Great Western Railway wagons

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 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge
changed to
4 ft 8+1⁄2 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)
This box:

The fleet of Great Western Railway wagons was both large and varied as it carried the wide variety of goods traffic on the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the United Kingdom. This was the railway company that operated for the longest period of time in the country (from 1838 to 1947) and covered a large geographical area that included big cities such as London, industrialised areas including the West Midlands, areas of coal and mineral mining such as South Wales, and Somerset and other important agricultural districts.[1] In 1902 the company owned 59,036 wagons, and by 1926 this had risen to 88,580.[6]

The first wagons were just open boxes but covered vans were added from the 1860s and a wide range of special wagons were eventually built to handle many specialised traffics.[7] Towards the end of its existence these were all painted in a grey livery, but before that both black and red had been used at different times.

  1. ^ a b 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.
  6. ^ Atkins, AG; et al. (1975). A History of GWR Goods Wagons. Vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-6532-0.
  7. ^ Atkins, AG; et al. (1976). A History of GWR Goods Wagons. Vol. 2. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7290-4.