The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 6 (October 1, 1929)

Engines in The Famous Rainhill Trials

Engines in The Famous Rainhill Trials.

Here, then, were the four locomotives which actually faced the judges at the Rainhill trials in October, 1829:—The “Rocket,” entered by George and Robert Stephenson and Henry Booth; Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson's “Novelty”; Timothy Hackworth's “Sans Pareil”; and Timothy Burstall's “Perseverance.” The “Rocket” had wheels of 4ft. 8 ½in. and 2ft. 6in. diameter. The cylinders, of eight inches diameter and seventeen inches stroke, were inclined at an angle of thirty-five degrees. The boiler which was six feet long and 3ft. 4in. in diameter, contained 25 copper tubes, each of three inches diameter. Working pressure was 50lbs. per square inch, and there were two exhaust outlets in the chimney, one for each cylinder. Weight in working order was four and a quarter tons. Both George and Robert Stephenson were concerned in the design and construction of the “Rocket.” Henry Booth, their partner, was the first secretary and treasurer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, and to him came the idea for the boiler tubes while the screw coupling was also his suggestion.

Winner Of The “Rainhill” Trials. (Photo, by courtesy of the Science Museum, London.) The famous “Rocket” locomotive (1829.)

Winner Of The “Rainhill” Trials.
(Photo, by courtesy of the Science Museum, London.)
The famous “Rocket” locomotive (1829.)

The “Novelty” locomotive, entered by John Braithwaite and John Ericsson, had wheels 4ft. 2in. diameter, on the Theodore Jones suspension principle. The cylinders were 6in. by 12in., placed vertically, driving through bell-cranks to a crank axle, the first employed on any railway engine. The boiler barrel which was twelve inches in diameter and ten feet long, contained a small tapering flue which returned on itself twice. Fuel was introduced through the top of the firebox. Bellows worked by the engine forced air into a closed ashpan. The fuel and water were carried on the locomotive itself, no tender being required. The weight in working order was 3 tons 17 cwt. Ericsson, it may be noted, emigrated in 1839 to the United States, where he produced the well-known early locomotive “Monitor.” Timothy Hackworth's engine “Sans Pareil” was regarded by many as a probable winner of the contest, for Hackworth was locomotive engineer of the Stockton and Darlington line, and was recognised as being exceptionally clever. The wheels of the “Sans Pareil” were of 4ft. 6in. diameter, coupled. The boiler was of 4ft. 2in. diameter and 6ft. in length, having a return flue, and the grate and chimney placed at the same end. The vertical cylinders were seven inches by eighteen inches, inverted over the trailing wheels. Although slightly in excess of the weight stipulated by the judges for four-wheeled engines, the “Sans Pareil,” which scaled 4 tons 15 cwt. 2qrs., was permitted to proceed on the trials. The “Perseverance” locomotive entered by Timothy Burstall, of Leith, made a most feeble show in the trials, and few details are available concerning it. It is believed to have been a four-wheeled machine with vertical cylinders, driving by means of return connecting rods, a countershaft turning the axle by gear wheels. Its weight was in the neighbourhood of three tons, and, like the “Novelty,” it had no tender.