Great Western Railway
standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||
1903 | Start of road motor services | ||||||||||||||||||||
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1923 | Keeps identity though the Grouping | ||||||||||||||||||||
1935 | Centenary | ||||||||||||||||||||
1948 | Nationalised | ||||||||||||||||||||
Successor organisation | |||||||||||||||||||||
1948 | British Rail, Western Region | ||||||||||||||||||||
Key locations | |||||||||||||||||||||
Headquarters | Paddington station, London | ||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | England; Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||
Workshops | Swindon Wolverhampton | ||||||||||||||||||||
Major stations | Birmingham Snow Hill Bristol Temple Meads Cardiff General London Paddington Reading General | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a
The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways.
The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round" but it was famed as the "Holiday Line", taking many people to English and Bristol Channel resorts in the West Country as well as the far southwest of England such as Torquay in Devon, Minehead in Somerset, and Newquay and St Ives in Cornwall. The company's locomotives, many of which were built in the company's workshops at Swindon, were painted a middle chrome green colour while, for most of its existence, it used a two-tone "chocolate and cream" livery for its passenger coaches. Goods wagons were painted red but this was later changed to mid-grey.
Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the
History
Formation
The Great Western Railway originated from the desire of Bristol merchants to maintain their city as the second port of the country and the chief one for American trade.[6] The increase in the size of ships and the gradual silting of the River Avon had made Liverpool an increasingly attractive port, and with a Liverpool to London rail line under construction in the 1830s Bristol's status was threatened. The answer for Bristol was, with the co-operation of London interests, to build a line of their own; a railway built to unprecedented standards of excellence to out-perform the lines being constructed to the North West of England.[7]
Great Western Railway Act 1835 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 31 August 1835 |
The company was founded at a meeting in Bristol on 21 January 1833.
Route of the line
This was by far Brunel's largest contract to date. He made two controversial decisions. Firstly, he chose to use a broad gauge of 7 ft (2,134 mm) to allow for the possibility of large wheels outside the bodies of the rolling stock which could give smoother running at high speeds. Secondly, he selected a route, north of the Marlborough Downs, which had no significant towns but which offered potential connections to Oxford and Gloucester. This meant the line was not direct from London to Bristol. From Reading heading west, the line would curve in a northerly sweep back to Bath.
Brunel surveyed the entire length of the route between London and Bristol himself, with the help of many, including his solicitor, Jeremiah Osborne of the Bristol law firm Osborne Clarke, who on one occasion rowed Brunel down the River Avon to survey the bank of the river for the route.[9][10]
The first 22+1⁄2 miles (36 km) of line, from Paddington station in London to
On 17 December 1840, the line from London reached a temporary terminus at Wootton Bassett Road west of Swindon and 80.25 miles (129 km) from Paddington. The section from Wootton Bassett Road to Chippenham was opened on 31 May 1841, as was Swindon Junction station where the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWUR) to Cirencester connected. That was an independent line worked by the GWR, as was the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER), the first section of which from Bristol to Bridgwater was opened on 14 June 1841. The GWR main line remained incomplete during the construction of the 1-mile-1,452-yard (2.94 km) Box Tunnel, which was ready for trains on 30 June 1841, after which trains ran the 152 miles (245 km) from Paddington through to Bridgwater.[15] In 1851, the GWR purchased the Kennet and Avon Canal, which was a competing carrier between London, Reading, Bath and Bristol.[16]
The GWR was closely involved with the C&GWUR and the B&ER and with several other broad-gauge railways. The
There was initially no direct line from London to Wales as the tidal River Severn was too wide to cross. Trains instead had to follow a lengthy route via Gloucester, where the river was narrow enough to be crossed by a bridge. Work on the Severn Tunnel had begun in 1873, but unexpected underwater springs delayed the work and prevented its opening until 1886.[21]
Brunel's 7-foot gauge and the "gauge war"
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Brunel had devised a 7 ft (2,134 mm) track gauge for his railways in 1835. He later added 1⁄4 inch (6.4 mm), probably to reduce friction of the wheel sets in curves. This became the 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge.[a] Either gauge may be referred to as "Brunel's" gauge.
In 1844, the broad-gauge
Other railways in Britain were to use standard gauge. In 1846, the Bristol and Gloucester was bought by the
The GWR extended into the West Midlands in competition with the Midland and the London and North Western Railway. Birmingham was reached through Oxford in 1852 and Wolverhampton in 1854.[24] This was the furthest north that the broad gauge reached.[25] In the same year the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway both amalgamated with the GWR, but these lines were standard gauge,[16] and the GWR's own line north of Oxford had been built with mixed gauge.
