Experiment was a steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

 designed and built by Richard Roberts

Richard Roberts (engineer)

Richard Roberts was a British engineer whose development of high-precision machine tools contributed to the birth of production engineering and mass production.-Early life:...

 in 1833 for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

Liverpool and Manchester Railway

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...

 (L&MR). The locomotive had vertical cylinders driving via bell crank

Bell crank

A bell crank is a type of crank that changes motion through an angle. The angle can be any angle from 0 to 360 degrees, although 90 degrees and 180 degrees are common....

s.

History

L&MR No.32 Experiment was built in 1833 with vertical cylinders mounted just behind the chimney, driving the wheels via a bell crank. The locomotive also had piston valves. These valves were probably the reason that the design was not a success, rather than the bell crank transmission, which was used successfully in other locomotives. Another reason that the locomotive was not successful was steam leakage from the cylinders. Experiment was withdrawn after a few months.

Three similar locomotives

Hibernia (locomotive)

Hibernia was a steam locomotive designed by Richard Roberts and built by Sharp, Roberts and Company in 1834 for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway . The locomotive had vertical cylinders driving via bell cranks.-History:...

 were built for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway

Dublin and Kingstown Railway

The Dublin and Kingstown Railway , which opened in 1834, was Ireland’s first railway. It linked Westland Row in Dublin with Kingstown Harbour’s West Pier in County Dublin.-History:...

. Locomotives to this design were built for the Dundee and Newtyle Railway

Dundee and Newtyle Railway

The Dundee and Newtyle Railway opened in 1831 and was the first railway in the north of Scotland. It was built to carry goods from Strathmore to the port of Dundee and was chartered with an Act of Parliament that received royal assent in 26 May 1826 and opened in 1831. The railway originally ran...

, but they were soon altered.