Which London museum permanently displays Stephenson's Rocket?

London’s Science Museum permanently displays Stephenson’s Rocket.

The locomotive was designed by Robert Stephenson and built in 1829 for the Rainhill Trials, a competition held to determine the most effective locomotive for the planned Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Rocket won the trials and helped establish several features that became influential, including a multi-tubular boiler and a separate firebox.

Rocket was not a typical later express locomotive: it was small, lightly built, and designed for an early experimental railway. Its significance lies in combining practical engineering ideas into a successful machine. The locomotive’s victory helped demonstrate that steam traction could outperform competing forms of railway power.

The original Rocket entered the Science Museum’s collection in the 19th century and has been displayed there since 1862, in South Kensington. It is often confused with the National Railway Museum because that museum in York holds many celebrated railway artefacts, including other historic locomotives. The Science Museum’s Rocket is the original 1829 machine, while working replicas have also been built for public demonstrations.