This mixed gauge was extended southwards from Oxford to Basingstoke at the end of 1856 and so allowed through goods traffic from the north of England to the south coast (via the London and South Western Railway – LSWR) without transshipment.[24]
• Broad gauge – blue (top)
• Mixed gauge – green (middle)
• Standard gauge – orange (bottom)
Values to chart | |||
---|---|---|---|
31 December | Broad | Mixed | Standard |
1851 | 269 miles (433 km) | 3 miles (5 km) | 0 miles (0 km) |
1856 | 298 miles (480 km) | 124 miles (200 km) | 75 miles (121 km) |
1861 | 327 miles (526 km) | 182 miles (293 km) | 81 miles (130 km) |
1866 | 596 miles (959 km) | 237 miles (381 km) | 428 miles (689 km) |
1871 | 524 miles (843 km) | 141 miles (227 km) | 655 miles (1,054 km) |
1876 | 268 miles (431 km) | 274 miles (441 km) | 1,481 miles (2,383 km) |
1881 | 210 miles (340 km) | 254 miles (409 km) | 1,674 miles (2,694 km) |
1886 | 187 miles (301 km) | 251 miles (404 km) | 1,918 miles (3,087 km) |
1891 | 171 miles (275 km) | 252 miles (406 km) | 1,982 miles (3,190 km) |
The line to Basingstoke had originally been built by the Berks and Hants Railway as a broad-gauge route in an attempt to keep the standard gauge of the LSWR out of Great Western territory but, in 1857, the GWR and LSWR opened a shared line to Weymouth on the south coast, the GWR route being via Chippenham and a route initially started by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway.[24] Further west, the LSWR took over the broad-gauge Exeter and Crediton Railway and North Devon Railway,[26] also the standard-gauge Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway.
It was several years before these remote lines were connected with the parent LSWR system and any through traffic to them was handled by the GWR and its associated companies.[27]
By now the gauge war was lost and mixed gauge was brought to
On 1 April 1869, the broad gauge was taken out of use between Oxford and Wolverhampton and from Reading to Basingstoke. In August, the line from Grange Court to Hereford was converted from broad to standard and the whole of the line from Swindon through Gloucester to South Wales was similarly treated in May 1872. In 1874, the mixed gauge was extended along the main line to Chippenham and the line from there to Weymouth was narrowed. The following year saw mixed gauge laid through the Box Tunnel, with the broad gauge now retained only for through services beyond Bristol and on a few branch lines.[28]
The Bristol and Exeter Railway amalgamated with the GWR on 1 January 1876. It had already made a start on mixing the gauge on its line, a task completed through to Exeter on 1 March 1876 by the GWR. The station here had been shared with the LSWR since 1862. This rival company had continued to push westwards over its Exeter and Crediton line and arrived in Plymouth later in 1876, which spurred the South Devon Railway to also amalgamate with the Great Western. The Cornwall Railway remained a nominally independent line until 1889, although the GWR held a large number of shares in the company.
One final new broad-gauge route was opened on 1 June 1877, the St Ives branch in west Cornwall, although there was also a small extension at Sutton Harbour in Plymouth in 1879.[19] Part of a mixed gauge point remains at Sutton Harbour, one of the few examples of broad gauge trackwork remaining in situ anywhere.[29]
Once the GWR was in control of the whole line from London to Penzance, it set about converting the remaining broad-gauge tracks. The last broad-gauge service left Paddington station on Friday, 20 May 1892; the following Monday, trains from Penzance were operated by standard-gauge locomotives.[30]
Into the 20th century
After 1892, with the burden of operating trains on two gauges removed, the company turned its attention to constructing new lines and upgrading old ones to shorten the company's previously circuitous routes. The principal new lines opened were:[31]
- 1900: Stert and Westbury linking the Berks and Hants line with Westbury to create a shorter route to Weymouth for the Channel Islands traffic.
- 1903: the South Wales and Bristol Direct Railway from Wootton Bassett Junction to link up with the Severn Tunnel.
- 1904: a diversion of the Cornish Main Line between Saltash and St Germans, eliminating the last wooden viaducts on the main line.
- 1906: the Langport and Castle Cary Railway to shorten the journey from London to Penzance between Reading and Taunton.
- 1908: the Birmingham and North Warwickshire which, combined with the Cheltenham and Honeybourne of 1906, offered a new route from Birmingham via Stratford-upon-Avon to south Wales.
- 1910: the Birmingham Direct Line built jointly with the Aynhoand the North.
- 1913: the Swansea District Lines which allowed trains to Fishguard Harbour to avoid Swansea. Fishguard had been opened in an attempt to attract transatlantic liner traffic and provided a better facility for the Anglo-Irish ferries than that at Neyland.
The generally conservative GWR made other improvements in the years before
One of the "Big Four"
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the GWR was taken into government control, as were most major railways in Britain. Many of its staff joined the armed forces and it was more difficult to build and maintain equipment than in peacetime. After the war, the government considered permanent
The new Great Western Railway had more routes in Wales, including 295 miles (475 km) of former Cambrian Railways lines and 124 miles (200 km) from the Taff Vale Railway. A few independent lines in its English area of operations were also added, notably the Midland and South Western Junction Railway, a line previously working closely with the Midland Railway but which now gave the GWR a second station at Swindon, along with a line that carried through-traffic from the North via Cheltenham and Andover to Southampton.
