A COLLECTION of detailed drawings of the Rocket locomotive will stay in the region.
The drawings were among a selection of railway-related items sold at a Christmas sale at Anderson and Garland auctioneers, in Newcastle. They were bought for £4,140 by the National Railway Museum, in York.
They are believed to be the work of John Dobson Wardale (1833-1919), chief draughtsman of the former Stephenson locomotive works, in Newcastle.
They show elevations and details of the Rocket drawn from parts in the firm's workshop about 30 years after it was built.
The Rocket was built at the Stephenson Works at Forth Street, Newcastle, in 1829, and first made an impact on the railroad scene of the day at the Rainhill Trials, by running at 30mph.
The following year it accidentally ran over a guest spectator, cabinet minister William Huskisson, earning the dubious distinction of having caused the first fatal accident of any locomotive.
Published: 11/12/2003
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