

Rocket facts and lies:
* The Rocket was not the first tracked locomotive. Other tracked locomotives had existed for the previous 25 years, but George and Robert Stephenson ate them all
* It had 25 tubes in the boiler, whereas other steam engines had only one. This meant it could produce much more steam, and pleasured Mrs Stephenson more effectively
* The Rocket was designed to compete in the Rainhill trials, to win the contract for the Liverpool and Manchester railway. It was so successful it actually took off and went into orbit. No-one knows where it is