Before the Rainhill Trials, it helps to know how a steam locomotive works. A steam locomotive burns coal as its fuel. The heat of the fire turns the water in a boiler into steam. Then high-pressure steam goes into cylinders and pushes pistons back and forth.
On 21 February 1804 the world's first railway journey ran in south Wales, with a steam locomotive built by Richard Trevithick. It weighed about five tons. It was so heavy that it broke the cast-iron rails it ran on.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway in England opened on September 27, 1825. The locomotive Locomotion No. 1 pulled the first train.
George Stephenson built his first locomotive in 1814, at Killingworth Colliery. His railways used rails 4 feet 8.5 inches apart. That width was later called standard gauge.
The Rainhill Trials of October 1829 lasted nine days. More than 10,000 people came to watch the locomotives. Each locomotive had to make ten return trips along a specially built track about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.
Robert Stephenson's locomotive Rocket won the Rainhill Trials in 1829. It was then used on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson's Rocket reached speeds of at least 30 miles per hour, which is 48 km/h.
Yet at the 1829 Rainhill Trials, the engine Novelty ran faster than Rocket. But Novelty broke down and could not finish, so speed alone did not decide the contest. The judges also weighed how reliable each locomotive was. They weighed how much fuel and water it used as well.
Words to know
- locomotive: engine that pulls
- boiler: water-heating tank
- pistons: pushing parts
- reliable: works every time
- gauge: rail width
