"Rocket"

What is the current state of the Rocket replica?
What would it take to return to Steam?


Nick

 

There are many parts missing, and many of those that are there are either non-original or modified from original. Some photos of it as now are here:

https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/.../uploads/2014/01/stephenson3.jpg&action=click


https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/...etScienceMuseumLondonJan2008.jpg&action=click

It bears little resemblance to its condition at Rainhill.

It won't be steamed agai, but there have been many, some working, replicas built. It earned its keep in the 1830s so deserves a rest!

 

Should have asked
Replica 'Rocket'!
Was used on the GCR in 2011?

 

I thought the replica built in 1975 effectively became a new build when it returned to steam in 2009/10 so would have be in good condition. Isn't it currently stored in the tent outside the Great Hall at the NRM?

 

That's got to be one up on Liverpool. There they just take the wheels.

 

I've occasionally wondered, what was the original inspiration for Rocket's name, back in the 1820s? Was it somebody's accidental whim or a product of marketing genius?
A Rocket in those days was a military weapon, not a vehicle of space travel, yet this choice of name for a locomotive somehow resonates through the ages to this day perhaps like no other.