In the quarter of a century between 1830 and 1855, the railway
locomotive developed from the small sisters of Rocketto the broad gauge
monsters of Daniel Gooch, with a boiler pressure nearly three times that
of Rocketand weighing in at nearly 40 tons (eight times the weight of
Rocket). There was a marked increase in loads, speeds and reliability as
the railways spread across the country from their cradle in the North
West, with several thousands of miles of track being laid. In this book,
Anthony Dawson charts the rise and development of the steam locomotive
in this crucial period in the development of the railways. Drawing on
first-hand accounts, and using case studies based on specific classes of
locomotive and their working replicas, he charts the development of the
locomotive from Rocket, through the Planet and Patentee classes of
Robert Stephenson, Edward Bury's 'coppernobs' and finally Firefly and
Iron Duke on Brunel's broad gauge. This is a fascinating and
well-illustrated insight into a period of engineering ingenuity and
genius.