StephensonÕs
"Rocket", 1830.
When the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway was opened on the 15th of September, 1830, among those present was
James Nasmyth, subsequently the inventor of the steam hammer. Mr. Nasmyth was a
good freehand draughtsman, and he sketched the Rocket as it stood on the line.
The sketch is still in existence. Mr. Nasmyth wrote concerning it, July 26th
1884: "This slight and hasty sketch of the Rocket was made the day before
the opening of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, George Stephenson acting
as engine driver and his son Robert as stoker, while it remained stationary
after some experimental trips. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway did not
open for eleven months after the Rainhill trials and a glance at this sketch
will show the astonishing transformation that took place during that period,
and the conclusion arrived at is that the Rocket of 1829 never worked at all on
this line but the engine of 1830 was an entirely new engine.