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    GWR Story
    GWR Story
    GWR Story
    Ebook59 pages43 minutes

    GWR Story

    By Rosa Matheson

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    About this ebook

    The Great Western Railway – quickly coming to be known as ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’ – was once regarded as the most advanced in the world. Engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel it was initially designed to connect Bristol to London and came to develop a distinct character all of its own, one of the many reasons why it remains a much-loved and popular area of interest.This book traces its history covering topics such as the company, its engines and carriages, its engineers – including Gooch, Dean, Armstrong, Collett, Churchward and of course Brunel – as well as the battle of the gauges. Full of little-known facts and figures and with numerous photographs and memorabilia as well as a timeline, it is a tale full of record breakers and mighty achievements waiting to be retold to a modern age.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe History Press
    Release dateFeb 29, 2012
    ISBN9780752485041
    GWR Story

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      GWR Story - Rosa Matheson

      Sources

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND INTRODUCTION

      Whilst my collaborators on this work have been few, their efforts and contributions have been immense. Thanks to Adrian Vaughan, Revd Canon Brian Arman and David Hyde for generously giving expert scrutiny, technical advice and information, and to David, Phil Kelley, Eddie Lyons and Jack Hayward for their research. A huge vote of thanks for publicity, to the Great Western Trust, Brian Arman, Bob Townsend, and Jack Hayward.

      The story of the Great Western is the stuff of myths and legends. Iconic names linked with it are also linked with ‘masterpieces’ or magnificence that still ‘live’ in the memory or have lasted through the years.

      From its first inception and through the whole of its life, the GWR had to fight for its very existence. Financial crises, overdevelopment, costly experiments, strikes, wars and government interference led it often to the brink of disaster, but it overcame these threats time and again until, in the end, matters were taken out of its own hands and transferred to those of the nation.

      Bold and radical in enterprise, yet ultra-conservative in philosophy, the GWR was very much an ‘institution’ of its own making. Always greater than the sum of its parts and evoking many strong emotions, it demanded respect and loyalty, and won admiration and affection in return. Even now, in this 175th Inauguration Celebratory Year, many still claim the GWR to be, ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’.

      THE COMPANY

      It is often said that it was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the iconic nineteenth-century engineer, who may have given the company its name – the Great Western Railway – but its nascent vision belonged to four businessmen of Bristol: George Jones, John Harford, Thomas Richard Guppy and William Tohill. These four gentlemen resolved to revive the interest in establishing a railway line between Bristol and London – first mooted in 1824 – and by the end of 1832 a committee of fifteen men, representing the various commercial and corporation interests of Bristol, was established. At their first public meeting in January 1833, it was agreed to provide funds for a preliminary survey and an estimation of the cost of such an undertaking. It was then that Brunel was taken on to carry out this work. Later that year the title of ‘The Great Western Railway’ was formally adopted in place of the previous ‘Bristol and London Railroad’ and a legend was born.

      The route Brunel finally submitted to the Board would take the railroad from Bristol via Bath, Chippenham and to the north of what is now Swindon before going on to Reading, Maidenhead and finally on to London. Under the management of two committees, the Bristol and the London Committees, the first Great Western Bill was submitted to Parliament in 1834. It was carried by the Commons but defeated by the Lords on the grounds that ‘the scheme offered insufficient security for the completion of the line’. Happily the second bill made better progress, and received the Royal Assent on 31 August 1835.

      The GWR opened the first 22 miles of its new railway line from Paddington to Maidenhead to public traffic on 4 June 1838, and to Reading in March 1840. Work also started from the Bristol end and eventually the two ends joined between Chippenham and Box.

      Once this mainline was completed the GWR set out to ‘capture’ the West, making it ‘Broad Gauge Country’. However, just a few short years down the line in 1845, they were literally stopped in their tracks. The ‘Break of Gauge’,

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