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Rainhill trials
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Rainhill trials
The Rainhill trials were a competition run from 6 to 14 October 1829 to test George Stephenson's argument that locomotives would have the best motive power for the nearly-completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR). Ten locomotives were entered, of which five were able to compete, running along a 1 mile (1.6 km) length of level track at Rainhill in Lancashire (now Merseyside).
Stephenson's Rocket was the only locomotive to complete the trials and was declared the winner. The directors of the L&MR accepted that locomotives should operate services on their new line, and George and Robert Stephenson were given the contract to produce locomotives for the railway.
The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had originally intended to use stationary steam engines to haul trains along the railway using cables. They had appointed George Stephenson as their engineer of the line in 1826, and he strongly advocated for the use of steam locomotives instead. As the railway was approaching completion, the directors decided to hold a competition to decide whether locomotives could be used to pull the trains; these became the Rainhill trials. A prize of £500 (equal to £55,577 today) was offered to the winner of the trials.
Three engineers were selected as judges: John Urpeth Rastrick, a locomotive engineer of Stourbridge; Nicholas Wood, a mining engineer from Killingworth with considerable locomotive design experience; and John Kennedy, a Manchester cotton spinner and a major proponent of the railway.
The L&MR company set the rules for the trials. The rules went through several revisions; the final set, under which the competition was held, was:
"The weight of the Locomotive Engine, with its full complement of water in the boiler, shall be ascertained at the Weighing Machine, by eight o'clock in the morning, and the load assigned to it shall be three times the weight thereof. The water in the boiler shall be cold, and there shall be no fuel in the fireplace. As much fuel shall be weighed, and as much water shall be measured and delivered into the Tender Carriage, as the owner of the Engine may consider sufficient for the supply of the Engine for a journey of thirty-five miles. The fire in the boiler shall then be lighted, and the quantity of fuel consumed for getting up the steam shall be determined, and the time noted."
"The Tender Carriage, with the fuel and water, shall be considered to be, and taken as a part of the load assigned to the Engine."
"Those engines which carry their own fuel and water, shall be allowed a proportionate deduction from their load, according to the weight of the Engine."
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Rainhill trials
The Rainhill trials were a competition run from 6 to 14 October 1829 to test George Stephenson's argument that locomotives would have the best motive power for the nearly-completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR). Ten locomotives were entered, of which five were able to compete, running along a 1 mile (1.6 km) length of level track at Rainhill in Lancashire (now Merseyside).
Stephenson's Rocket was the only locomotive to complete the trials and was declared the winner. The directors of the L&MR accepted that locomotives should operate services on their new line, and George and Robert Stephenson were given the contract to produce locomotives for the railway.
The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had originally intended to use stationary steam engines to haul trains along the railway using cables. They had appointed George Stephenson as their engineer of the line in 1826, and he strongly advocated for the use of steam locomotives instead. As the railway was approaching completion, the directors decided to hold a competition to decide whether locomotives could be used to pull the trains; these became the Rainhill trials. A prize of £500 (equal to £55,577 today) was offered to the winner of the trials.
Three engineers were selected as judges: John Urpeth Rastrick, a locomotive engineer of Stourbridge; Nicholas Wood, a mining engineer from Killingworth with considerable locomotive design experience; and John Kennedy, a Manchester cotton spinner and a major proponent of the railway.
The L&MR company set the rules for the trials. The rules went through several revisions; the final set, under which the competition was held, was:
"The weight of the Locomotive Engine, with its full complement of water in the boiler, shall be ascertained at the Weighing Machine, by eight o'clock in the morning, and the load assigned to it shall be three times the weight thereof. The water in the boiler shall be cold, and there shall be no fuel in the fireplace. As much fuel shall be weighed, and as much water shall be measured and delivered into the Tender Carriage, as the owner of the Engine may consider sufficient for the supply of the Engine for a journey of thirty-five miles. The fire in the boiler shall then be lighted, and the quantity of fuel consumed for getting up the steam shall be determined, and the time noted."
"The Tender Carriage, with the fuel and water, shall be considered to be, and taken as a part of the load assigned to the Engine."
"Those engines which carry their own fuel and water, shall be allowed a proportionate deduction from their load, according to the weight of the Engine."
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