it
propelled a steamboat; next it drove small machinery in a shop in
Manchester; then it was employed in a brickyard; eventually it was
purchased as a curiosity by Mr. Thomson, of Kirkhouse, near Carlisle, who
sent it to Messrs. Stephenson to take care of. With them it remained for
years. Then Messrs. Stephenson put it into something like its original
shape, and it went to South Kensington Museum, where "it" is now. The
question is, What engine is this? Was it the Rocket of 1829 or the Rocket
of 1830, or neither? It could not be the last, as will be understood from
Mr. Nasmyth's drawing; if we bear in mind that the so-called fire-box on
the South Kensington engine is only a sham made of thin sheet iron without
water space, while the fire-box shown in Mr. Nasmyth's engine is an
integral part of the whole, which could not have been cut off. That is to
say, Messrs. Stephenson, in getting the engine put in order for the Patent
Office Museum, certainly did not cut off the fire-box shown in Mr.
Nasmyth's sketch, and replace it with the sham box now on the boiler. If
our readers will turn to our impression for the 30th of June, 1876, they
will find a very accurate engraving of the South Kensington engine, which
they can compare with Mr. Nasmyth's sketch, and not fail to perceive that
the differences are radical.

In "Wood on Railroads," second edition, 1832, page 377, we are told that
"after those experiments"--the Rainhill trials--"were concluded, the
Novelty underwent considerable alterations;" and on page 399, "Mr.
Stephenson had also improved the working of the Rocket engine, and by
applying the steam more powerfully in the chimney to increase the draught,
was enabled to raise a much greater quantity of steam than before." Nothing
is said as to where the new experiments took place, nor their precise date.
But it seems that the Meteor and the Arrow--Stephenson engines--were tried
at the same time; and this is really the only hint Wood gives as to what
was done to the Rocket between the 6th of October, 1829, and the 15th of
September, 1830.

There are men still alive who no doubt could clear up the question at
issue, and it is much to be hoped that they will do so. As the matter now
stands, it will be seen that we do not so much question that the Rocket in
South Kensington Museum is, in part perhaps, the original Rocket of
Rainhill celebrity, as that it ever ran in regular service on the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway. Y