The 1930s brought hard times but the company remained in fair financial health despite the Depression. The Development (Loans, Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929 allowed the GWR to obtain money in return for stimulating employment and this was used to improve stations including London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff General; to improve facilities at depots and to lay additional tracks to reduce congestion. The road motor services were transferred to local bus companies in which the GWR took a share but instead, it participated in air services.[33]
A legacy of the broad gauge was that trains for some routes could be built slightly wider than was normal in Britain and these included the 1929-built "Super Saloons" used on the boat train services that conveyed transatlantic passengers to London in luxury.[34] When the company celebrated its centenary during 1935, new "Centenary" carriages were built for the Cornish Riviera Express, which again made full use of the wider loading gauge on that route.[35]
World War II and after
With the outbreak of
About 40 years after nationalisation
Geography
The original
Swindon was also the junction for a line that ran north-westwards to
A network of cross-country routes linked these main lines, and there were also many and varied
Brunel envisaged the GWR continuing across the Atlantic Ocean and built the SS Great Western to carry the railway's passengers from Bristol to New York.[50] Most traffic for North America soon switched to the larger port of Liverpool (in other railways' territories) but some transatlantic passengers were landed at Plymouth and conveyed to London by special train. Great Western ships linked Great Britain with Ireland, the Channel Islands and France.[51]
Key locations
The railway's headquarters were established at Paddington station. Its locomotives and rolling stock were built and maintained at
Engineering features
More than 150 years after its creation, the original main line has been described by historian Steven Brindle as "one of the masterpieces of railway design".[57] Working westwards from Paddington, the line crosses the valley of the River Brent on Wharncliffe Viaduct and the River Thames on Maidenhead Railway Bridge, which at the time of construction was the largest span achieved by a brick arch bridge.[58] The line then continues through Sonning Cutting before reaching Reading[59] after which it crosses the Thames twice more, on Gatehampton and Moulsford bridges.[60] Between Chippenham and Bath is Box Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel driven by that time.[61] Several years later, the railway opened the even longer Severn Tunnel to carry a new line between England and Wales beneath the River Severn.[21]
Some other notable structures were added when smaller companies were amalgamated into the GWR. These include the South Devon Railway sea wall,[62] the Cornwall Railway's Royal Albert Bridge,[63] and Barmouth Bridge on the Cambrian Railways.[64]
Operations
In the early years the GWR was managed by two committees, one in Bristol and one in London. They soon combined as a single board of directors which met in offices at Paddington.[14]
The Board was led by a chairman and supported by a Secretary and other "officers". The first Locomotive Superintendent was Daniel Gooch, although from 1915 the title was changed to Chief Mechanical Engineer. The first Goods Manager was appointed in 1850 and from 1857 this position was filled by James Grierson until 1863 when he became the first general manager. In 1864 the post of Superintendent of the Line was created to oversee the running of the trains.[65]
Passenger services
Year | Passengers | Train mileage | Receipts |
---|---|---|---|
1850 | 2,491,712 | 1,425,573 | £630,515 (£71.7 million in 2021) |
1875 | 36,024,592 | 9,435,876 | £2,528,305 (£253 million in 2021) |
1900 | 80,944,483 | 23,279,499 | £5,207,513 (£599 million in 2021) |
1924 | 140,241,113 | 37,997,377 | £13,917,942 (£845 million in 2021) |
1934 | 110,813,041 | 40,685,597 | £10,569,140 (£798 million in 2021) |
Passenger numbers exclude season ticket journeys.[3][66] |
Early trains offered passengers a choice of
Special "excursion" cheap-day tickets were first issued in May 1849 and season tickets in 1851. Until 1869 most revenue came from second-class passengers but the volume of third-class passengers grew to the extent that second-class facilities were withdrawn in 1912. The Cheap Trains Act 1883 resulted in the provision of workmen's trains at special low fares at certain times of the day.[3]
The principal express services were often given nicknames by railwaymen but these names later appeared officially in timetables, on headboards carried on the locomotive, and on roofboards above the windows of the carriages. For instance, the late-morning
The Cheltenham Spa Express was the fastest train in the world when it was scheduled to cover the 77.25 miles (124.3 km) between Swindon and London at an average of 71.3 miles per hour (114.7 km/h).[68] The train was nicknamed the 'Cheltenham Flyer' and featured in one of the GWR's 'Books for boys of all ages'. Other named trains included The Bristolian, running between London and Bristol from 1935,[69] and the Torbay Express, which ran between London and Kingswear.[70]
Many of these fast expresses included special coaches that could be detached as they passed through stations without stopping, a
Self-propelled "
Freight services
Year | Tonnage | Train mileage | Receipts |
---|---|---|---|
1850 | 350,000 | 330,817 | £202,978 (£23.1 million in 2021) |
1875 | 16,388,198 | 11,206,462 | £3,140,093 (£315 million in 2021) |
1900 | 37,500,510 | 23,135,685 | £5,736,921 (£660 million in 2021) |
1924 | 81,723,133 | 25,372,106 | £17,571,537 (£1.07 billion in 2021) |
1934 | 64,619,892 | 22,707,235 | £14,500,385 (£1.1 billion in 2021) |
Tonnage for 1850 is approximate.[3][66] |
Passenger traffic was the main source of revenue for the GWR when it first opened but goods were also carried in separate trains. It was not until the coal-mining and industrial districts of Wales and the Midlands were reached that goods traffic became significant; in 1856 the Ruabon Coal Company signed an agreement with the GWR to transport coal to London at special rates which nonetheless was worth at least £40,000 each year to the railway.[3]
As locomotives increased in size so did the length of goods trains, from 40 to as many as 100 four-wheeled wagons, although the gradient of the line often limited this.
