 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Map of the railway pre-grouping (1920) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Map of the railway post-grouping (1926) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1835 | Act of incorporation | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1838 | First train ran | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1869–92 | 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)Brunel gauge changed to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1903 | Start ofroad motor services | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1923 | Keeps identity though theGrouping | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
TheGreat Western Railway (GWR) was aBritish railway company that linkedLondon with the southwest, west andWest Midlands ofEngland and most ofWales. It was founded in 1833, received its enablingact 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 byIsambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose abroad gauge of7 ft (2,134 mm)—later slightly widened to7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)—but, from 1854, a series ofamalgamations saw it also operate4 ft 8+1⁄2 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 theRailways 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 wasnationalised and became theWestern 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 toEnglish andBristol Channel resorts in theWest Country as well as the far southwest ofEngland such asTorquay in Devon,Minehead inSomerset, andNewquay andSt Ives inCornwall. The company's locomotives, many of which were built inthe 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 theFlying Dutchman, theCornish Riviera Express and theCheltenham Spa Express. It also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated bysteam rail motors orautotrains. The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain. It ran ferry services toIreland and theChannel Islands, operated a network ofroad motor (bus) routes, was a part of theRailway Air Services, and ownedships, canals, docks and hotels.
The Great Western Railway originated from the desire ofBristol 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 theRiver Avon had madeLiverpool 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 theNorth West of England.[7]
| Great Western Railway Act 1835 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for making a Railway from Bristol to join the London and Birmingham Railway near London, to be called "The Great Western Railway," with Branches therefrom to the Towns of Bradford and Trowbridge in the County of Wilts. |
| Citation | 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. cvii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 August 1835 |
The company was founded at a meeting in Bristol on 21 January 1833.Isambard Kingdom Brunel, then aged 27, was appointed engineer on 7 March 1833. The name Great Western Railway was adopted on 19 August 1833, and the company was incorporated by the Great Western Railway Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. cvii) on 31 August 1835.[8]
This was by far Brunel's largest contract to date. He made two controversial decisions. Firstly, he chose to use a broad gauge of7 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 theMarlborough Downs, which had no significant towns but which offered potential connections toOxford andGloucester. 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.[7]
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 firmOsborne Clarke, who on one occasion rowed Brunel down the River Avon to survey the bank of the river for the route.[9][10]
George Thomas Clark played an important role as an engineer on the project, reputedly taking the management of two divisions of the route including bridges over theRiver Thames atLower Basildon andMoulsford and ofPaddington Station.[11] Involvement in major earth-moving works seems to have fed Clark's interest in geology andarchaeology and he, anonymously, authored two guidebooks on the railway: one illustrated withlithographs byJohn Cooke Bourne;[12] the other, a critique of Brunel's methods and the broad gauge.[13]
The first22+1⁄2 miles (36 km) of line, from Paddington station in London toMaidenhead Bridge station, opened on 4 June 1838.[14] WhenMaidenhead Railway Bridge was ready the line was extended toTwyford on 1 July 1839 and then through the deepSonning Cutting toReading on 30 March 1840.[15] The cutting was the scene ofa significant accident two years later when a goods train ran into alandslip; ten passengers who were travelling in open trucks were killed. This promptedParliament to pass theRailway Regulation Act 1844, requiring railway companies to provide better carriages for passengers.[16]
The next section, from Reading toSteventon crossed the Thames twice and opened for traffic on 1 June 1840. A7+1⁄4-mile (12 km) extension took the line toFaringdon Road on 20 July 1840.[15] Meanwhile, work had started at the Bristol end of the line, where the11+1⁄2-mile (19 km) section toBath opened on 31 August 1840.[17]
On 17 December 1840, the line from London reached a temporary terminus atWootton Bassett Road west of Swindon and 80.25 miles (129 km) from Paddington. The section from Wootton Bassett Road toChippenham was opened on 31 May 1841, as wasSwindon Junction station[15] where theCheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWUR) toCirencester connected. That was an independent line worked by the GWR, as was theBristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER), the first section of which from Bristol toBridgwater 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.[17] In 1851, the GWR purchased theKennet and Avon Canal, which was a competing carrier between London, Reading, Bath and Bristol.[18]
The GWR was closely involved with the C&GWUR and the B&ER and with several other broad-gauge railways. TheSouth Devon Railway was completed in 1849, extending the broad gauge toPlymouth,[19] whence theCornwall Railway took it over theRoyal Albert Bridge and intoCornwall in 1859[20] and, in 1867, it reachedPenzance over theWest Cornwall Railway which originally had been laid in 1852 with the4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge or "narrow gauge" as it was known at the time.[21] TheSouth Wales Railway had opened betweenChepstow andSwansea in 1850 and became connected to the GWR by Brunel'sChepstow Bridge in 1852. It was completed toNeyland in 1856, where a transatlantic port was established.[22]
There was initially no direct line from London to Wales as the tidalRiver 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 theSevern Tunnel had begun in 1873, but unexpected underwater springs delayed the work and prevented its opening until 1886.[23]
| Track gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By transport mode | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By size (list) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change of gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By location | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brunel had devised a7 ft (2,134 mm) track gauge for his railways in 1835. He later added1⁄4 inch (6.4 mm), probably to reduce friction of the wheel sets in curves. This became the7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge.[Note 1] Either gauge may be referred to asBrunel gauge.
