Alan,

On Wed, 8 Jun 2005 09:39:11 +0100, Alan B. Pearce wrote:

> >  8 june:
> >
> >  1781 was born George Stephenson, who was that guy ?
> >
> >  keywords: steam engine, Newcastle
> 
> George Stephenson built the Rocket - the first reliable steam locomotive to
> run on rails anywhere in the world. 

Also the first to cause a fatality, at the railway's opening ceremony!

> Was an entry in the trials for a
> contract to supply a locomotive for the Stockton-Darlington Railway, the
> first public railway in the world.

Yes, the Rainhill trials.  They staged a reenactment a couple of years ago and showed it on television.  They 
found that the fact that they both broke down wasn't what gave it to rocket - the other two finalists never 
really stood a chance.  One (Novelty) because its design was just impractical to operate (vertical boiler fed 
from the top) and the other (Sans Pareil) because its large combined firebox/boiler tubes didn't work as well 
as Rocket's seperate firebox and multiple small tubes, a design that was used right to the end of steam 
locomotive development.

>...< 
> People do
> not realise that in about the first 2-3 years of its existence it went
> through some major modifications, as the understanding of the steam boiler
> technology was changing rapidly.
> 
> This page contains a picture of the original Rocket as it is today.
> http://www.solarnavigator.net/inventors/george_stephenson.htm

Yes, it does look very different from the replicas (and pictures) that I've seen - what happened to the 
45-degree angled cylinders, I wonder?

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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