The GWR provided special wagons, handling equipment and storage facilities for its largest traffic flows. For example, the coal mines in Wales sent much of their coal to the docks along the coast, many of which were owned and equipped by the railway, as were some in Cornwall that exported most of the
Heavy traffic was carried from the agricultural and fishing areas in the southwest of England, often in fast "perishables" trains,
In 1905 the GWR ran its first vacuum-braked general goods train between London and Bristol using newly built goods wagons with small wheels but vacuum brakes. This was followed by other services to create a network of fast trains between the major centres of production and population that were scheduled to run at speeds averaging 35 mph (56 km/h). Other railway companies also followed the GWR's lead by providing their own vacuum-braked (or "fitted") services.[82]
Ancillary operations
A number of canals, such as the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, became the property of the railway when they were purchased to remove competition or objectors to proposed new lines. Most of these continued to be operated although they were only a small part of the railway company's business: in 1929 the canals took £16,278 of receipts while freight trains earned over £17 million. (£1,053,000 and £1.1 billion respectively in 2021).[83][66]
The
Powers were granted by Parliament for the GWR to operate ships in 1871.[33] The following year the company took over the ships operated by Ford and Jackson on the route between Neyland in Wales and Waterford in Ireland. The Welsh terminal was relocated to Fishguard Harbour when the railway was opened to there in 1906. Services were also operated between Weymouth Quay and the Channel Islands from 1889 on the former Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company routes. Smaller GWR vessels were also used as tenders at Plymouth Great Western Docks and, until the Severn Tunnel opened, on the River Severn crossing of the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway.[51]
The first railway-operated bus services were started by the GWR between Helston railway station and The Lizard on 17 August 1903. Known by the company as "road motors", these chocolate-and-cream buses operated throughout the company's territory on railway feeder services and excursions until the 1930s when they were transferred to local bus companies (in most of which the GWR held a share).[84]
The GWR inaugurated the first railway air service between Cardiff, Torquay and Plymouth in association with Imperial Airways. This grew to become part of the Railway Air Services.[33]
Motive power and rolling stock
Locomotives
The GWR's first locomotives were specified by
Joseph Armstrong's early death in 1877 meant that the next phase of motive power design was the responsibility of William Dean who developed express 4-4-0 types rather than the single-driver 2-2-2s and 4-2-2s that had hauled fast trains up to that time.[52] Dean retired in 1902 to be replaced by George Jackson Churchward, who introduced the familiar 4-6-0 locomotives. It was during Churchward's tenure that the term "Locomotive Superintendent" was changed to "Chief Mechanical Engineer" (CME).[86] Charles Collett succeeded Churchward in 1921. He was soon responsible for the much larger fleet that the GWR operated following the Railways Act 1921 mergers. He set about replacing the older and less numerous classes, and rebuilding the remainder using as many standardised GWR components as possible. He also produced many new designs using standard parts, such as the Castle and King classes.[87] The final CME was Frederick Hawksworth who took control in 1941, seeing the railway through wartime shortages and producing GWR-design locomotives until after nationalisation.[52]
Brunel and Gooch both gave their locomotives names to identify them, but the standard-gauge companies that became a part of the GWR used numbers. Until 1864 the GWR therefore had named broad-gauge locomotives and numbered standard-gauge ones. From the time of Armstrong's arrival all new locomotives – both broad and standard – were given numbers, including broad-gauge ones that had previously carried names when they were acquired from other railways.[85] Dean introduced a policy in 1895 of giving passenger tender locomotives both numbers and names. Each batch was given names with a distinctive theme, for example kings for the 6000 class and castles for the 4073 class.[88]
The GWR first painted its locomotives a dark
Liveries through the years:
-
Iron Duke's tender: Holly green with pea green lining
-
City of Truro: Middle Chrome green, orange lining and red frames
-
Nunney Castle: Middle Chrome green, orange lining and black frames
-
3850: Middle Chrome green, black frames but no lining
Carriages
GWR passenger coaches were many and varied, ranging from four- and six-wheeled vehicles on the original
Early vehicles were built by a number of independent companies, but in 1844 the railway started to build carriages at
Most coaches were generally painted in variations of a chocolate-brown and cream livery, however they were plain brown or red until 1864 and from 1908 to 1922.[93] Parcels vans and similar vehicles were seldom painted in the two-colour livery, being plain brown or red instead, which caused them to be known as "brown vehicles".[92]
Wagons
In the early years of the GWR its wagons were painted brown,
Most early wagons were four-wheeled open vehicles, although a few six-wheeled vehicles were provided for special loads. Covered vans followed, initially for carrying cattle but later for both general and vulnerable goods too. The first bogie wagons appeared in 1873 for heavy loads, but bogie coal wagons were built in 1904 following on from the large four-wheel coal wagons that had first appeared in 1898. Rated at 20 tons (20.3 tonnes) these were twice the size of typical wagons of the period, but it was not until 1923 that the company invested heavily in coal wagons of this size and the infrastructure necessary for their unloading at their docks; these were known as "Felix Pole" wagons after the GWR's general manager who promoted their use. Container wagons appeared in 1931 and special vans for motor cars in 1933.[96]
When the GWR was opened no trains in the United Kingdom were fitted with
All wagons for public traffic had a code name that was used in telegraphic messages. As this was usually painted onto the wagon it was common to see them referred to by these names, such as "Mink" (a van), "Mica" (refrigerated van), "Crocodile" (boiler truck), and "Toad" (brake van).[98][99]