In 1844, the broad-gaugeBristol and Gloucester Railway had opened, but Gloucester was already served by the4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge lines of theBirmingham and Gloucester Railway. This resulted in abreak-of-gauge that forced all passengers and goods to change trains if travelling between the south-west and the North. This was the beginning of the "gauge war" and led to the appointment byParliament of aGauge Commission, which reported in 1846 in favour of standard gauge so the 7-foot gauge was proscribed by law (Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846) except for the southwest of England and Wales where connected to the GWR network.[24]
Other railways in Britain were to use standard gauge. In 1846, the Bristol and Gloucester was bought by theMidland Railway and it wasconverted to standard gauge in 1854, which broughtmixed-gauge track to Temple Meads station – this had three rails to allow trains to run on either broad or standard gauge.[25]
The GWR extended into theWest Midlands in competition with the Midland and theLondon and North Western Railway.Birmingham was reached throughOxford in 1852 andWolverhampton in 1854.[24] This was the furthest north that the broad gauge reached.[26] In the same year theShrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and theShrewsbury and Chester Railway bothamalgamated with the GWR, but these lines were standard gauge,[18] and the GWR's own line north of Oxford had been built with mixed gauge.[24]
This mixed gauge was extended southwards from Oxford toBasingstoke at the end of 1856 and so allowed through goods traffic from the north of England to the south coast (via theLondon and South Western Railway – LSWR) withouttransshipment.[24]
| 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 theBerks 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 toWeymouth on the south coast, the GWR route being via Chippenham and a route initially started by theWilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway.[24]
Further west, the LSWR took over the broad-gaugeExeter and Crediton Railway andNorth Devon Railway,[27] also the standard-gaugeBodmin 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.[28]
By now the gauge war was lost and mixed gauge was brought toPaddington in 1861, allowing through passenger trains from London to Chester. The broad-gauge South Wales Railway amalgamated with the GWR in 1862, as did theWest Midland Railway, which brought with it theOxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, a line that had been conceived as another broad-gauge route to the Midlands but which had been built as standard gauge after several battles, both political and physical.[24][29]
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 fromGrange Court toHereford 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.[30]
TheBristol 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 toExeter on 1 March 1876 by the GWR.[31] 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 theSouth Devon Railway to also amalgamate with the Great Western.[19] TheCornwall Railway remained a nominally independent line until 1889, although the GWR held a large number of shares in the company.[20]
One final new broad-gauge route was opened on 1 June 1877, theSt Ives branch in westCornwall,[32] although there was also a small extension atSutton Harbour in Plymouth in 1879.[21] Part of a mixed gauge point remains at Sutton Harbour, one of the few examples of broad gauge trackwork remaining in situ anywhere.[33]
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.[34]
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:[35]
The generally conservative GWR made other improvements in the years beforeWorld War I such as restaurant cars, better conditions for third class passengers, steam heating of trains, and faster express services. These were largely at the initiative of T. I. Allen, the Superintendent of the Line and one of a group of talented senior managers who led the railway into theEdwardian era: Viscount Emlyn (Earl Cawdor, Chairman from 1895 to 1905); Sir Joseph Wilkinson (general manager from 1896 to 1903), his successor, the former chief engineer Sir James Inglis; andGeorge Jackson Churchward (theChief Mechanical Engineer). It was during this period that the GWR introducedroad motor services as an alternative to building new lines in rural areas, and started usingsteam rail motors to bring cheaper operation to existing branch lines.[35]
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 permanentnationalisation but decided instead on a compulsoryamalgamation of the railways into four large groups. The GWR alone preserved its name through the "grouping", under which smaller companies were amalgamated into four main companies in 1922 and 1923. The GWR builta war memorial at Paddington station, unveiled in 1922, in memory of its employees who were killed in the war.[36]
