Editing Rainhill trials (section)

==Background==
The directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had originally intended to use [[stationary steam engine]]s to haul trains along the railway using [[cable railway|cables]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Batrak |first=Oleksandr  |date=2020-10-22 |title=The Rainhill Trials of locomotives |url=https://www.railway.supply/en/the-rainhill-trials-of-locomotives/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Railway Supply |language=en-US}}</ref> They had appointed George Stephenson as their engineer of the line in 1826, and he strongly advocated for the use of steam locomotives instead.{{sfn|Cleveland-Stevens|1915|pp=6–7}} As the railway was approaching completion, the directors decided to hold a competition to decide whether locomotives could be used to pull the trains; these became the Rainhill trials.{{Sfn|Wolmar|2008|p=36}} A prize of £500 (equal to £{{Inflation|UK|500|1829|fmt=commas}} today) was offered to the winner of the trials.{{sfn|Ferneyhough|1980|p=44}}

Three engineers were selected as judges: [[John Urpeth Rastrick]], a locomotive engineer of [[Stourbridge]]; [[Nicholas Wood]], a mining engineer from [[Killingworth]] with considerable locomotive design experience; and [[John Kennedy (manufacturer)|John Kennedy]], a [[Manchester]] cotton spinner and a major proponent of the railway.{{Sfn|Carlson|1969|p=219}}