The Verdict of History.

The Rainhill locomotive trials form an epic of the “Iron Way.” Railway developments on a scale undreamt of by Stephenson and his fellow pioneers followed in the wake of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opening. Little by little all Britain was covered with a network of railway tracks. The glistening steel riband flung itself across every continent, and now, despite developments on the roads, the railway continues, after a century of service, to rank as the world's most important means of land transport. By mankind the name of Stephenson must ever be held in the highest esteem. By railway-men the world over the romance of the “Rocket” will never be forgotten.

The only people, scientific or otherwise, who never make mistakes are those who do nothing.—Huxley.