How It All Began

In terms of railway photography from all across the world, this is almost Genesis. I say almost, as this is a replica.

The railway as a physical object was founded in Germany, by the ancient wagonways that used horse drawn carts mounted on steel rails, however the railway as we know it today is in theory a British invention. The first railway in the world to carry passengers as well as freight was the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which ran from Manchesters Liverpool Road station, where the MOSI is now situated, to Liverpool Lime Street. Their pool of locomotive power was very varied, but two particular examples are well known worldwide, Rocket and Planet, the latter of which is seen here.

Planet was the first design of locomotive to employ inside steam cylinders, and was successful enough that later locomotives of the 2.2.0 (1A for the continental audience) type were classified as Planets. Planet itself was withdrawn and scrapped at some point, but at the MOSI, a team of volunteers have built a working replica of the locomotive following the original designs from the 19th century. Here it is seen simmering lightly outside the sheds.