The Stockton & Darlington Railway and Rainhill Trials, 1825-1829.

Lithographs published by the Leadenhall Pres, London, in 1894, showing the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, 27 September 1825, and the Rainhill Trials, 1829. The Stockton & Darlington Railway was the first English railway, linking the collieries in West Durham and Darlington with the docks on the River Tees at Stockton. The Rainhill Trials was the competition held at Rainhill, near Liverpool, to establish the most efficient locomotive for haulage on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, Robert Stephenson's (1803- 1859) famous 'Rocket' locomotive won the competition.