Drawings of Robert Stephenson's steam engine Rocket by John Dobson Wardale

Collection of five drawings by John Dobson Wardale, head draughtsman for Stephenson & Co. containing two side elevations of the locomotive engine 'Rocket'; two sectional drawings of the boiler; one side elevation in pen and ink with J.D. Wardale's signature. Some of the drawings have a label on the reverse with text 'J. Halden & Co. Ltd Map Mounters. Newcastle-on-Tyne' which was established in 1878 in London with shops in various cities.

The drawings were made three decades after the Rocket was first constructed to possibly be exhibited alongside the original engine in the newly opened Patent Office Museum (predecessor of the Science Museum). Wardale based the drawings on the measurements taken of the original engine and memories of some of the longer-serving employees at Stephenson & Co. The drawings were an attempt to show the Rocket as it was built in 1829 although some of the later additions were included and the appearance of the firebox was different to the original design.