The new Great Western Railway had more routes in Wales, including 295 miles (475 km) of formerCambrian Railways lines and 124 miles (200 km) from theTaff Vale Railway. A few independent lines in its English area of operations were also added, notably theMidland and South Western Junction Railway, a line previously working closely with theMidland Railway but which now gave the GWR a second station at Swindon, along with a line that carried through-traffic from the North viaCheltenham andAndover toSouthampton.[37]
The 1930s brought hard times but the company remained in fair financial health despite theDepression. TheDevelopment (Loans, Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929 allowed the GWR to obtain money in return for stimulating employment and this was used to improve stations includingLondon Paddington,Bristol Temple Meads andCardiff General; to improve facilities atdepots 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 inair services.[38]
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 theboat train services that conveyed transatlantic passengers to London in luxury.[39] 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 widerloading gauge on that route.[40]
With the outbreak ofWorld War II in 1939, the GWR returned to direct government control, and by the end of the war a Labour government was in power and again planning to nationalise the railways. After a couple of years trying to recover from the ravages of war, the GWR became theWestern Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948. The Great Western Railway Company continued to exist as a legal entity for nearly two more years, being formallywound up on 23 December 1949.[41] GWR designs of locomotives and rolling stock continued to be built for a while and the region maintained its own distinctive character, even painting for a while its stations and express trains in a form of chocolate and cream.[42][43]
About 40 years after nationalisationBritish Rail wasprivatised and the old name was revived byGreat Western Trains, thetrain operating company providing passenger services on the old GWR routes to South Wales and the South West. This subsequently became First Great Western, as part of theFirstGroup, but in September 2015 changed its name toGreat Western Railway in order to 'reinstate the ideals of our founder'.[44] The operating infrastructure, however, was transferred toRailtrack and has since passed toNetwork Rail. These companies have continued to preserve appropriate parts of its stations and bridges so historic GWR structures can still be recognised around the network.[45][46]
The originalGreat Western Main Line linkedLondon Paddington station with Temple Meads station in Bristol by way ofReading,Didcot,Swindon,Chippenham andBath. This line was extended westwards throughExeter[31] andPlymouth[19] to reachTruro[20] andPenzance,[21] the most westerly railway station in England. Brunel and Gooch placed the GWR's mainlocomotive workshops close to the village of Swindon and the locomotives of many trains were changed here in the early years. Up to this point the route had climbed very gradually westwards from London, but from here it changed into one with steeper gradients which, with the primitive locomotives available to Brunel, was better operated by types with smaller wheels better able to climb the hills. These gradients faced both directions, first dropping down throughWootton Bassett Junction to cross theRiver Avon, then climbing back up through Chippenham to the Box Tunnel before descending once more to regain the River Avon's valley which it followed to Bath and Bristol.[15]
Swindon was also the junction for a line that ran north-westwards toGloucester then south-westwards on the far side of theRiver Severn to reachCardiff,Swansea and west Wales. This route was later shortened by the opening of a more direct east–west route through theSevern Tunnel. Another route ran northwards from Didcot toOxford from where two different routes continued toWolverhampton, one throughBirmingham and the other throughWorcester. Beyond Wolverhampton the line continued viaShrewsbury toChester and (via a joint line with theLNWR) onwards toBirkenhead andWarrington; another route viaMarket Drayton enabled the GWR to reachCrewe. Operating agreements with other companies also allowed GWR trains to run toManchester. South of the London to Bristol main line were routes from Didcot toSouthampton viaNewbury, and from Chippenham toWeymouth viaWestbury.[47]
