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Great Western Railway
Map of the railway pre-grouping (1920)
Map of the railway post-grouping (1926)
1835
Act of incorporation 1838 First train ran 1869–92
7 ft 1 ⁄4 in (2,140 mm ) Brunel gauge
changed to4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm )
standard gauge 1903 Start of
road motor services 1923 Keeps identity though the
Grouping 1935 Centenary 1948
Nationalised 1948
British Rail ,
Western Region
Headquarters
Paddington station , London Locale England; Wales Workshops
Swindon
Wolverhampton Major stations
Birmingham 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] 1841 171 miles (275 km) 1863 1,106 miles (1,780 km) 1876 2,023 miles (3,256 km) 1899 2,504 miles (4,030 km) 1919 2,996 miles 68 chains (4,823.0 km) 1921 3,005 miles (4,836 km) 1924 3,797 miles (6,111 km) 1925 3,819 miles 69 chains (6,147.5 km)
Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway near Goodrington
Bristol Temple Meads station
Penzance station
Box Tunnel
Windsor Bridge
Great Western Railway heritage sites are those places where stations, bridges and other infrastructure built by the
Great Western Railway and
its constituent railways can still be found. These may be
heritage railways , museums, operational
railway stations , or isolated
listed structures .
Operational GWR style heritage railways
These
heritage railways operate on old GWR branch lines. Many other heritage railways and museums also have GWR locomotives or rolling stock in use or on display.
Bodmin & Wenford Railway –
Bodmin General to
Boscarne Junction and
Bodmin Parkway (formerly Bodmin Road) ,
Cornwall
Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway –
Chinnor ,
Oxfordshire to
Princes Risborough ,
Buckinghamshire
Cholsey & Wallingford Railway –
Cholsey to
Wallingford , Oxfordshire
Dean Forest Railway –
Lydney to
Parkend ,
Gloucestershire
Didcot Railway Centre , Oxfordshire
East Somerset Railway ,
Cranmore ,
Somerset
Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway –
Broadway ,
Worcestershire to
Cheltenham Racecourse , Gloucestershire
Gwili Railway –
Bronwydd Arms to
Llwyfan Cerrig ,
Carmarthenshire
Llangollen Railway –
Llangollen to
Carrog
Dartmouth Steam Railway –
Paignton to
Kingswear ,
Devon
[6]
Plym Valley Railway –
Marsh Mills , Devon
Severn Valley Railway –
Kidderminster to
Bridgnorth ,
Worcestershire and
Shropshire
South Devon Railway –
Totnes to
Buckfastleigh , Devon
Swindon and Cricklade Railway –
Blunsdon , Gloucestershire
West Somerset Railway –
Bishops Lydeard to
Minehead , Somerset
Museums
These museums have a GWR theme or are located in old GWR buildings.
Listed structures
In addition to the places listed below, there are a great many smaller bridges and other structures that have been given
listed status . The listing may only cover certain buildings and structures at each location.
World Heritage Site
UNESCO is considering a proposal to list the
Great Western Main Line as a
World Heritage Site . The proposal comprises seven individual sites.
[7] These are
Bristol Temple Meads railway station (including Brunel's Company Offices, Boardroom,
train shed , and the
Bristol and Exeter Railway Offices along with the route over the
River Avon );
Bath Spa railway station along with the line from Twerton Tunnel to the Sydney Gardens, Middlehill and
Box Tunnels ; the Swindon area including
Swindon railway works and village;
Maidenhead Railway Bridge ;
Wharncliffe Viaduct ; and
London Paddington station .
Grade I listed
Grade II* listed
Bath Spa railway station ,
Somerset
Box Tunnel ,
Wiltshire
Bridgwater railway station , Somerset
Bristol & Exeter Railway Headquarters,
Temple Meads , Bristol
Chippenham viaduct , Wiltshire
Maidenhead Railway Bridge ,
Buckinghamshire
Moorswater Viaduct ,
Liskeard ,
Cornwall
Mortimer railway station , Berkshire
Parrett Bridge , Bridgwater, Somerset
Swindon railway works , Wiltshire (some buildings listed Grade II)
Windsor Railway Bridge , Berkshire
Worcester Shrub Hill railway station , Worcestershire
Grade II listed
Ashburton goods shed,
Devon
Bovey railway station , Devon
Bradford-on-Avon railway station ,
Wiltshire
Chippenham railway station , Wiltshire
Dawlish railway station , Devon
Devil's Bridge,
Bleadon ,
Somerset
Exeter goods transfer shed, Devon
Exeter St Thomas railway station , Devon
Exminster railway station , Devon
Frome railway station , Somerset
Gatehampton Railway Bridge ,
Goring ,
Berkshire
Hele and Bradninch goods shed, Devon
Leamington Spa railway station , Warwickshire
Maiden Newton railway station ,
Dorset
Minehead railway station , Somerset
Moulsford Railway Bridge ,
Oxfordshire
Penzance railway station , Cornwall
Reading railway station , Berkshire
Redruth railway station , Cornwall
St Austell railway station , Cornwall
St Erth railway station , Cornwall
Salisbury goods shed, Wiltshire
Sandford and Banwell railway station , Somerset
Slough railway station , Berkshire
Stoke Canon signal box, Devon
Taunton railway station , Somerset
Torquay railway station , Devon
Torre railway station , Devon
Tregenna Castle Hotel,
St Ives , Cornwall
Wells goods shed, Somerset
Weston-super-Mare signal box, Somerset
Williton railway station , Somerset
Windsor and Eton Central railway station , Berkshire
Yatton railway station , Somerset
See also
A map of the
GWR system
References
^ 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
^ 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
^ "A brief review of the Company's hundred years of business". Great Western Railway Magazine . 47 (9). Great Western Railway: 495–499. 1935.
^ The Railway Year Book for 1920 . London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1920. p. 154.
^ The Railway Year Book for 1926 . London: The Railway Publishing Company Limited. 1926. pp. 154–172.
^ Potts, C R (1998). The Newton Abbot to Kingswear Railway (1844 - 1988) . Oxford: Oakwood Press.
ISBN
0-85361-387-7 .
^
"The Great Western Railway: Paddington-Bristol (selected parts)" . United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. 1999. Retrieved 22 May 2008 .
^
Historic England .
"Avon Bridge (1219892)" .
National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 16 March 2007 .
^ Oakley, Mike (2002). Bristol Railway Stations 1840-2005 . Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press.
ISBN
1-904349-09-9 .
^ Brindle, Steven (2004). Paddington Station: its history and architecture . Swindon:
English Heritage .
ISBN
1-873592-70-1 .
^ Binding, John (1997). Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge . Truro:
Twelveheads Press .
ISBN
0-906294-39-8 .
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