The Rainhill Trials: The Birth of Commercial Rail

Early on the morning of Tuesday 6 October 1829, a crowd of ten thousand spectators gathered at Rainhill, a small hamlet on the outskirts of Liverpool. They had come to witness the most remarkable event of the Industrial Age. The Trials were a fiercely competitive tournament and the prize for the winner was the lucrative contract for the Liverpool and Manchester railway. THE RAINHILL TRIALS describes the highs and lows of each contestant, whether it be the eventual winner, Stephenson's Rocket or the people's favourite, Novelty, and relives the incredible tensions of the trials. Christoher Mc Gowan also gives us the background to the development of these stunning new technologies and includes lively pen-portraits of the engineers themselves - remarkable men who built remarkable machines in a remarkable age.