A network of cross-country routes linked these main lines, and there were also many and variedbranch lines. Some were short, such as the3+1⁄2-mile (5.6 km)Clevedon branch line;[48] others were much longer such as the 23-mile (37 km)Minehead Branch.[49] A few were promoted and built by the GWR to counter competition from other companies, such as theReading to Basingstoke Line to keep theLondon and South Western Railway away fromNewbury.[24] However, many were built by local companies that then sold their railway to their larger neighbour; examples include theLaunceston[50] andBrixham[51] branches. Further variety came from the traffic carried: holidaymakers (St Ives);.[52] royalty (Windsor);[53] or just goods traffic (Carbis Wharf).[54]
Brunel envisaged the GWR continuing across the Atlantic Ocean and built theSS Great Western to carry the railway's passengers from Bristol toNew York.[55] Most traffic for North America soon switched to the larger port ofLiverpool (in other railways' territories) but some transatlantic passengers were landed atPlymouth and conveyed to London by special train. Great Western ships linked Great Britain with Ireland, theChannel Islands and France.[56]
The railway's headquarters were established at Paddington station. Its locomotives and rolling stock were built and maintained atSwindon Works[17] but other workshops were acquired as itamalgamated with other railways, including the Shrewsbury companies'Stafford Road works at Wolverhampton,[57] and the South Devon's workshops atNewton Abbot.[58]Worcester Carriage Works was created by flattening land north ofWorcester Shrub Hill Station,[59]Reading Signal Works was established in buildings to the north ofReading railway station,[60] and in later years a concrete manufacturing depot was established atTaunton where items ranging from track components to bridges were cast.[61]
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".[62] Working westwards from Paddington, the line crosses the valley of theRiver Brent onWharncliffe Viaduct and theRiver Thames onMaidenhead Railway Bridge, which at the time of construction was the largest span achieved by a brick arch bridge.[63] The line then continues throughSonning Cutting before reaching Reading[64] after which it crosses the Thames twice more, onGatehampton andMoulsford bridges.[65] Between Chippenham and Bath isBox Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel driven by that time.[66] Several years later, the railway opened the even longer Severn Tunnel to carry a new line between England and Wales beneath theRiver Severn.[23]
Some other notable structures were added when smaller companies were amalgamated into the GWR. These include theSouth Devon Railway sea wall,[67] theCornwall Railway'sRoyal Albert Bridge,[68] andBarmouth Bridge on theCambrian Railways.[69]
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.[17]
The board was led by a chairman and supported by asecretary and other "officers". The first Locomotive Superintendent wasDaniel 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 byJames 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.[70]
| Year | Passengers | Train mileage | Receipts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 2,491,712 | 1,425,573 | £630,515(£85.2 million in 2023) |
| 1875 | 36,024,592 | 9,435,876 | £2,528,305(£301 million in 2023) |
| 1900 | 80,944,483 | 23,279,499 | £5,207,513(£712 million in 2023) |
| 1924 | 140,241,113 | 37,997,377 | £13,917,942(£1 billion in 2023) |
| 1934 | 110,813,041 | 40,685,597 | £10,569,140(£948 million in 2023) |
| Passenger numbers exclude season ticket journeys.[3][71] | |||
Early trains offered passengers a choice offirst- or second-classcarriages. In 1840 this choice was extended: passengers could be conveyed by the slowgoods trains in what became third-class. TheRailway Regulation Act 1844 made it a legal requirement that the GWR, along with all other British railways, had to serve each station with trains which included third-class accommodation at afare of not more than onepenny per mile and a speed of at least 12 mph (19 km/h). By 1882, third-class carriages were attached to all trains except for the fastestexpresses. Another parliamentary order meant that trains began to include smoking carriages from 1868.[72]
Special "excursion" cheap-daytickets were first issued in May 1849 andseason 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. TheCheap 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-morningFlying Dutchman express between London and Exeter was named after the winning horse of theDerby andSt Legerraces in 1849. Although withdrawn at the end of 1867, the name was revived in 1869 – following a request from theBristol and Exeter Railway – and the train ran through to Plymouth. An afternoon express was instigated on the same route in June 1879 and became known asThe Zulu. A third West Country express was introduced in 1890, running to and from Penzance asThe Cornishman. A new service, theCornish Riviera Express ran between London and Penzance – non-stop to Plymouth – from 1 July 1904, although it ran only in the summer during 1904 and 1905 before becoming a permanent feature of the timetable in 1906.[73]
