Great Western Railway

  • £40million Exeter depot beginning to take shape

    £40million Exeter depot beginning to take shape

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    THE impressive new £40million train maintenance depot next to Exeter St Davids is now taking shape, although the stated opening date of ‘summer 2019’ looks somewhat ambitious.  The project was announced at the beginning of 2018 and is being built by Hochtief for Network Rail, Great Western Railway and the Department for Transport. This April…

  • A railway in BARBADOS AGAIN

    A railway in BARBADOS AGAIN

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    The tiny independent nation of Barbados has an operating railway once more after a gap of more than 80 years. Keith Fender and Glen Beadon look at the Caribbean island’s troubled railway history and the development of the latest venture.  BARBADOS’ first female Prime Minister, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, opened a rebuilt railway on the…

  • Podcast: A taste of the Severn Valley on the footplate

    Podcast: A taste of the Severn Valley on the footplate

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    Gareth Evans recalls his half-day footplate experience course on the Severn Valley Railway.

  • Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr acquires its own ‘Gronk’

    Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr acquires its own ‘Gronk’

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    THE Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway (L&MMR) received Class 08 No. 08795 on March 22 from the Great Western Railway, Landore depot, Swansea (87E, latterly LE), which closed in December 2018.  No. 08795 requires some attention before being launched into traffic at an event later in the year.  Read more in the May 2019 issue of The…

  • Didcot formally launches ‘Saint’ Lady of Legend

    Didcot formally launches ‘Saint’ Lady of Legend

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    THE Great Western Society (GWS) marked the completion of its re-created Churchward ‘Saint’ in early April with a series of special commemorative events at Didcot Railway Centre. Supporters of the project were invited to a preview day on April 3 to see No. 2999 Lady of Legend in steam, with the opportunity to become among…

  • Practice and Performance: City of Truro – Final, final thoughts?

    Practice and Performance: City of Truro – Final, final thoughts?

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    A Practice & Performance Extra article in The RM August 2015 threw new light on the location where Charles Rous-Marten claimed to have recorded a quarter mile in 8.8secs (effectively 102.3mph) by City of Truro with the ‘Ocean Mails’ special. In essence, the platelayers that caused a brake application appeared to have been at Bradford-on-Avon…

  • Building on the Broadway

    Building on the Broadway

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    The 12 months since the opening of the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s extension to Broadway have seen numerous records broken, with the line continuing to reap the benefits of its connection with the picturesque Cotswolds village. Gary Boyd-Hope went along to find out how the railway has risen to the challenge, and what lessons have been…

  • Sentry at the Gate: How the North Warwickshire Line avoided closure

    Sentry at the Gate: How the North Warwickshire Line avoided closure

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    Fifty years ago this month, the Court of Appeal imposed an injunction on the British Railways Board which prevented them from withdrawing passenger services between Tyseley and Stratford-upon-Avon. Fraser Pithie tells the fascinating tale of how the actions of several campaigners thwarted BR’s closure ‘by stealth’ bid in 1969.  THREE years after the publication of…

  • Helston gets historic St Austell GWR footbridge

    Helston gets historic St Austell GWR footbridge

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    ST AUSTELL station’s landmark GWR footbridge is to stay in Cornwall after all – having been moved to the award-winning Helston Railway. There had been calls for the 1882 riveted iron lattice footbridge to remain in the duchy as part of its heritage, despite it being superseded by a new £500,000 fully-accessible footbridge five years…

  • Caley Blue 419 adds Broadway to English tour

    Caley Blue 419 adds Broadway to English tour

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    Caledonian Railway 0-4-4T No. 419 has added the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway’s Cotswold Festival of Steam to its biggest-ever tour of England. No. 419 will star in the May 25-27 festival alongside another blue guest, GWR 4-6-0 No. 6023 Edward II from Didcot Railway Centre. A third guest will be B1 4-6-0 No. 1260 from the…


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