📢 Please take a minute to read this personal message from the creator of RailwayModels.uk

Hornby R30510

Stephenson’s Rocket

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 1 (1804 to 1874) Pioneering

Manufacturer description

For the first time, Stephenson's Rocket is presented as a solo locomotive, with a sleek yellow livery. This highly detailed, diminutive locomotive model is a must-have model for steam collectors, due to its historical importance and incredible model engineering.

This historically important locomotive was built in 1829 to participate in the Rainhill Trials, a competition set-up by the promoters of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to find suitable motive power for its opening the following year.

Built to the order of his father George (who was the L&MR’s principal engineer at the time), ‘Rocket’ was designed by Robert Stephenson and built at his Forth Street Works in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The design was the most advanced in its day and ‘Rocket’ won the Trials. The locomotive then became one of four that took part in the L&MR’s opening parade in September 1830.

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

^* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.

Hornby Stephenson’s Rocket (manufacturer part number R30510) is a model of a pioneering steam locomotive. It is supplied as a single unit in a bright yellow livery, fitted with fixed metal buffers and chain couplings. The model is highly detailed and diminutive, aimed at collectors of steam railway models because of its historical relevance and the quality of its engineering.

The locomotive represented by the model dates from the early railway era. It was built in 1829 to compete in the Rainhill Trials, a contest organised by the promoters of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to select suitable motive power for the line’s opening the following year. Designed by Robert Stephenson for his father George Stephenson, who was the principal engineer of the L&MR, the locomotive was constructed at the Forth Street Works in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Rocket’s design was the most advanced of its time and it won the Rainhill Trials. The locomotive subsequently took part in the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opening parade in September 1830, one of four engines to do so. This historical significance underpins the model’s appeal to enthusiasts.