Track
For the
Signalling
Brunel developed a system of "disc and crossbar" signals to control train movements, but the people operating them could only assume that each train reached the next signal without stopping unexpectedly. The world's first commercial telegraph line was installed along the 13 miles (21 km) from Paddington to West Drayton and came into operation on 9 April 1839. This later spread throughout the system and allowed stations to use telegraphic messages to tell the people operating the signals when each train arrived safely.[101] A long list of code words were developed to help make messages both quick to send and clear in meaning.[98]
More conventional semaphore signals replaced the discs and crossbars over time. The GWR persisted with the lower quadrant form, where a "proceed" aspect is indicated by lowering the signal arm, despite other British railways changing to an upper quadrant form. Electric light signals of the "searchlight" pattern were later introduced at busy stations; these could show the same red/green or yellow/green aspects that semaphore signals showed at night. An "automatic train control" system was introduced from 1906 which was a safety system that applied a train's brakes if it passed a danger signal.[102]
Cultural impact
The GWR is known admiringly to some as "God's Wonderful Railway",[103] but jocularly to others as the "Great Way Round"[104] as some of its earliest routes were not the most direct. The railway, however, promoted itself from 1908 as "The Holiday Line" as it carried huge numbers of people to resorts in Wales and south-west England.[105][106][107]
Tourism
Cheap tickets were offered and excursion trains operated to popular destinations and special events such as the 1851
The GWR had operated hotels at major stations and junctions since the early days, but in 1877 it opened its first "country house hotel", the Tregenna Castle in St Ives, Cornwall.[55] It later added the Fishguard Bay Hotel in Wales and the Manor House at Moretonhampstead, Devon, to which it added a golf course in 1930.[33]
It promoted itself from 1908 as "The Holiday Line[110] through a series of posters, postcards, jigsaw puzzles, and books. These included Holiday Haunts, describing the attraction of the different parts of the GWR system,[111] and regional titles such as S. P. B. Mais's Cornish Riviera and A. M. Bradley's South Wales: The Country of Castles. Guidebooks described the scenery seen Through the Window of their trains. Other GWR books were designed to encourage an interest in the GWR itself. Published as "Books for Boys of All Ages", these included The 10:30 Limited and Loco's of the Royal Road.[112]
The Great Western Railway effectively created the modern day tourist spots of the West Country and the southwest part of Wales that had previously been very difficult to reach. The Bristol Channel resorts of Wales and the West Country such as Minehead or the cliffs of Exmoor had been very remote from other parts of England before the advent of the GWR.[113]
Locomotive books
Railway enthusiasts were kept informed of new locomotives and other topics through the Great Western Railway Magazine from 1904. In 1911 the GWR became the first company to publish a book about its locomotive stock. Names of Engines was a booklet containing an alphabetic list of the company's named engines, with their number and wheel arrangement. Alternate pages showed formal vignetted photographs of different types of engine, mostly in photographic grey, annotated with their principal dimensions. No author was credited but the list was compiled by Arthur J.L White in the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer's Office.[114][115]
New editions were printed in 1914 and 1917 as Great Western Railway Engines edited by 'A.J.L.W.' and then as Great Western Railway Engines: Names, Numbers, Types and Classes in 1919 with new editions at regular intervals up to 1929.[114] These listed the named engines by class, each class having a formal photograph annotated with extensive dimensions and engineering details. Some classes of unnamed engines were also given a page with a photograph and similar annotations. No author was credited, but the introductory essay "Naming of Locomotives" was signed 'A.J.L.W.'[116] Arthur White died in 1929 and from 1932 new editions, now The G.W.R. Engine Book were published by the GWR's Publicity Department up to 1935.[114]
From 1938 the editor was given as 'W.G.C.' who was W.G. Chapman. The title was now GWR Engines: Names, Numbers Types, Classes, etc. of Great Western Railway Locomotives. There were reprints (also listed as editions) following in 1938 (again) and 1939.[117] A final edition was published in 1946.[114] In addition to the locomotive listings, photographs and dimensions, there are numerous essays on many aspects of GWR locomotive development.[118]
On a related subject, the GWR also published in 1935 a 56-page booklet entitled Swindon Works and its place in Great Western Railway History. Illustrated with photographs on almost every opening, it recounts the history of the GWR as a locomotive-using and building company, the construction and development of Swindon Works, and the training of those employed there. It describes each section of the works, some of the latest locomotives to be built there, and finishes with various related organisations, from the Mechanics' Institution to the Annual Works Holiday.[119]
Art, media and literature
The GWR attracted the attention of the artists from an early date.
In 1935, as part of the celebration of the centenary of the GWR, the railway commissioned and published Railway Ribaldry, a book of cartoons by W. Heath Robinson, giving that well-known cartoonist a free hand to re-imagine the history of the line for the amusement of its customers. The result is a 96-page softback book with alternating full-page cartoons and smaller vignettes, all on pertinent subjects.[122]
The GWR has featured in many television programmes, such as the BBC children's drama series God's Wonderful Railway in 1980.[123] It was also immortalised in Bob Godfrey's animated film Great, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film of 1975 which tells the story of Brunel's engineering accomplishments.[124]
Sir John Betjeman mentions the GWR clearly in his poem Distant Views of a Provincial Town:[125]
The old Great Western Railway shakes,
The old Great Western Railway spins –
The old Great Western Railway makes
Me very sorry for my sins.
