The Rainhill Story: Stephenson's Rocket

In 1829, the Rainhill Locomotive Trials were held near Liverpool to test various designs of passenger railway locomotive for pulling trains on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway that was being constructed. George and Robert Stephenson's "Rocket" won the contest. Anthony Burton tells the story of the contest. To commemorate the 150-year anniversary of the trials, engineers build replicas of three of the designs from the competition and stage their own trials in Hyde Park, London.