Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway
Logo of the Great Western Railway, incorporating the shields, crests and mottoes of the cities of London (left) and Bristol (right)
Map of the railway pre-grouping (1920)
Map of the railway post-grouping (1926)
History
1835Act of incorporation
1838First train ran
1869–927 ft 14 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge
changed to
4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
1903Start of road motor services
1923Keeps identity though the Grouping
1935Centenary
1948Nationalised
Successor organisation
1948British Rail, Western Region
Constituent companies
See full list of constituents of the GWR
1854Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
Shrewsbury and Chester Railway
1862South Wales Railway
1863West Midland Railway
1876Bristol and Exeter Railway
South Devon Railway
1889Cornwall Railway
1922Rhymney Railway
Taff Vale Railway
Cambrian Railways
1923Midland & S W Junction Railway
Key locations
HeadquartersPaddington station, London
LocaleEngland; Wales
WorkshopsSwindon
Wolverhampton
Major stationsBirmingham Snow Hill
Bristol Temple Meads
Cardiff General
London Paddington
Reading General
Route mileage
Mileage shown as at end of year stated[1][2][3][4][5]
1841171 miles (275 km)
18631,106 miles (1,780 km)
18762,023 miles (3,256 km)
18992,504 miles (4,030 km)
19192,996 miles 68 chains (4,823.0 km)
19213,005 miles (4,836 km)
19243,797 miles (6,111 km)
19253,819 miles 69 chains (6,147.5 km)

The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 with the initial route completed between London and Bristol in 1841. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft (2,134 mm)—later slightly widened to 7 ft 14 in (2,140 mm)—but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892.

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 Flying Dutchman, the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express. It also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam rail motors or autotrains. The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain. It ran ferry services to Ireland and the Channel Islands, operated a network of road motor (bus) routes, was a part of the Railway Air Services, and owned ships, canals, docks and hotels.

  1. ^ MacDermot, E T (1927). "Appendix 1". History of the Great Western Railway, volume I 1833-1863. London: Great Western Railway. Reprinted 1982, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-0411-0
  2. ^ MacDermot, E T (1931). "Appendix 1". History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway. Reprinted 1982, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-711004-12-9
  3. ^ "A brief review of the Company's hundred years of business". Great Western Railway Magazine. 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 495–499. 1935.
  4. ^ The Railway Year Book for 1920. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1920. p. 154.
  5. ^ The Railway Year Book for 1926. London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1926. pp. 154–172.