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In 1829, George and Robert Stephenson despatched their locomotive, Rocket, to Liverpool to take part in the Rainhill Trials. However, they were also commissioned to build a winding engine for use on the 1-in-100 gradient outside Rainhill. This engine was sent by sea around Scotland; Rocket was hauled overland. In the event, only Rocket reached Liverpool - the winding engine was lost when the ship it was on was wrecked in a storm, costing the Stephensons the £500 prize money they earned by winning the Trials. What if, for one reason or another, Rocket never reaches the Trials - either because it was lost with the winding engine, or for another reason? As it was the only engine to successfully complete the trials in OTL, would the L&MR abandon locomotives entirely in favour of winding engines or would they accept one of the other, less satisfactory designs? (Not entirely implausible - one of the other competitors was bought IOTL despite its failure; another was bought by a branchline in Lancashire and worked there for several years). More importantly, without Rocket's famed 29mph speed record, how does 19th Century technology develop differently?
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