TheCheltenham Spa Express was the fastest train in the world when it was scheduled to cover the 77.25 miles (124.3 km) betweenSwindon and London at an average of 71.3 miles per hour (114.7 km/h).[74] The train was nicknamed the 'Cheltenham Flyer' and featured in one of the GWR's 'Books for boys of all ages'. Other named trains includedThe Bristolian, running between London and Bristol from 1935,[75] and theTorbay Express, which ran between London andKingswear.[76]
Many of these fast expresses included special coaches that could be detached as they passed through stations without stopping, aguard riding in the coach to uncouple it from the main train and bring it to a stop at the correct position. The first such "slip coach" was detached from theFlying Dutchman atBridgwater in 1869.[60] The company's firstsleeping cars were operated between Paddington and Plymouth in 1877. Then on 1 October 1892 its firstcorridor train ran from Paddington to Birkenhead, and the following year saw the first trains heated by steam that was passed through the train in a pipe from the locomotive. May 1896 saw the introduction of first-classrestaurant cars and the service was extended to all classes in 1903. Sleeping cars for third-class passengers were available from 1928.[72]
Self-propelled "steam railmotors" were first used on 12 October 1903 betweenStonehouse andChalford; within five years 100 had been constructed. These trains had special retractable steps that could be used at stations with lower platforms than was usual in England.[60] The railmotors proved so successful on many routes that they had to be supplemented by trailer cars with driving controls, the first of which entered service at the end of 1904. From the following year a number of small locomotives were fitted so that they could work with these trailers, the combined sets becoming known as "autotrains" and eventually replacing the steam rail motors.[77]Diesel railcars were introduced in 1934. Some railcars were fully streamlined, some had buffet counters for long-distance services, and others were purely for parcels services.[78]
| Year | Tonnage | Train mileage | Receipts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 | 350,000 | 330,817 | £202,978(£27.4 million in 2023) |
| 1875 | 16,388,198 | 11,206,462 | £3,140,093(£374 million in 2023) |
| 1900 | 37,500,510 | 23,135,685 | £5,736,921(£784 million in 2023) |
| 1924 | 81,723,133 | 25,372,106 | £17,571,537(£1.27 billion in 2023) |
| 1934 | 64,619,892 | 22,707,235 | £14,500,385(£1.3 billion in 2023) |
| Tonnage for 1850 is approximate.[3][71] | |||
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 theRuabon 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.[60] While typical goods wagons could carry 8, 10 or (later) 12 tons, the load placed into a wagon could be as little as 1 ton. The many smaller consignments were sent to a localtranshipment centre where they were re-sorted into larger loads for the main segment of their journey. There were more than 550 "station truck" workings running on timetabled goods trains carrying small consignments to and from specified stations, and 200 "pick up" trucks that collected small loads from groups of stations.[79]
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 thechina clay production of that county. The wagons provided for both these traffic flows (both those owned by the GWR and the mining companies) were fitted with end doors that allowed their loads to be tipped straight into the ships' holds using wagon-tipping equipment on the dockside. Special wagons were produced for many other different commodities such asgunpowder,[80]aeroplane propellers,[81] motor cars,[82] fruit[83] and fish.[84]
Heavy traffic was carried from the agricultural and fishing areas in the southwest of England, often in fast "perishables" trains,[85] for instance more than 3,500 cattle were sent fromGrampound Road in the 12 months to June 1869,[86] and in 1876 nearly than 17,000tons of fish was carried from west Cornwall to London.[87] The perishables trains running in the nineteenth century used wagons built to the same standards as passenger coaches, withvacuum brakes and large wheels to allow fast running. Ordinary goods trains on the GWR, as on all other British railways at the time, had wheels close together (around 9 feet (2.7 m) apart), smaller wheels and only hand brakes.[88]
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.[89]
A number of canals, such as theKennet and Avon Canal and theStratford-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. (£1,250,000 and £1.31 billion respectively in 2023).[90][71]
