 Designed and built by George Stephenson of the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1829, the Rocket was the winner in the Rainhill trials—a competition sponsored by the railway to obtain a locomotive for carrying both passengers and freight. It pulled a load of three times its own weight at the rate of 20 km/hr (12.5 mph) and hauled a coach filled with passengers at 39 km/hr (24 mph). When the road opened in 1831, it employed eight of Stephenson's locomotives. |
