ONE of the world’s most famous and historic steam locomotives arrived wrapped in a blue tarpaulin on the back of a low loader at Shildon this morning (Wednesday).
The layers of protective packaging were slowly removed to reveal Rocket, built by Robert and George Stephenson in Newcastle 195 years, had come to take up residence at the Locomotion museum.
It took its place alongside Sans Pareil, the engine built in Shildon by Timothy Hackworth which it famously – and some say suspiciously – beat in the 1829 Rainhill Trials.
Nearby stands Rocket’s elder sibling, Locomotion No 1, built by the Stephensons in 1825 for the Stockton & Darlington Railway, meaning that Shildon must now boast the best collection of early steam locomotives in the world.
“It is incredibly significant for us and the North East,” said museum director, Dr Sarah Price. “2023 is the bicentenary of the Stephensons’ factory being established in Newcastle and here we are bringing two of its most famous locomotives – Locomotion No 1 and Rocket – together for the first time ever. It is fantastic for our visitors and for the North East as it shines a light on the region’s engineering ingenuity.”
The Rainhill Trials were held in October 1829 to decide whether a steam-powered engine would be employed on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway that George Stephenson was building. Out of the six engines to take part in the trials, Rocket was the only one to complete the course, although Sans Pareil performed creditably for Hackworth until one of its cylinders cracked forcing it to pull out of the competition.
Because Sans Pareil’s cylinders were made by Stephenson & Company, some Hackworth supporters alleged skulduggery.
“We want to do a bit of myth busting,” said Dr Price. “Hackworth and Stephenson are sometimes portrayed as rivals because of the Rainhill Trials but that wasn’t the case.
They went up against each other in 1829 but the genesis of the railway industry was much more collaborative and collegiate. These two engines signify that rivalry and by bringing them together we can tell that story.”
Out of all the early locos, Rocket is possibly the best known, and by winning the trials, it became a superstar in its own day.
“Rocket is arguably the most famous and important locomotive of them all,” said senior conservator Owen Lazzari, who was in charge of yesterday’s move. “It was put together for the Rainhill Trials which marked the opening up the railways to the public – they were no longer just about moving coal.
“As soon as the trials finished, it was famous. It couldn’t go anywhere else. People from across the UK and even the world came to be pulled by Rocket on the Liverpool & Manchester.”
Even more famously, on the opening day of the railway, September 15, 1830, Rocket ran over and killed the President of the Board of Trade, William Huskisson.
Rocket will be on display in Shildon beside Sans Pareil from tomorrow. It has been moved from the National Railway Museum in York which is undergoing a major restoration. Rocket will remain in Shildon until early 2025.
“Our masterplan is to tell the story of Shildon as the world’s first railway town and how it changed the global railways,” said Dr Price. “That story starts with Locomotion No 1 but Rocket is so important to it.
“I want people in the North East and the country as a whole to say ‘wow, the North East was the place where the railways were born’. We want to shout loudly about that story and Rocket is the icing on our cake.”
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