TheRailways Act 1921 brought most of the large coal-exporting docks in South Wales into the GWR's ownership, such as those atCardiff,Barry, andSwansea. They were added to a small number of docks along the south coast of England which the company already owned, to make it the largest docks operator in the world.[38]
Powers were granted by Parliament for theGWR to operate ships in 1871.[38] The following year the company took over the ships operated by Ford and Jackson on the route betweenNeyland in Wales andWaterford in Ireland. The Welsh terminal was relocated toFishguard Harbour when the railway was opened to there in 1906. Services were also operated betweenWeymouth Quay and theChannel Islands from 1889 on the former Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Packet Company routes. Smaller GWR vessels were also used astenders atPlymouth Great Western Docks and, until the Severn Tunnel opened, on theRiver Severn crossing of theBristol and South Wales Union Railway.[56]
The first railway-operated bus services were started by the GWR betweenHelston railway station andThe 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 ashare).[91]
The GWR inaugurated the first railway air service betweenCardiff,Torquay andPlymouth in association withImperial Airways. This grew to become part of theRailway Air Services.[38]
The GWR's first locomotives were specified byIsambard Kingdom Brunel but proved unsatisfactory. Daniel Gooch, who was just 20 years old, was soon appointed as the railway's Locomotive Superintendent and set about establishing a reliable fleet. He boughttwo locomotives fromRobert Stephenson and Company which proved more successful than Brunel's, and then designed a series of standardised locomotives. From 1846 these could be built at the company's newly establishedrailway workshops at Swindon. He designed several different7 ft (2,134 mm)broad-gauge types for the growing railway, such as theFirefly2-2-2s and laterIron Duke Class4-2-2s. In 1864 Gooch was succeeded byJoseph Armstrong who brought hisstandard-gauge experience to the railway. Some of Armstrong's designs were built as either broad or standard gauge just by fitting different wheels; those needing tenders were given old ones from withdrawn broad-gauge locomotives.[92]
Joseph Armstrong's early death in 1877 meant that the next phase of motive power design was the responsibility ofWilliam Dean who developed express4-4-0 types rather than the single-driver2-2-2s and4-2-2s that had hauled fast trains up to that time.[57] Dean retired in 1902 to be replaced byGeorge Jackson Churchward, who introduced the familiar4-6-0 locomotives. It was during Churchward's tenure that the term "Locomotive Superintendent" was changed to "Chief Mechanical Engineer" (CME).[93]Charles Collett succeeded Churchward in 1921. He was soon responsible for the much larger fleet that the GWR operated following theRailways 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 theCastle andKing classes.[94] The final CME wasFrederick Hawksworth who took control in 1941, seeing the railway through wartime shortages and producing GWR-design locomotives until after nationalisation.[57]
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 hadnamed 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.[92] Dean introduced a policy in 1895 of giving passengertender locomotives both numbers and names. Each batch was given names with a distinctive theme, for example kings for the6000 class and castles for the4073 class.[95]
The GWR first painted its locomotives a darkholly green but this was changed to middle chrome orBrunswick green for most of its existence. They initially had chocolate brown or Indian red frames but this was changed in the twentieth century to black. Name and number plates were generally of polished brass with a black background, and chimneys often had copper rims or "caps".[96]
Liveries through the years:
GWR passenger coaches were many and varied, ranging from four- and six-wheeled vehicles on the originalbroad-gauge line of 1838, through tobogie coaches up to 70 feet (21 m) long which were in service through to 1947 and beyond. Vacuum brakes, bogies andthrough-corridors all came into use during the nineteenth century, and in 1900 the first electrically lit coaches were put into service. The 1920s saw some vehicles fitted with automaticcouplings and steel bodies.
Early vehicles were built by a number of independent companies, but in 1844 the railway started to build carriages atSwindon railway works, which eventually provided most of the railway'srolling stock. Special vehicles includedsleeping cars,restaurant cars andslip coaches.[97] Passengers were also carried inrailmotors,[98]autotrains,[77] anddiesel railcars.[78] Passenger-rated vans carried parcels, horses, and milk at express speeds.[99] Representative examples of these carriages survive in service today on variousHeritage railways up and down the country.