Heritage
The GWR's memory is kept alive by several museums such as
Numerous stations owned by Network Rail also continue to display much of their GWR heritage. This is seen not only at the large stations such as Paddington (built 1851,[126] extended 1915)[127] and Temple Meads (1840,[128] 1875[129] & 1935)[130] but other places such as Bath Spa (1840),[131] Torquay (1878),[132] Penzance (1879),[133] Truro (1897),[134] and Newton Abbot (1927).[135] Many small stations are little changed from when they were opened, as there has been no need to rebuild them to cope with heavier traffic; good examples can be found at Yatton (1841), Frome (1850, Network Rail's last surviving Brunel-style train shed),[131] Bradford-on-Avon (1857), and St Germans (1859).[136] Even where stations have been rebuilt, many fittings such as signs, manhole covers and seats can still be found with "GWR" cast into them.[137]
The Great Western Main Line was considered as a potential
Locomotives named Great Western
Several locomotives have been given the name Great Western. The first was an
The name later reappeared on some BR diesels. The first was 47500 which carried the name from 1979 until 1991.[142] Another Class 47, this time 47815, had the name bestowed on it in 2005; it is currently (2009) in operation with Riviera Trains.[143] High Speed Train power car number 43185 also carried the same name[141] and was operated by the modern Great Western Railway[144] until 18 May 2019.
Notable people
Chairmen
- Benjamin Shaw 1835–1837[145]
- William Sims 1837–1839[145]
- Charles Russell 1839–1855[145]
- Spencer Horatio Walpole 1855–1856[145]
- William Barrington, 6th Viscount Barrington 1856–1857[145]
- Frederick Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough 1857–1859[145]
- Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne 1859–1863[145]
- Spencer Horatio Walpole 1863[145]
- Richard Potter 1863–1865[145]
- Daniel Gooch 1865–1889[145]
- Frederick Saunders 1889–1895[145]
- Frederick Campbell, 3rd Earl Cawdor 1895–1905[145]
- Alfred Baldwin 1905–1908[145]
- Victor Spencer, 1st Viscount Churchill 1908–1934[145]
- Robert Horne, 1st Viscount Horne of Slamannan 1934–1940[145]
- Charles Jocelyn Hambro 1940–1945[145]
- Viscount Portal 1945–1948[145]
Others
- Joseph Armstrong - Locomotive Superintendent to the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railways from 1853, he was responsible for the locomotive workshops at Wolverhampton.[52] When they amalgamated with the GWR the following year he was given the title of Northern Division Locomotive Superintendent (1854–1864), he then moved to Swindon as the chief Locomotive Superintendent (1864–1877).[65]
- Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads stations.[146]
- Chief Mechanical Engineer (1915–1921) who instigated much standardisation of locomotive components.[86]
- Charles Collett - Chief Mechanical Engineer (1922–1941).[52]
- William Dean - Locomotive Superintendent (1877–1902).[52]
- Swindon railway works.[147]
- James Grierson - Goods Manager (1857–1863), he then became the general manager (1863–1887) from which position he saw the railway through a period of expansion and the early gauge conversions.[65]
- Frederick Hawksworth - The last GWR Chief Mechanical Engineer (1941–1947).[52]
- Henry Lambert - The general manager (1887–1896) responsible for managing the final gauge conversion in 1892.[65]
- James Milne - General manager (1929–1947) who saw the GWR through World War II.[65]
- Sir Felix Pole - As general manager (1921–1929) he oversaw the Grouping of the South Wales railways into the GWR following the Railways Act 1921, and promoted the use of 20 ton wagons to bring efficiencies to the railway's coal trade.[65]
- Charles Spagnoletti - The GWR's Telegraph Superintendent (1855–1892) patented the Disc Block Telegraph Instrument that was used to safely control the dispatch of trains. First used on the Metropolitan Railway in 1863 and the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway in 1864, it was later used on many other lines operated by the company.[65]
A number of engineers trained at or worked for the GWR, before moving to other companies, including Thomas Russell Crampton (SER among others),[148] Harold Holcroft (SECR, SR),[148] James Holden (GER),[148] William Stanier (LMS),[148] William Stroudley (HR, LBSCR),[149] Archibald Sturrock (GNR).[148]
See also
- Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway and Transport for Wales – Current train operators on routes built by the Great Western Railway
- Great Western Railway accidents
- Great Western Railway ships
- Great Western Railway telegraphic codes
- GWR locomotive numbering and classification
- List of 7-foot gauge railway locomotive names
- List of Chief Mechanical Engineers of the Great Western Railway
- List of constituents of the Great Western Railway
- Llanelli railway strike
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7110-0411-0
- ^ ISBN 0-711004-12-9
- ^ a b c d e "A brief review of the Company's hundred years of business". Great Western Railway Magazine. 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 495–499. 1935.
- ^ The Railway Year Book for 1920. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1920. p. 154.
- ^ The Railway Year Book for 1926. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1926. pp. 154–172.
- ISBN 0-901388-45-9.
