The Rastrick NotebookNational Railway Museum
The Judge's Private Record
Venture behind the lines of Rastrick's Notebook to enter the mind of a pivotal 19th-century engineer. This single manuscript volume is a rare, intimate lens on the moment the world's transport system changed forever.
Illustration Claiming to Show "The Rocket" (1894) by Leadenhall Press LtdNational Railway Museum
The Atmosphere of 1829
Imagine the atmosphere at the Rainhill Trials, the monumental competition held to select the first successful locomotive for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway. The future of mechanized travel was on the line, and engineer John Urpeth Rastrick held one of the judges' seats.
The Rastrick NotebookNational Railway Museum
A Look Inside the Technical Mind
Inside this small, leather-bound book, you find the meticulous work of a technical mind, filled with the raw data of invention. Rastrick filled its pages not with prose, but with precise, hand-drawn sketches, diagrams, and calculations of the competing steam engines.
The Rastrick NotebookNational Railway Museum
The Triumph of the 'Rocket'
The most critical pages document the performance of George Stephenson's 'Rocket', the eventual winner. Rastrick's measured figures for fuel, water, and speed conclusively proved that the locomotive, and not fixed-rope haulage, was the superior technology.
The Rastrick Notebook (1829) by UnknownNational Railway Museum
An Unparalleled Historical Resource
This makes the notebook an unparalleled historical resource. It is the sole surviving, eyewitness documentation of the trials that led to the global dominance of the steam engine.
The Rastrick NotebookNational Railway Museum
A Tangible Link to Invention
The humble Rastrick Notebook is a tangible relic of the Age of Steam. It allows historians to look past the spectacle of the race and peer into the mind of the man whose pen stroke confirmed the triumph of the railway.
The Rastrick Notebook (1929-11-19) by UnknownNational Railway Museum
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