Stephenson's Rocket replica roars into life
A faithful and working replica of the world’s most famous early steam locomotive has been successfully tested on a West railway.
Bill Parker and his staff from the Flowermill Workshop in Bream, got together to produce a new version of Stephenson’s Rocket, which won the 1829 Rainhill trials in Liverpool and became the world’s first commercial steam engine.
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The replica took a year to build and was yesterday tested on the Avon Valley Railway at Bitton, near Bristol.
Creating the Rocket from scratch was easier said than done – the specifications for the engine have been lost over time, and the engineers had to use history books which had pictures of the famous yellow engine.
“Obtaining the materials was the biggest thing,” explained engineer Geoff Phelps. “Materials from 1829 don’t really exist now. We had to make and manufacture tooling to create the materials that we’ve used and the shapes that we’ve pressed copper into.”
At the end of this week, the 2010 version of The Rocket will be travelling to a new life at the National Railway Museum in York.
2 Comments
by Venk Shenoi, Blaisdon Glos
Monday, February 08 2010, 11:25PM
“Well done Flowermill team - Stephenson was a pioneer and improvised and I am sure it is a tradition of mechanical engineers to use materials and techniques that are available. I hope the younger generation will take an interest in engineering and technology -pity the engine was not displayed for a while in Forest.”
by captain catt, seamen's mission
Monday, February 08 2010, 11:00AM
“Fantastic. Keep it on the Dean Forest Railway and drive it back and forth across the Hill Street crossing all day! It would be great boost for the local economy and one in the eye to the whingers!”