Illustration in Konrad Kyeser’s military treatise Bellifortis from around 1405 Rockets were used to propel arrows possibly as far back as the 10 th century in China, and by the time of the Renaissance, rocket weapons were being developed that looked a lot like today’s missiles. The process is obvious in one of the earliest uses for rockets that we still have with us today-fireworks. The word actually refers to the means of propulsion – whatever ‘rocket’ it is, it moves by expelling its exhaust in the opposite direction at high speed. Why is Rocket called Rocket? When we hear it, we immediately think of space travel, but in 1829 journeying to the stars was unthinkable. Rocket on display in our Revolution Manchester gallery in 2018 It was also bought by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and ran on the Bolton and Leigh Railway until 1844.īut perhaps the most evocatively named was the eventual winner: Rocket. Despite its slightly antiquated engineering, the locomotive proved reliable. Its name means ‘peerless’ or ‘without equal’ and it very nearly was. The French-named Sans Pareil was built by Timothy Hackworth from Shildon-you can see the engine at our sister museum there, Locomotion. A replica that has parts of the original engine in the Science Museum Group collections It was also the crowd’s favourite, possibly because it did not look like a typical colliery engine of the time-it was, indeed, a novelty. Novelty was a strong competitor, reportedly achieving a speed of 28 mph on the first day, but had to pull out due to boiler problems. The designers clearly wanted to encapsulate their forward-thinking in its name. Novelty, built by John Ericsson and John Braithwaite, had several new innovations and is now thought of as the world’s first tank locomotive, carrying its own water between the wheels. Despite Burtstall’s own perseverance, the loco only achieved a speed of 6 mph. It was an apt name as it turned out-Perseverance was damaged on the way down to Rainhill and Burtstall spent days trying to repair it before finally running on the final day of the trials. Burstall was from Leith and named the engine after his home town’s motto, “Persevere”. Perseverance was built by John Reed Hill and Timothy Burstall. The horses also simply couldn’t compete with the speeds the mechanical engines produced.

But when one of the horses fell through the wooden moving floor, it was forced to drop out of the competition. This equine treadmill was built by Thomas Shaw Brandreth who was also one of the railway’s directors. Steam wasn’t for everyone though, and Cycloped was a horse-powered ‘locomotive’. The names encapsulated the hopes of their builders and the early Industrial Revolution era this new endeavour represented. Much like the horses they were destined to replace and the ships travelling the world, each engine had its own name. In the foreground is Rocket and in the background are Sans Pareil (right) and Noveltyįive locomotives entered the Rainhill Trials in an effort to prove rail travel was the future of transport, and for the chance that their engines could run on the new Liverpool and Manchester Railway. What’s in a name? Would a Rocket by any other name smell as sweet? These days, locomotives are often named after famous people or fictional characters (have you spotted Doctor Who on one of Virgin’s Voyager trains?) but what about the early locomotives? Rainhill Trials from the Illustrated London News, c.1829. To find out what exhibitions and activities are open today, visit our What’s On section. Please note: Stephenson’s Rocket is no longer on display at the Science and Industry Museum. To celebrate the Rainhill Trials, let’s take a look at how the names of the engines captured the spirit of the era, and how what you call something continues to shape how we think of the past and the future.

Shape rocket name