The Rainhill Trials: The Greatest Contest of Industrial Britain and the Birth of Commercial Rail

Contemporary Review, Oct, 2004

The Rainhill Trials: The Greatest Contest of Industrial Britain and the Birth of Commercial Rail. Christopher McGowan. Little, Brown. [pounds sterling]16.99. xiii 380 pages. ISBN 0-316-72480-7. Prof. McGowan is concerned with the competition on 6 October 1829 near the lancashire village of Rainhill.

At stake was a [pounds sterling]500 prize for an improved 'locomotive engine' that would meet the requirements of the new Liverpool to Manchester line established by the Stockton & Darlington Railway. One of the entrants was Robert Stephenson's Rocket. At stake was the future of railway transport that was in turn to be a major player in the creation of modern Britain. Prof. McGowan uses the trials as a basis for a general discussion for the advent of railway transport. In under thirty years Britain would have over 8,000 miles of rail, 2,416 stations and 300,000 passengers a day: a revolution had occurred and the one event that stayed in people's minds as the epitome of these changes was the Rainhill Trials. The author tells his story with great panache and enthusiasm and uses his wide research to good effect. (G.O.C.)