Stephenson's Rocket

Stephenson's Rocket is an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for and won the Rainhill Trials of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), held in October 1829 to show that improved locomotives would be more efficient than stationary steam engines. Rocket was designed and built by Robert Stephenson in 1829, and built at the Forth Street Works of his company in Newcastle upon Tyne. Though Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations that produced the most advanced locomotive of its day. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson, and became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. The locomotive was displayed in the Science Museum in London until 2018, after which it was briefly exhibited at sites around the UK, ultimately at National Railway Museum in York. Between 2023 and September 2025, it was based at the Locomotion Museum in Shildon in County Durham. As of May 2026 it is now based in the National Railway Museum, York.