A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine

by Robert Henry Thurston

Fig. 55.—The “Rocket,” 1829.

The “Rocket” ([Fig. 55]) was built at the works of Robert Stephenson & Co., at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The boiler was given considerable heating-surface by the introduction of 25 3-inch copper tubes, at the suggestion of Henry Booth, secretary of the railroad company. The blast was altered by gradually closing in the opening at the extremity of the exhaust-pipe, and thus “sharpening” it until it was found to have the requisite intensity. The effect of this modification of the shape of the pipe was observed carefully by means of syphon water-gauges attached to the chimney. The draft was finally given such an intensity as to raise the water 3 inches in the tube of the draught-gauge. The total length of the boiler was 6 feet, its diameter 40 inches. The fire-box was attached to the rear of the boiler, and was 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, with water-legs to protect its side-sheets from injury by overheating. The cylinders, as seen in the sketch, were inclined, and coupled to a single pair of driving-wheels. A tender, attached to the engine, carried the fuel and water. The engine weighed less than 41∕2 tons.

The little engine does not seem to have been very prepossessing in appearance, and the “Novelty” is said to have been the general favorite, the Stephenson engine having few, if any, backers among the spectators. On its first trial, it ran 12 miles in less than an hour.

After the accident which disabled the “Novelty,” the “Rocket” came forward again, and ran at the rate of from 25 to 30 miles an hour, drawing a single carriage carrying 30 passengers. Two days later, on the 8th of October, steam was raised in a little less than an hour from cold water, and it then, with 13 tons of freight in the train, ran 35 miles in 1 hour and 48 minutes, including stops, and attained a speed of 29 miles an hour. The average of all runs for the trial was 15 miles an hour.

This success, far exceeding the expectation of the most sanguine of the advocates of the system, and greatly exceeding what had been asserted by opponents to be the bounds of possibility, settled completely the whole question, and the Manchester & Liverpool road was at once equipped with locomotive engines.

The “Rocket” remained on the line until 1837, when it was sold, and set at work by the purchasers on the Midgeholme Railway, near Carlisle. On one occasion, on this road, it was driven 4 miles in 41∕2 minutes. It is now in the Patent Museum at South Kensington, London.

In January, 1830, a single line of rails had been carried across Chat Moss, and, six months later, the first train, drawn by the “Arrow,” ran through, June 14th, from Liverpool to Manchester, making the trip in an hour and a half, and attaining a maximum speed of over 27 miles an hour. The line was formally opened to traffic September 15, 1830.

This was one of the most notable occasions in the history of the railroad, and the successful termination of the great work was celebrated, as so important an event should be, by impressive ceremonies. Among the distinguished spectators were Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington. Mr. Huskisson, a Member of Parliament for Liverpool, was also present. There had been built for the line, by Robert Stephenson & Co., 7 locomotives besides the “Rocket,” and a large number of carriages. These were all brought out in procession, and 600 passengers entered the train, which started for Manchester, and ran at times, on smooth portions of the road, at the rate of 20 and 25 miles an hour. Crowds of people along the line cheered at this strange and to them incomprehensible spectacle, and the story of the wonderful performances of that day on the new railroad was repeated in every corner of the land. A sad accident, the precursor of thousands to follow the introduction of the new method of transportation, while it repressed the rising enthusiasm of the people and dampened the ardor of the most earnest of the advocates of the railroad, occurring during this trip, assisted in making known the power of the new motor and the danger attending its use as well. The trains stopped for water at Parkside, and occasion was taken to send the “Northumbrian,” an engine driven by George Stephenson himself, on a side track, with the carriage containing the Duke of Wellington, and the other engines and trains were all directed to be sent along the main track in view of the Duke and his party. While this movement was in process of execution, Mr. Huskisson, who had carelessly stood on the main line until the “Rocket,” which led the column, had nearly reached him, attempted to enter the carriage of the Duke. He was too late, and was struck by the “Rocket,” thrown down across the rail, and the advancing engine crushed a leg so seriously that he died the same evening. Immediately after the accident, he was placed on the “Northumbrian,” and Stephenson made the 15 miles to the destination of the wounded man in 25 minutes—a speed of 36 miles an hour. The news of this accident, and the statement of the velocity of the engine, were published throughout the kingdom and Europe; and the misfortune of this first victim of a railroad accident was one of the causes of the immediate adoption and rapid spread of the modern railway system.