In the same year of 1829, on the morning of the 6th of October, a great crowd had assembled to see an extraordinary race--a race, in fact, without any parallel or precedent whatsoever.

There were four entries but one dropped out, leaving three: The Novelty, John Braithwaite and John Ericsson; The Sanspareil, Timothy Hackworth; The Rocket, George and Robert Stephenson.

These were not horses; they were locomotives.

The directors of the London and Manchester Railway had offered a prize of five hundred pounds for the best locomotive, and here they were to try the issue.
The contest resulted in the triumph of Stephenson's Rocket.

The others fell early out of the race.