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.

New paperback edition - A narrative history of the most iconic railway company of the great age of steam.

The age of steam is past, the heyday of Swindon Works is long gone – but the legend lives on. What made the Great Western Railway’s Swindon Works iconic? Was it its worldwide reputation; perhaps its profound impact in shaping the new town of Swindon; or that it melded those who worked there into one big family? In a new and exciting format, this book, by popular railway historian Rosa Matheson, helps explain why the never-ending love story endures. With big facts and fascinating stories, it is a must read not only for ex-Works employees and their families, nor just for GWR fans and railway enthusiasts, but also for any newcomer seeking to find a good way into railway history.

A narrative history of the most iconic railway company of the great age of steam.

This chronicle of one of England’s most popular railway museums tells the remarkable story of four friends who turned their boyhood dream into reality. Located in the Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire, England, the Great Western Society is dedicated to preserving the steam locomotives and other artifacts of Great Western Railway. Starting in the 1830s and operating well into the 20h century, G.W.R. brough a sense of romance to train travel as it connected London to Western England and Wales. But while this British railway company is truly legendary, The Great Western Society has a fascinating history of its own. Formed in 1960, The Great Western Society was founded by a group of schoolboys who wanted to save a Great Western Tank locomotive and an auto trailer. A letter they sent to The Railway Magazine proposing their idea led to one of Britain’s most successful heritage railway projects. Today that original project has blossomed into the best collection of Great Western rolling stock and locomotives in the world.

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.

Travel back in time on a journey across Britain’s main-line railways on the eve of nationalisation. The views from the carriage windows are conveyed through finely detailed, hand-drawn maps, each a rich reminder of the linesides bursting with activity in an era of technical progress, glamour and prestige. Speed along the LNER’s racing track from King’s Cross to Newcastle upon Tyne and Edinburgh; from next-door St Pancras through the Peak District to Manchester; from Waterloo to Plymouth (with some pleasant seaside diversions on the way); from Euston through the industrial heartlands of the West Midlands and the north-west to the seaport of Liverpool; and from Paddington along Brunel’s ‘bowling green’ railway to Bristol, Exeter and Penzance. Mile by Mile faithfully reproduces the three original route maps drafted in 1947 by S.N. Pike, and adds a new one for the Great Western Railway to complete its coverage of the so-called ‘Big Four’ railway firms formed in the aftermath of the First World War. New introductions describe how the ‘Big Four’ came about, the passengers and goods they conveyed, the key personalities that shaped them – engineers, managers, even publicists – and the trains and locomotives that gave each its unique character. Climb aboard, sit back and take a ride to a special period in the history of Britain’s railways.

The first thought, when contemplating a new study of the Great Western Railway locomotive fleet, must surely be to ask what can there be left to say? But there is no single source which gives a general introduction to the Great Western locomotive fleet. There are monographs on individual classes, an excellent multi-volume detail study from the RCTS, and superb collections of photographs, but nothing that brings it all together. This work is intended to provide that general introduction.The volume begins with a series of short essays covering general trends in design development, whilst the main body of the volume covers individual classes. For each class there is a small table containing some principal dimensions and paragraphs of text, covering an introduction, renumbering, key changes in the development of the class and information on withdrawal.The volume concludes with appendices covering the development and types of standard boilers, the various numbering schemes used by the GWR, the arcane subject of locomotive diagrams and lot numbers, and a short reference on the many lines the GWR engulfed.The majority of illustrations are new profile drawings to a consistent format. Described as sketches, they are drawn to a consistent scale, but do not claim to be scale drawings. Much minor equipment has been omitted and the author has certainly not dared to include rivets! Although most are based around GWR weight diagrams, they are not simple traces of the original drawings. Detail has been added from other sources, components copied from different drawings and details have been checked against historical and modern photographs. One must also bear in mind that steam locomotives were not mass produced. Minor fittings frequently varied in position and changes were made over the locomotives' lifetimes. Nevertheless, this collection of drawings provides a uniquely consistent view of the GWR locomotive fleet.

Bright and colourful, slow and easy, narrowboats are seen today as the epitome of a peaceful life and a wonderful way to get away from the stresses of modern living. Although true, this is a far cry from their origins as the workhorses of the early days of industrial revolution, without which Britain may never have developed as far and fast as it did. Packed with colourful illustrations and little known snippets of information, this entertaining and informative guide retraces the story of how narrowboats have evolved, how their very existence was once challenged and how they have risen phoenix-like into the holiday craft of today. Nick Corble is a renowned canal expert and has written a number of books on the waterways for The History Press, including James Brindley: The First Canal Builder and Living Aboard, the definitive guide for anyone contemplating making a life afloat.

One of the world's greatest aircraft, for three decades pilots enthused about the Hunter and its smooth lines, Rolls-Royce Avon engine, outstanding handling characteristics and lively performance. Designed by Sir Sydney Camm, the genius behind the Hurricane, work on the Hunter commenced late in 1948, but the post-war economic situation in Britain delayed its first flight until 20 July 1951. In September 1953 Neville Duke piloted a Hunter to shatter the world speed record. This book traces the history of the Hunter across RAF and worldwide service, from design and development to the glory days and the unforgettable aerobatic displays with the Black Knights, Black Arrows and Blue Diamonds. A real pilot's aeroplane, the Hunter reigned supreme for fifty years, with the last example retired in July 2001.