In 1804, a locomotive powered by steam rolled out of a steel mill in Wales, dragging an iron load behind it.
When the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company held a competition for the title of "The World's Best Locomotive", the Rocket won, and its creator received £500 as a prize. The Manchester-Liverpool railway became a success and ushered in a period of railway construction throughout Europe and the United States.+ Rocket Diagram
The Raketa steam locomotive (the design diagram and drawing of this locomotive are given above) consisted of three main parts: the locomotive, the firebox and the tender. The locomotive consisted of a steam boiler and engine cylinders, coal burned in the firebox, and the tender contained a supply of fuel, that is, coal, and cooling water. Steam from a steam boiler drove two large cylinders. Moreover, each cylinder was connected to both front wheels (picture below). The locomotive's design, containing a firebox and steam boiler, made the Rocket the first truly useful locomotive and led to the boom in railroad construction.
Steam driven drive wheel
Steam entering the cylinder from above forces the piston to move downward. This movement is transmitted through the piston and main rod to the crank, which causes the wheel to turn. Then the steam enters the cylinder from below and pushes the piston upward, turning the wheel further through two rods.+ Other designs of the first steam locomotives
English engineer Richard Trevisick built the first steam locomotive. In 1804, his brainchild dragged 10 tons over a distance of 10 miles.
In 1825, the Loco Machine was built in England. This was the first steam locomotive to run on the state railway. It was unreliable and had few advantages over a horse-drawn train, a train pulled by a real horse.
Current reconstruction of the steam locomotive "Raketa".