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.[100] 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".[99]
In the early years of the GWR its wagons were painted brown,[101] but this changed to red before the end of thebroad gauge. The familiar dark grey livery was introduced about 1904.[102]
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 firstbogie 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.[103]
When the GWR was opened no trains in the United Kingdom were fitted withvacuum brakes, instead handbrakes were fitted to individual wagons and trains also conveyedbrake vans where a guard had control of a screw-operated brake. The first goods wagons to be fitted with vacuum brakes were those that ran in passenger trains carrying perishable goods such as fish. Some ballast hoppers were given vacuum brakes in December 1903, and general goods wagons were constructed with them from 1904 onwards, although unfitted wagons (those without vacuum brakes) still formed the majority of the fleet in 1948 when the railway wasnationalised to become a part ofBritish Railways.[104]
All wagons for public traffic had acode name that was used intelegraphic 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).[105][106]
For thepermanent way Brunel decided to use a light bridge rail continuously supported on thick timber baulks, known as "baulk road". Thinner timber transoms were used to keep the baulks the correct distance apart. This produced a smoother track and the whole assembly proved cheaper than using conventional sleepers for broad-gauge track, although this advantage was lost with standard- or mixed-gauge lines because of the higher ratio of timber to length of line. More conventional track forms were later used, although baulk road could still be seen in sidings in the first half of the twentieth century.[107]
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 commercialtelegraph line was installed along the 13 miles (21 km) from Paddington toWest 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.[108] A long list ofcode words were developed to help make messages both quick to send and clear in meaning.[105]
More conventionalsemaphore 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.[109]
The GWR is known admiringly to some as "God's Wonderful Railway",[110] but jocularly to others as the "Great Way Round"[111] 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 toresorts in Wales and south-west England.[112][113][114]
Cheap tickets were offered and excursion trains operated to popular destinations and special events such as the 1851Great Exhibition.[115] Later,GWR road motors operated tours to popular destinations not served directly by train, and its ships offered cruises from places such as Plymouth.[116] Redundant carriages were converted tocamp coaches and placed at country or seaside stations such asBlue Anchor andMarazion and hired to holidaymakers who arrived by train.
The GWR had operated hotels at major stations and junctions since the early days, but in 1877 it opened its first "country house hotel", theTregenna Castle inSt Ives, Cornwall.[60] It later added the Fishguard Bay Hotel in Wales and the Manor House atMoretonhampstead, Devon, to which it added agolf course in 1930.[38]
It promoted itself from 1908 as "The Holiday Line[117] through a series of posters,postcards,jigsaw puzzles, and books. These includedHoliday Haunts, describing the attraction of the different parts of the GWR system,[118] and regional titles such asS. P. B. Mais'sCornish Riviera and A. M. Bradley'sSouth Wales: The Country of Castles. Guidebooks described the scenery seenThrough 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 includedThe 10:30 Limited andLoco's of the Royal Road.[119]
The Great Western Railway effectively created the modern day tourist spots of theWest Country and the southwest part ofWales that had previously been very difficult to reach. The Bristol Channel resorts of Wales and the West Country such asMinehead or the cliffs ofExmoor had been very remote from other parts of England before the advent of the GWR.[120]
Railway enthusiasts were kept informed of new locomotives and other topics through theGreat 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 andwheel arrangement. Alternate pages showed formal vignetted photographs of different types of engine, mostly inphotographic 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.[121][122]
New editions were printed in 1914 and 1917 asGreat Western Railway Engines edited by'A.J.L.W.' and then asGreat Western Railway Engines: Names, Numbers, Types and Classes in 1919 with new editions at regular intervals up to 1929.[121] 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.'[123] Arthur White died in 1929 and from 1932 new editions, nowThe G.W.R. Engine Book were published by the GWR's Publicity Department up to 1935.[121]
From 1938 the editor was given as'W.G.C.' who was W.G. Chapman. The title was nowGWR Engines: Names, Numbers Types, Classes, etc. of Great Western Railway Locomotives. There were reprints (also listed as editions) following in 1938 (again) and 1939.[124] A final edition was published in 1946.[121] In addition to the locomotive listings, photographs and dimensions, there are numerous essays on many aspects of GWR locomotive development.[125]
