Rainhill Bridge, Chat Mos, near Liverpool, 1831.

Coloured engraving (proof copy), drawn and engraved by Isaac Shaw, from a series entitled 'Views of the Most Interesting Scenery on the Line of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway'. A steam locomotive is shown hauling wagons beneath the bridge. The skew bridge at Rainhill, 10 miles east of Liverpool, carried the Liverpool and Warrington turnpike road over George Stephenson's (1781-1848) Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and was completed in 1829. The bridge marks the point at which the famous Rainhill trials were held, a competition set up to establish the most efficient locomotive for haulage on the LMR, the winner of which was Robert Stephenson's (1803-1859) 'Rocket'.