Planet

Resource Type: Image | Posted on 28th October 2011 by Liam Physick

One of the images donated to Metal by Eric Shenton. This is an engraving of the Planet, the ninth locomotive to be built for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway by Robert Stephenson and Company. It was the first design change after the Rocket: it was the first locomotive to have inside cyliners, and the first to use a 2-2-0 wheel arrangement - as a result, locomotives in this class became known as Planets. The Planet marked a major advance on the Rocket: it was the first engine to have a steam dome to prevent water reaching the cyliners, and its buffers and couplings were in a different position, which would be followed by all subsequent locomotives. Six more of them were ordered from Stephenson and Co. by the Railway after the original travelled from Liverpool to Manchester in an hour on 23rd November 1830, while another three were supplied by the Leeds-based company Murray and Wood, to whom Stephenson and Co. had sent drawings of the engine. The Planet was the first locomotive type to be built in large numbers. In 1992, a replica of it was built by the Friends of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, and every summer volunteers operate it to give rides to visitors. It should not be confused with two subsequent steam locomotives called the Planet: LMS Royal Class 4-6-0 No. 6131 and LMS Rebuilt Patriot Class No. 45545

Tagged under: steam locomotives, liverpool and manchester railway, eric shenton, tender locomotives, london midland and scottish railway, robert stephenson, planet

Categorised under: Landmarks, Landscapes & Locomotives