2018

SJ8397 : Rocket Returns to Manchester

taken 5 years ago, near to Rusholme, Manchester, England

Rocket Returns to Manchester
Rocket Returns to Manchester
September 2018 saw the return to Manchester of the iconic locomotive “Stephenson’s Rocket” for the first time in over 180 years when it was put on display at the Science and Industry Museum (previously the known as the Museum of Science and Industry).

Rocket, arguably the most famous of all early locomotives, was designed by Robert Stephenson in 1829 for the Rainhill Trials LinkExternal link , the competition to decide which locomotive candidate would be used to pull the trains on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opening the following year. Five locomotives were entered for the trials, running along a 1 mile length of level track at Rainhill, in Lancashire (now Merseyside). Stephenson's Rocket was the only locomotive to complete the trials as it rattled along at an average speed of 12mph with Its top speed 30mph, and was declared the winner securing its place in history. 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. Rocket’s win not only secured fame and fortune for the Stephensons, it also decided the future of the entire rail industry by proving once and for all that locomotives, rather than stationary winding engines, were the best technology to pull trains on the Liverpool to Manchester line and, by extension, across the railway network that followed.

The Museum of Science and Industry is a particularly apt venue, as it is housed at the site of the terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and the Grade I listed booking office and first class waiting room are still open to the public. The iconic locomotive first went on display in South Kensington in 1862 at the Patent Museum, which later became the Science Museum and, apart from a tour of Japan and a visit to York, it stayed in London until its return to Newcastle for the Great Exhibition of the North in the summer of 2018. It will remain in Manchester from 22 September until 21 April 2019 and then will be put on long-term display at the national Railway Museum in York.
LinkExternal link Science and Industry Museum Blog
LinkExternal link (Archive LinkExternal link ) ITV Granada News
LinkExternal link The Guardian
The Science and Industry Museum, Manchester

The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester is a large museum devoted to the development of science, technology and industry. It places particular emphasis on Manchester’s achievements and contributions in these fields.

The museum was originally called the North Western Museum of Science and Industry when it opened on Grosvenor Street in 1969 (SJ8497 : The North Western Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester). Having outgrown its former site, it was moved to its present location in Castlefield, where it opened on 15 September 1983. It later became known as The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) until its name was changed to the Science and Industry Museum in September 2018 to reflect it becoming part of the Science Museum Group.

The museum is housed in five listed buildings on the historic site of Liverpool Road Station which was vacated by British Rail in 1975. This station is the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station; one of the original termini of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first passenger railway.

The museum houses extensive displays on the themes of transport (railway locomotives and rolling stock, aircraft, and space vehicles), power (water, electricity, steam and gas engines), Manchester's sewerage and sanitation, textiles, communications and computing. There is currently no charge for entry to the museum.
LinkExternal link Museum web site
LinkExternal link Wikipedia


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Manchester [1283] · Grade II Listed [271] · Museum of Science [253] · Town Hall Extension [138] ·
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SJ8397, 2676 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
David Dixon   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Thursday, 11 October, 2018   (more nearby)
Submitted
Monday, 22 October, 2018
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 831 978 [100m precision]
WGS84: 53:28.6316N 2:15.3118W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 831 978
View Direction
EAST (about 90 degrees)
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Image Type (about): inside  close look 
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