Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, that was started in 1833. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The railway company also ran bus services and owned ships and hotels. In 1948, the government took control of the company and Great Western Railway then was renamed the Western Region of British Railways.
The first railway line built by the Great Western Railway opened in 1838. It started in London and ended in Maidenhead which was 22.5 miles (36.2 km) west. By 1841, the area of service had been made much longer and so their trains went farther west to the towns of Reading, Swindon, Bath and Bristol. By 1852, the railway line had become 305 miles (491 km) long and went to Penzance. Penzance railway station is both the farthest south and farthest west in Great Britain.
In 1923, the GWR took over several smaller railways (most of them in Wales) and became one of the Big Four British railway companies. In 1948, Britain's railways were nationalized and the GWR became the Western Region of British Railways.
Great Western Railway Media
The interior of Brunel's train-shed at Temple Meads, the first Bristol terminus of the GWR, from an engraving by J. C. Bourne.
The Sonning Cutting in 1846
Route of the Great Western Railway on Cheffin's Map, 1850. The sweep to the north from Reading is clearly seen.
A broad-gauge train on mixed-gauge track
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New corridor coaches on the Cornish Riviera Express
1923 saw the construction of the first of 171 Castle Class locomotives
Map of the system c. 1930
The Cheltenham Flyer was a GWR 'book for boys of all ages'.
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