7]

Rocket was designed and built 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 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 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.^[8]