Editing Rainhill trials (section)

== Competition ==
The length of the L&MR that ran past Rainhill village was straight and level for over {{convert|1|mi|km}}, and was chosen as the site for the trials. The locomotives were to run at Kenrick's Cross, on the mile east from the Manchester side of Rainhill Bridge.<ref name=dickson/> Two or three locomotives ran each day, and several tests for each locomotive were performed over the course of six days.{{sfn|Wolmar|2008|p=36}} Between 10,000 and 15,000 people turned up to watch the trials, and bands provided musical entertainment.<ref name=dickson/>

''[[Cycloped]]'' was the first to drop out of the competition. It used a horse walking on a drive belt for power and was withdrawn after an accident caused the horse to burst through the floor of the engine.

The next locomotive to retire was ''[[Perseverance (Rainhill Trials)|Perseverance]]'', which was damaged in transit to the competition. Burstall spent the first five days of the trials repairing his locomotive, and though it ran on the sixth day, it failed to reach the required {{convert|10|mi/h|km/h}} speed and was withdrawn from the trial. It was granted a £25 consolation prize (equal to £{{Inflation|UK|25|1829|fmt=commas}} today).

''[[Sans Pareil]]'' nearly completed the trials, though at first there was some doubt as to whether it would be allowed to compete as it was {{convert|300|lb|kg}} overweight. It completed eight trips before cracking a cylinder. Despite the failure it was purchased by the L&MR, where it ran for two years before being leased to the [[Bolton and Leigh Railway]].

The last locomotive to drop out was ''[[Novelty (locomotive)|Novelty]]'' which used advanced technology for the time, and was lighter and considerably faster than the other locomotives in the competition. It was the crowd favourite and reached a then-astonishing {{convert|28|mph}} on the first day of competition.<ref name="dickson">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wERJAAAAYAAJ |title=Illustrated Catalogue of Locomotives Manufactured by the Dickson Manufacturing Company |date= |publisher=M. B. Brown, printer |year=1886 |pages=261-262}}</ref> It later suffered damage to a boiler pipe which could not be fixed properly on site. Nevertheless, it ran the next day and reached {{convert|15|mph}} before the repaired pipe failed and damaged the engine severely enough that it had to be withdrawn.

The ''[[Stephenson's Rocket|Rocket]]'' was the only locomotive that completed the trials. It averaged {{convert|12|mph}} and achieved a top speed of {{convert|30|mph}}) hauling 13 tons, and was declared the winner of the £500 prize (equal to £{{Inflation|UK|500|1829|fmt=commas}} today). The Stephensons were given the contract to produce locomotives for the L&MR.<ref name="Wolmar, Fire and Steam, 36-37" >[[#Wolmar, Fire and Steam|Wolmar, Fire and Steam]], pp.&nbsp;36–37</ref>

''[[The Times]]'' carried a full report of the trials on 12 October 1829 from which the following extract are taken:

{{blockquote|THURSDAY – THIRD DAY: Mr. Stephenson's engine, "The Rocket," weighing 4 tons 3 cwt., performed, to-day, the work required by the original conditions. The following is a correct account of the performance: The engine, with its complement of water, weighed 4 tons 5 cwt., and the load attached to it was 12 tons 15 cwt., and, with a few persons who rode, made it about 13 tons. The Journey was 1.21 mile each way, with an additional length of 220 yards at each end to stop the engine in, making in one Journey 3[?] miles. The first experiment was of 35 miles, which is exactly ten journeys, and, including all the stoppages at the ends, was performed in 3 hours and 10 minutes, being upwards of 11 miles an hour. After this a fresh supply of water was taken in, which occupied 16 minutes, when the engine again started, and ran 35 miles in 2 hours and 52 minutes, which is upwards of 12 miles an hour, including all stoppages. The speed of the engine, with its load when in full motion, was from 14 to 17 miles an hour; and had the whole distance been in one continuing direction, there is no doubt but the result would have been 16 miles an hour. The consumption of coke was very moderate, not exceeding half a ton in the whole 70 miles. At several parts of the journey the engine moved at 18 miles an hour.

SATURDAY – FIFTH DAY: In the expectation of witnessing the Novelty perform its appointed task, the attendance of company on the ground was more numerous today than it had been on several of the preceding days. Three times its own weight having been attached to the engine, the machine commenced its task, and performed it at the rate of 16 miles in the hour. Mr. Stephenson's engine, the Rocket, also exhibited today. Its tender was completely detached from it, and the engine alone shot along the road at the almost incredible rate of 32 miles in the hour. So astonishing was the celerity with which the engine, without its apparatus, darted past the spectators, that it could be compared to nothing but the rapidity with which the swallow darts through the air. Their astonishment was complete, every one exclaiming involuntarily, "The power of steam".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anon |title=Trial of locomotive carriages |work=The Times |publisher=Times Newspapers Limited |date=12 October 1829}}</ref>}}