Stephenson's Rocket - Science Museum, London, UK - Locomotives on Waymarking.com

The co-ordinates given are for the main entrance to the Science Museum in Kensington, London. The 'Rocket' is in the centre part of the museum's ground floor level along with other rail exhibits. Non-flash photography is permitted. The museum is free to visit. The museum is open every day except 24th abd 25th December and opening hours are from 10am to 6pm with last entry at 5:15pm.

The Science Museum website (visit link) tells us:

"Robert Stephenson's Rocket marks one of the key advances in railway technology. It also confirmed Stephenson as one of the premier engineers of his age and as a major engineering contractor for the emerging railway network, both in Britain and abroad.

The locomotive was built to compete in the Rainhill Trials, held by the new Liverpool & Manchester Railway, to choose between competing designs. The performance of Rocket showed it to be the most successful of the contestants. It also convinced the railway company that the alternative possibility of using stationary steam engines to haul carriages by cables was not worth pursuing.

Rocket established the basic architecture for the steam locomotive. The main features were: a multi-tubular boiler, to improve the heat transfer from the firebox gases into the boiler water; the 'blast pipe' which used the steam exhaust to improve the air draught through the firebox; and direct coupling, by connecting rods, from the pistons to the driving wheels.

The result was a dramatic improvement on contemporary locomotives, and at Rainhill a speed of 29 mph was achieved. The basic design principles embodied in Rocket carried through to the last steam locomotives built in Britain during the 1960s."

The BBC website (visit link) contains more information and an animation showing how Stephenson's Rocket worked:

"The Rocket was designed and built by George Stephenson with the help of his son, Robert, and Henry Booth, for the 1829 Rainhill Trials.

The Trials were held by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, to find the best locomotive engine for a railway line that was being built to serve these two English cities. On the day of the Trials, some 15,000 people came along to see the race of the locomotives.

During the race, the Rocket reached speeds of 24mph during the 20 laps of the course. This was due to several new design features. It was the first locomotive to have a multi-tube boiler - with 25 copper tubes rather than a single flue or twin flue.

The blast pipe also increased the draught to the fire by concentrating exhaust steam at the base of the chimney. This meant that the boiler generated more power (steam), so the Rocket was able to go faster than its rival, and thus secure its place in history.

The Rocket can be seen at the Science Museum, in London."

Photos of visits are encouraged but not required for this category.