//Iron Horse was used admiringly when comparing early road and railroad traction engines performance to slower, less powerful horse powered tramways. The Iron Horse term became widely popularized and found frequent use in the century and a half following the competition won by Stephenson's Rocket, in innumerable newspaper articles as well as in various novels. The term's place as a cultural icon is shown by the sheer number of things named after it, and its use in films, other media, and as a term of endearment.//