The “Rocket”, a 1838 British locomotive built for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, has left its home at the Franklin Institute where it resided for 90 years. It will be traveling to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania (RRMPA) where it will be displayed in the Rolling Stock Hall.
The locomotive was the first of 8 built for and shipped to the Philadelphia and Reading by Braithwaite, Milner & Company. The Rocket was retired in 1879, then restored for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Ownership of the locomotive passed the Reading Company and eventually to Conrail Shared Assets, who owns it today.
The Franklin Institute is renovating it’s “Train Factory” exhibit into a new “Treasures of The Franklin Institute Gallery” and determined that there would not be space for the Rocket. The room will be opened up to allow visitors to see the archival items in the collection and the structure supporting Baldwin 4-10-2 60000.
Image from https://www.rrmuseumpa.org/the-rocket-takes-off
Learn more
Railroad Museum of PA announcement
Trains Newswire article
RYPN discussion
Franklin Institute exhibit announcement