The most famous locomotive in the world

At the National Railway Museum in York, England, sitting quietly in a stripped-back little alcove while the usual display area is refurbished, sits arguably the most famous locomotive in the world - Stephenson’s Rocket, looking exactly like all the diagrams you’ve seen in the history books

The front is painted with “No. 1” - maybe the most iconic engine number for any train spotter to get?

I don’t know when it was painted on but it has a decent claim to the number…

It has steel-rimmed wooden wheels and had a top speed of 30mph, although it hasn’t been run for over 150 years

The year after it won the Rainhill trials, Rocket sadly achieved another first: the first person killed by a train. A Member of Parliament called William Huskisson, who was at the opening ceremony for the London and Midland Railway on 15 September 1830, was hit by Rocket and died later that day of injuries to his leg

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Huskisson#death

Rocket has been at this museum for a couple of years, and while it sits in this unassuming alcove, it was not getting as much attention as it probably deserves from the passing visitors, some of whom may not even have noticed it there. Hopefully its newly refurbished hall will draw the crowds again.