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A contemporary drawing of Rocket |
Power type | Steam |
Builder | Robert Stephenson and Company |
Build date | 1829 |
Configuration | 0-2-2 |
Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Driver diameter | 4 feet 8.5 inches (1.44 m) |
diameter | 2 feet 6 inches (0.76 m) |
Axle load | 2 tons, 12 cwt, 1 qtr (2540 kg) |
Locomotive weight | 4 tons, 5 cwt (4320 kg) |
Fuel type | coke |
Boiler pressure | 50 psi (0.34 MPa) |
Cylinders | Two, outside |
Cylinder size | 8 in × 17 in (203 mm × 432 mm)  |
Top speed | 28 miles per hour (45 km/h) |
Career | Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Lord Carlisle's Railway |
Current owner | Science Museum (London) |
Replica of the Rocket in its original condition in the Transport Museum in Nuremberg during the exhibition "Adler, Rocket and Co."
Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement, built in 1829 at the Forth Street Works of Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle Upon Tyne.
It was built for, and won, the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best design to power the railway.
Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day.
It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years.
 Basic layout
The locomotive had a tall smokestack chimney at the front, a cylindrical boiler in the middle, and a separate firebox at the rear. The large front pair of wooden wheels was driven by two external cylinders set at an angle. The smaller rear wheels were not coupled to the driving wheels, giving an 0-2-2 wheel arrangement.
 Design objectives
Stephenson designed Rocket...