ROCKET LEAVES LONDON FOR GREAT EXHIBITION OF THE NORTH
Robert Stephenson’s Rocket left its long-time home of the Science Museum in Kensington on June 8 when it was transported to Newcastle for the Great Exhibition of the North. The 1829-built locomotive was moved by road to the Discovery Museum in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where it will be displayed from June 22-September 9 for the duration of the exhibition. It is the first time the Rainhill Trials victor has returned to the city of its birth since it was taken to the Robert Stephenson & Co. Forth Street works in 1851, when it was refurbished for display at the Great Exhibition, although the locomotive never attended. Although Rocket’s Rainhill competitor Sans Pareil and its George Stephenson-built predecessor Locomotion No. 1 are also based in the North East, “there are no plans to reunite Rocket with its Rainhill competitors during this time,” said an NRM spokesman. “However, this does mean that visitors to the North East could see Sans Pareil, Locomotion No. 1 and Rocket at three different museums all on the same day.” Rocket will not be immediately returning to Kensington after the Great Exhibition of the North, as it will be displayed at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (see SR480) from September 22 to April 21 2019. An NRM spokesman said: “No decision has been made yet concerning where Rocket will travel after the MOSI. We plan to bring the locomotive to the NRM, although the date for this is not yet confirmed.”