On a related subject, the GWR also published in 1935 a 56-page booklet entitledSwindon 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 ofSwindon 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.[126]
The GWR attracted the attention of the artists from an early date.John Cooke Bourne'sHistory and Description of the Great Western Railway was published in 1846 and contained a series of detailedlithographs of the railway that give readers a glimpse of what the line looked like in the days before photography.[12]J. M. W. Turner painted hisRain, Steam and Speed - The Great Western Railway in 1844 after looking out of the window of his train onMaidenhead Railway Bridge,[127] and in 1862William Powell Frith paintedThe Railway Station, a large crowd scene on theplatform at Paddington. The station itself was initially painted for Powell by W Scott Morton, an architect, and a train was specially provided by the GWR for the painting, in front of which a variety of travellers and railway staff form an animated focal point.[128]
In 1935, as part of the celebration of the centenary of the GWR, the railway commissioned and publishedRailway Ribaldry, a book of cartoons byW. 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.[129]
The GWR has featured in many television programmes, such as the BBC children's drama seriesGod's Wonderful Railway in 1980.[130] It was also immortalised inBob Godfrey's animated filmGreat, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film of 1975 which tells the story of Brunel's engineering accomplishments.[131]
Sir John Betjeman mentions the GWR clearly in his poemDistant Views of a Provincial Town:[132]
The old Great Western Railway shakes,
The old Great Western Railway spins –
The old Great Western Railway makes
Me very sorry for my sins.
The GWR's memory is kept alive by several museums such asSTEAM – the museum of the GWR (in the oldSwindon railway works), and theDidcot Railway Centre, where there is an operating broad-gauge train.Preserved GWR lines include those fromTotnes to Buckfastleigh,Paignton to Kingswear,Bishops Lydeard to Minehead,Kidderminster to Bridgnorth andCheltenham to Broadway. Many other heritage railways and museums also have GWR locomotives or rolling stock in use or on display.
Numerous stations owned byNetwork Rail also continue to display much of their GWR heritage. This is seen not only at the large stations such asPaddington (built 1851,[133] extended 1915)[134] andTemple Meads (1840,[135] 1875[136] & 1935)[137] but other places such asBath Spa (1840),[138]Torquay (1878),[139]Penzance (1879),[140]Truro (1897),[141] andNewton Abbot (1927).[142] 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 atYatton (1841),Frome (1850, Network Rail's last surviving Brunel-styletrain shed),[138]Bradford-on-Avon (1857), andSt Germans (1859).[143] Even where stations have been rebuilt, many fittings such as signs,manhole covers and seats can still be found with "GWR" cast into them.[144]
The Great Western Main Line was considered as a potentialUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2006 but rejected in 2011.[145] The proposal comprised seven sites:Temple Meads (including Brunel's GWR offices, boardroom, train shed, theB&ER offices, and thebridge over the River Avon); Bath (including the route from Twerton Tunnel to Sydney Gardens); Middlehill andBox Tunnels; the Swindon area includingSwindon railway works and village;Maidenhead Railway Bridge;Wharncliffe Viaduct; and Paddington station.[146]
Several locomotives have been given the nameGreat Western. The first was anIron Duke class broad-gauge locomotive built in 1846, the first locomotive entirely constructed at the company'sSwindon Works. This was withdrawn in 1870, but in 1888 a newly built locomotive in the same class was given the same name; this was withdrawn four years later when the broad gauge was taken out of use.[147] A standard-gauge3031 class locomotive, number 3012, was then given the name. The last GWR locomotive to carry the name wasCastle class number 7007, which continued to carry it in British Railways days.[148]
The name later reappeared on someBRdiesels. The first was 47500 which carried the name from 1979 until 1991.[149] AnotherClass 47, this time 47815, had the name bestowed on it in 2005; it is currently (2009) in operation withRiviera Trains.[150]High Speed Train power car number 43185 also carried the same name[148] and was operated by the modernGreat Western Railway[151] until 18 May 2019.
A number of engineers trained at or worked for the GWR, before moving to other companies, including:
In laying the rails an extra quarter of an inch was allowed on the straight, making the gauge 7 ft.1⁄4 in. strictly speaking, but it was always referred to as 7 feet.
| Main routes | | |
|---|---|---|
| Related companies | ||
| Locomotives | ||
| Works and depots | ||
| Train services | ||
| Rolling stock | ||
| People | ||
| Canals | ||
| Other | ||
