Great Western Railway Gallery

It could be argued that the great Western or 'Gods' Wonderful Railway' was for many years the most famous railway in England. Much of the railway that we see today was the work of one of the greatest engineers of his time, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The company was also served by locomotive engineers such as Gooch, Armstrong, Churchward, Collett and Hawksworth, who produced a series of locomotives that were well designed, elegant and powerful.Serving many holiday resorts of the south west, with trains such as 'The Cornish Riviera Express,' the publicity department exploited to great effect that the 'Great Western' was the 'Holiday Line.' It is probably true to say that in the years before the Second World War the company was producing some of the most effective publicity material in England.Using previously unpublished material from the extensive 'Great Western Trust' collection at Didcot Railway Centre, the book illustrates in both black and white and color many facets that made the Great Western 'Great"

At its peak, the South Wales railway network was one of the most complex in the world. Its primary purpose was to transport Coal from source to point of consumption or export via the various docks. To this was added the other raw materials necessary for making Iron and ultimately Steel, together with the respective products of that industry. True, there was no glory in this day to day phenomenon and as a consequence, the area has been poorly represented in the annals of the British railway network. Even that paragon of railway publicity the Great Western, found easier plums to pick elsewhere on its system. However, in addition to the GW, the area was a magnet for the London & North Western, the Midland Railway and not to be forgotten, the 15 indigenous companies. Yet, in terms of traffic, engineering enterprise, operating practices and locomotive types, the area boasted an unequaled variety which this book attempts to reflect. Many of the photographs have not been published before and capture an essence of the variety to be found. The captions contain extensive details to supplement the photographic record enabling a more comprehensive appreciation and understanding of what was involved. It is difficult to appreciate the railway was once a “Common Carrier” obliged to convey any consignment offered. Even though Coal was predominant other traffic, including the more unusual, are also featured; Although of secondary importance in regard to revenue, Passenger services were carefully dovetailed into the intensive freight operation and matched any other location’s provision. After the 1923 Grouping, the GW became the major player in South Wales. It absorbed all 15 of the independent companies and further extended its policy of standardization. Nevertheless, where the smaller companies demonstrated good practices, these were embraced. The L&NW and MR elements became LMSR but still remained far flung tentacles from the parent. All this is recognized here albeit in proportion. The Gallery aims to provide a flavor of what the railways of South Wales had to offer and enlighten the reader as to its major part in the national network.

This book is a comprehensive history of the four coupled tank engines absorbed by the Great Western Railway – locomotives of nine Broad Gauge companies, nineteen Standard Gauge companies, mainly in the South West which became part of the GWR between the 1870s and 1914, and a further eighteen companies, mainly in South Wales absorbed by the GWR in 1922 and 1923 at the formation of the ‘Big Four’ Grouping. The locomotives described and illustrated range from the 4-4-0 Broad Gauge saddle tanks of the South Devon and Bristol & Exeter Railways to the large 4-4-4 tank locomotives of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway, not forgetting the numerous and varied 0-4-0 pug saddle tanks of the Swansea Harbour Trust and the Powlesland & Mason company. The book includes thirty-two weight diagrams and nearly 200 photographs, many of exotic and rare locomotives.

This book is a comprehensive history of all twenty-six classes of four coupled tank engines commissioned by the Great Western Railway or built at their Wolverhampton and Swindon Works, from the Broad Gauge 2-4-0 and 4-4-0 tanks of the 1840s and 1850s to the well known Collett 0-4-2 branch line engines of classes 48XX (later renumbered 14XX) and 58XX of the 1930s. As well as the Broad Gauge engines, the strange looking ‘Covertibles’ of William Dean, a number of experimental ‘one-off’ designs, the numerous Wolverhampton 0-4-2Ts of the ‘517’ class and the Swindon built ‘2-4-0 ‘Metro Tanks’ are described with – where known – their allocation and operation. The book includes twenty weight diagrams and nearly 300 photographs, over 50 in color. The four-coupled tank engines absorbed by the Great Western from other companies at or before 1923 will be featured in a separate volume to follow.

The name 'Great Western Railway' immediately conjures up images of Stars, Castles and Kings, the legendary express passenger locomotives that were the envy of the world in their day. However, the Swindon empire also produced extensive fleets of all-purpose tank engines - everyday reliable workhorses and unsung heroes - which were standout classics in their own right. The most distinctive and immediately recognizable type in terms of shape, all but unique to the GWR, was the six-coupled pannier tank. With hundreds of photographs throughout, Great Western Railway Pannier Tanks covers the supremely innovative pannier tank designs of GWR chief mechanical engineer Charles Benjamin Collett, the appearance of the 5700 class in 1929, and the 5400, 6400, 7400 and 9400 classes. Also, the demise of the panniers in British Railways service and the 5700s that marked the end of Western Region steam, followed by a second life beneath the streets - 5700 class panniers on London Underground. Also covers Panniers in preservation, plus cinema and TV roles and even a Royal Train duty. Superbly illustrated with 260 colour and black & white photographs.

This book is a gallery of more than two hundred photographs, including a color section, featuring a selection of Great Western Railway/British Railways (Western) branch lines and similar services taken between 1900 and 1965. The emphasis is pictorial rather than factual with the aim of using photographs provided by two transport charities as well as the author, all of which are unlikely to have appeared previously in print or on the Internet. Generally, images depict working trains surrounded by recognizable infrastructure, often with station nameboards visible. Such pictures should be of particular interest to railway modelers as well as invoking nostalgia for the older generation who were pursuing their hobby around the time the pictures were taken. Most of the branch lines covered were victims of the 1960s "Beeching Axe", with closure to passengers or complete closure coming even earlier in some cases. Most of the services depicted are steam operated although a few GWR and BR diesel railcars/multiple units are included. All the scenes seem to reflect a more leisurely way of life than exists today.

This book follows on from the author’s book on the Princess Coronation pacific locomotives from their construction in 1937 to their operation in 1956. It picks up from the story in 1957 with their operation and performance on the ‘Caledonian’, ‘Royal Scot’ and ‘Midday Scot’ accelerated services of the late 1950s, their continuing heavy work as dieselization of the West Coast mainline is implemented and the sudden withdrawal of the remaining examples at the end of the 1964 summer timetable. Included are the author’s personal experiences and photographs and the descriptions by three Crewe men who fired these engines on the heavy overnight Crewe – Perth sleeper services in the late 1950s, two of whom, Les Jackson and Bill Andrew, drove 6229 and 6233 in the preservation era. As well as their stories of their experiences in BR days, they describe runs with the preserved locomotives and have included photographs from their personal collections. Crewe Works fitter, Keith Collier includes his experiences of their maintenance and the author in conclusion compares them with the finest steam locomotives of France, Germany and the USA.

This book covers the design, construction, operation and performance of Sir William Stanier’s masterpiece, the Princess Coronation pacific locomotives, better known as the ‘Duchesses’. Included are pen portraits of the LMS engineers, a chapter on the express locomotives of the early LMS period that preceded their introduction and the internal rivalries and politics that Stanier was brought in to resolve. Chapters and photographs cover the streamline era, the war years and aftermath, the early years of nationalization including the 1948 locomotive exchanges and the recovery of performance in the mid-1950s. The author includes some of his own experiences and photographs. The book includes 200 photographs including a few in color from the LMS era, and an appendix with weight diagrams, and statistics of the locomotive construction and withdrawal, names, liveries, allocations and mileages.