- ^ MacDermot 1927, chapter 1
- ^ MacDermot 1927, pp. 4–5, 9, 25–26
- ^ "Edward Payne Press". Clifton Rugby Football Club History. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ "Working With Visionaries" (PDF). Brunel 200. Osborne Clarke. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5461. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2007. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ ISBN 0-7153-4688-1.
- Clark, GT(1895). "The Birth and Growth of the Broad Gauge". Gentleman's Magazine (279): 489–506.
- ^ a b c MacDermot 1927, chapter 5
- ^ MacDermot 1927, pp. 130–1
- ^ a b MacDermot 1927, chapter 7
- ^ a b MacDermot 1931, chapter 6
- ^ a b MacDermot 1931, chapter 7
- ^ a b c MacDermot 1931, chapter 8
- ^ MacDermot 1927, chapter 11
- ^ ISBN 1-84588-000-5.
- ^ MacDermot 1927, p. 49
- ^ MacDermot 1927, chapter 8
- ^ a b c d MacDermot 1927, chapter 6
- ISBN 0-902888-11-0.
- ISBN 0-86093-461-6.
- OCLC 462667.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, chapter 2
- ^ See File:Sutton Wharf mixed gauge track.jpg
- ISBN 0-905466-12-8.
- ^ a b MacDermot 1931, chapter 11
- ^ "Great Western Railway, Paddington". War Memorials Register. Imperial War Museums.
- ^ a b c d e "Handmaids of the Railway Services". Great Western Railway Magazine. 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 515–516. 1935.
- ISBN 0-7153-8050-8.
- ^ Harris 1985, p. 95
- ^ "Main-Line Companies Dissolved". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 96, no. 586. London: Transport (1910) Ltd. February 1950. p. 73.
- ISBN 0-7110-0883-3.
- ISBN 0-7110-0982-1.
- ^ "Changing from First Great Western to GWR". GWR. Great Western Railway. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, chapter 5
- ^ MacDermot 1927, chapter 4
- ^ Time Tables. London: Great Western Railway. 1939.
- ISBN 0-906867-52-5.
- ISBN 1-899889-20-5.
- ISBN 0-85361-491-1.
- ISBN 0-85361-556-X.
- ^ Jenkins, Stanley C (1992). "the St Ives Branch". Great Western Railway Journal (Cornish Special Issue). Wild Swan Publications Ltd: 2–34.
- ISBN 0-85361-442-3.
- ISBN 0-86093-470-5.
- ISBN 0-297-84408-3.
- ^ a b Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and Other Steamers. Prescot: T Stephenson & Sons. pp. 184–206.
- ^ a b c d e f g Carver, John (December 2005). "An Introduction to the Great Western Railway". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 151, no. 1256. IPC Media Ltd. pp. 8–14.
- ISBN 978-1-906419-09-7.
- ^ This subsequently closed after a major fire in 1864
- ^ a b c d e MacDermot 1931, chapter 13
- ISSN 0969-7349.
- ^ Brindle 2006, p. 269
- ISBN 0-7277-0030-8.
- ISBN 0-7153-8953-X.
- ISBN 1-900467-28-3.
- ISBN 0-9546138-5-6.
- ISBN 1-872524-42-7.
- ISBN 0-906294-39-8.
- ^ Chapman 1935, pp. 225–228
- ^ a b c d e f g "The Chairmen and Principal Officers of the Great Western Railway Company 1833–1935". Great Western Railway Magazine. 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 462. 1935.
- ^ a b c UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ a b "From ordeal to luxury in railway travel". Great Western Railway Magazine. 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 505–507. 1935.
- ^ Chapman 1936, pp. 121–122
- ISBN 0-7110-1153-2.
- ISBN 0-906867-90-8.
- ^ ISBN 0-906867-99-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906419-11-0.
- ISBN 0-7153-6532-0.
- ISBN 0-7153-7290-4.
- ^ Atkins 1976, p. 23
- ^ Atkins 1976, pp. 24–33
- ^ Atkins 1976, pp. 105–109
- ^ Atkins 1976, pp. 79–84
- ISBN 1-870754-12-3.
- ^ Sheppard, Geof (2004). "A Cornish cattle census". Broadsheet (52). Broad Gauge Society: 9–10.
- ^ Sheppard, Geof (2004). "Fish from Cornwall". Broadsheet (52). Broad Gauge Society: 24–29.
- ^ Atkins 1975, pp. 12–15
- ^ "A Brief Review of the Company's Hundred Years of Business". Great Western Railway Magazine. 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 495–500. 1935.
- ISBN 0-86093-568-X.
- ^ a b Sheppard 2008, pp. 9–11
- ^ a b Hill, Keith (December 2005). "A Colossus of Steam". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 151, no. 1256. IPC Media Ltd. pp. 16–20.
- ^ Chapman, W G (1936). Loco's of "The Royal Road". London: Great Western Railway. pp. 119–144.
- ^ Chapman, WG (1938). GWR Engines (14th ed.). London: Great Western Railway. pp. 9–18.
- ISBN 978-0-902835-27-6.
- ^ MacDermot 1931, chapter 16
- ISBN 1-874103-96-8.
- ^ a b Lewis 2009, pp. 100–113
- ^ Lewis 2009, pp. 63–99
- ^ Jolly, Mike (1981). "Carriage and Waggon Livery c1855". Broadsheet (6). Broad Gauge Society: 5–7.
