Cycloped

The Liverpool & Manchester Railway held its famous trial of locomotives at Rainhill, near Liverpool, in October 1829, with a £500 prize for the most successful design. Five entries were received, of which four were genuine steam locomotives. The fifth, Cycloped, was the work of Thomas Shaw Brandreth, a director of the L&MR — though officially entered as the work of Brandreth's local engineer.

Cycloped consisted of a four-wheeled carriage on which was mounted a wide moving belt or treadmill. A horse walked on the treadmill, its walking motion driving the belt and, through gearing, the carriage's wheels. The arrangement was a serious attempt to apply animal power efficiently to railway haulage, and was not without merit at low speeds.

Cycloped was disqualified from the Rainhill Trials on its first day when the treadmill broke through and the horse fell into the works. It never operated commercially. The trials were won by Rocket and the Liverpool & Manchester adopted steam locomotion exclusively. Brandreth remained an L&MR director for many years.

Four-wheeled flat carriage with a wide horizontal treadmill belt running between the two axles, geared to the wheels. No boiler, no cylinders, no chimney — visually quite unlike any steam locomotive of the period.

• Cycloped (1829, not preserved)