Stephenson’s ‘Planet’ joins the range

Our most astronomical announcement yet

Welcome to the July's edition of the Engine Shed blog, where this month we will be covering in depth the newest Era 1 model joining the range: Robert Stephenson’s Liverpool & Manchester Railway ‘Planet’ steam locomotive!

Over the last few years, we have made great inroads in producing a range of pioneering  locomotives from the 1800’s: L&MR 0-2-2 ‘Rocket’, L&MR 0-4-2 ‘Lion’, and S&DR 0-4-0 ‘Locomotion No.1’ – and it is a subject matter we are continuing to invest in with this latest release.

History of Stephenson’s ‘Planet’

After finding success with his 1829-built locomotive ‘Rocket’, Stephenson began work on an improved design, one that utilised a 2-2-0 wheel arrangement, inside cylinders, outside frames, buffers and couplings. Emerging only a year after ‘Rocket’ in 1830, this later series of nine locomotives were classified as Planet-types, named after the first of the class. Operating along the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the class could complete the 30 mile journey in an hour and 46 minutes.

The type did not last long in service however, being withdrawn from service by 1841 due to the rapid development of locomotive technology spearheaded by Stephenson and others. Some 150 years later, in 1992, a working replica of ‘Planet’ was built by the Friends of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, which was operated by volunteers at the site and provided rides for visitors until 2018. This one-to-one recreation now resides permanently inside the Science & Industry museum. It did have a full height chimney, but was slightly cut-down so that it could be brought inside the museum for static display.

Deciding on ‘Planet’ as the next product

After the positive reception from customers on our other Era 1 locomotives, and discussing options with the Science Museum Group, we decided on Stephenson’s ‘Planet’. Although perhaps not quite as famous as ‘Rocket’, Stephenson’s later locomotive is still a globally recognised design, seeing that ‘Planet’ types were shipped around the world to many different countries to run on their railway systems.

Tooling Specification

In a similar vein to our other Era 1 locomotives, ‘Planet’ will feature an impressive specification. Working from historical drawings and surveying the replica, our design team has worked tirelessly to create a CAD file that has transposed extremely well into a first working engineering sample. The full specification can be found here (link to product page) but at a glance it features:

•  Diecast locomotive chassis and tender body
• Coreless motor
• All-wheel pick up
• High detail cab backhead
• Numerous separately fitted parts such as steam pipes, control levers, strengthening truss rods, and handrails
• Next 18 DCC Decoder socket
• Space for HM7000 speaker

How long until ‘Planet’ arrives, and what are the future plans?

Our first production run of ‘Planet’ is due to arrive in mid-December, so hopefully in time for Christmas, barring any issues with production and transport. As mentioned this first model will depict ‘Planet’ in ‘as-preserved’ condition, with future releases planned to cover the loco in the livery it would have originally worn in the 1800’s, as well as potentially portraying some of the other named ‘Planet’-types that were constructed!

Thank you for taking the time to read this Engine Shed blog and we hope that you will be adding this special steam engine to your collection!