- ^ Lewis, John (2001). "The Colour of GWR Goods Wagons". Broadsheet (45). Broad Gauge Society: 4–5.
- ^ Atkins 1975, pp. 24–33
- ^ Atkins 1975, pp. 67–80
- ^ a b Lewis 2009, pp. A17–A18
- ^ "Code Names for Great Western Carriage Stock and Vans". greatwestern.org.uk.
- ^ Lewis 2009, pp. 143–149
- ^ MacDermot 1927, chapter 12
- ISBN 0-86093-346-6.
- ^ Morris, S (7 July 2006). "Wonderful Railway on track to be world heritage site". Guardian Unlimited. London. Retrieved 19 May 2007.
- ISBN 0-7110-1797-2.
- ISBN 0-946184-53-4.
- ISBN 1-870754-25-5.
- ^ Bennett, Alan (2008). "Wales: A foreign country". Backtrack. 22 (2). Pendragon Publishing: 80–83.
- ISBN 0-946537-38-0.
- ^ Bennett, Alan (2008). "Devon: A bold and beautiful prospect". Backtrack. 22 (11). Pendragon: 668–671.
- ^ Wilson 1987, pp. 24–27
- ^ Wilson 1987, pp. 104–121
- ^ Wilson 1987, pp. 83–103
- ISBN 978-0-7190-5170-8. Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d Wilson 1987, pp. 87, 173–177
- ISBN 0-7153-5367-5.
- ^ GWREngines 1971, 1928 edn., p. 15
- ^ GWREngines 1971, 1946 edn., reverse of title page, and foreword
- ^ GWREngines 1971, 1938 and 1946 edns.
- ^ Swindon Works and its place in Great Western Railway History. Paddington Station, London: Great Western Railway. 1935.
- ISBN 0-904069-10-9.
- ISBN 1-901092-29-1.
- ^ Robinson, W. Heath (1935). Railway Ribaldry. Paddington Station, London: The Great Western Railway.
- ^ "God's Wonderful Railway". TV.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ "Great (1975)". Toonhound. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
- ^ Delaney, Frank (1983). Betjeman Country. Paladin. p. 155.
- ISBN 1-873592-70-1.
- ^ Brindle 2004, pp. 120–121
- ISBN 1-904349-09-9.
- ^ Oakley 2002, pp. 18–23
- ^ Oakley 2002, pp. 24–25
- ^ ISBN 1-904537-54-5.
- ISBN 0-85361-387-7.
- ^ Bennett 1990a, pp. 25–32
- ^ Bennett 1990a, pp. 19–30
- ISBN 978-1-904349-55-6.
- ^ "The BGS Millennium Project". Broad Gauge Society. 2004. Archived from the original on 12 October 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ Lewis 2009, pp. 160–163
- ^ "The United Kingdom's World Heritage" (PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. March 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "The Great Western Railway: Paddington-Bristol (selected parts)". United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. 1999. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
- ^ Sheppard 2008, pp. 17–18
- ^ ISBN 0-7509-2284-2.
- ^ "Number 47500". The 47's. 2009. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- ^ "Number 47815". The 47's. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2009.
- ^ "HST Power Car Fleet List" (PDF). 125 Group. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Great Western Chairmen". The Great Western Archive. John Daniel. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ Brindle 2006, pp. 52–179
- ^ MacDermot 1927, chapter 15
- ^ ISBN 0-85059-819-2.
- ^ "William Stroudley: locomotive engineer". steamindex.com. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
Further reading
- Adams, William, ed. (1993). Encyclopaedia of the Great Western Railway. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 1-85260-329-1.
- Ahrons, E.L.; Asher, L.L. (1953). Locomotive and Train Working in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Heffer. OCLC 606019476.
- Bryan, Tim (2004). All in a Day's Work: Life on the GWR. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-2964-4.
- Channon, Geoffrey (1985). Bristol and the Promotion of the Great Western Railway. Bristol Historical Association. ISBN 0-901388-45-9.
- Gibbs, George Henry (1971). Simmons, Jack (ed.). The Birth of the Great Western Railway. Bath: Adams and Dart. ISBN 978-0-239-00088-0.
- Nock, O.S. (1982) [1967]. History of the Great Western Railway. Volume Three: 1923–1947. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0304-1.
- Sidney, Samuel (1971) [1846: Edmonds and Vacher]. Extracts form Gauge Evidence 1845. Wakefield: SR Publishers. ISBN 0-85409-723-6.
- Tourret, R (2003). GWR Engineering Work, 1928–1938. Tourret Publishing. ISBN 0-905878-08-6.
- Vaughan, Adrian (1985). Grub, Water and Relief: Tales of the Great Western 1835–1892. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-4176-X.
- OCLC 833076248.
- Rules and Regulations for the Guidance of the Officers and Men. Ian Allan. 1993 [1904 Great Western Railway]. ISBN 0-7110-2259-3.
External links
Great Western Railway.
- Broad Gauge Society
- English Heritage ViewFinder – Photo Essay: "GWR – The finest work in the kingdom"
- Great Western Society
- Great Western Study Group
- GWR Modelling
- Steam – Museum of the Great Western Railway
- Documents and clippings about Great Western Railway in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW