2-691-147 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Rocket Astonishes Everyone', c1934. Illustration showing the 'Rocket' steam locomotive designed by Robert Stephenson. The accompanying text explains the mechanism. 'Rocket' won the Rainhill Trials, a competition held to determine the engine to be used on the Liverpool to Manchester Railway. The first steam train travelled at nearly 30 miles an hour and was the forerunner of the modern railway system. From The Romance of the Nation, Volume Two, edited by Charles Ray. [The Amalgamated Press, Ltd., London, c1934]