124-591: The Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway was an English railway line promoted by the Great Western Railway to gain a route from its southern base towards the industrial centres of the West Midlands , and in due course the north-west. It overtook another GWR subsidiary, the unbuilt Oxford and Rugby Railway , and the Birmingham Extension Railway which was to build a new independent station in
248-468: A guard 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 the Flying Dutchman at Bridgwater in 1869. The company's first sleeping cars were operated between Paddington and Plymouth in 1877. Then on 1 October 1892 its first corridor train ran from Paddington to Birkenhead, and the following year saw
372-546: 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 the North West of England . The company was founded at a meeting in Bristol on 21 January 1833. Isambard Kingdom Brunel , then aged 27,
496-399: A demand for passenger train calls on cross country routes. The line between Coventry and Leamington Spa was reopened to passenger trains in 1977, and carries trains from Manchester to the south of England, which use the route Birmingham International – Coventry – Leamington Spa – Oxford. Certain freightliner trains to and from Southampton follow the same routing. The entire line was built by
620-515: A half share in the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway . This considerable expansion of business in narrow gauge territory made the broad gauge gradually untenable, and after considerable reflection the GWR abolished it north of Oxford on 1 April 1869. The Birmingham to Oxford line was an important trunk route running through prosperous farming and manufacturing areas, and naturally there were
744-529: A junction with the Oxford Railway line south of Oxford, with a new through Oxford station nearer to the centre of the city, through Banbury and Fenny Compton to a junction at Rugby. The Oxford and Rugby Railway Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. clxxxviii) was given royal assent on 4 August 1845. Broad gauge was authorised, but mixed gauge would have to be provided if required by the Board of Trade . Early in 1845
868-407: A legal entity for nearly two more years, being formally wound up on 23 December 1949. 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. About 40 years after nationalisation British Rail was privatised and the old name
992-653: 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 a fare of not more than one penny 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 fastest expresses . Another parliamentary order meant that trains began to include smoking carriages from 1868. Special " excursion " cheap-day tickets were first issued in May 1849 and season tickets in 1851. Until 1869 most revenue came from second-class passengers but
1116-465: A number of connecting lines and branches, shown here in geographical order north to south: At Tyseley, the North Warwickshire line diverged, heading to Stratford-upon-Avon , joining the existing Stratford branch at Bearley Junction. The line opened in 1907 to goods and to passengers the following year. It had been promoted by a local company, but taken over by the GWR. In the past it has served as
1240-480: A secondary main line route, but since about 1970 it has become chiefly a residential passenger branch line, and is still (2019) in use. At Rowington Junction near Lapworth , the branch diverged to Henley-in-Arden , opening in 1894. The need for the branch ceased when the North Warwickshire Line was opened, serving Henley-in-Arden intermediately. The branch closed in 1915 when track materials were taken for
1364-524: A series of spoiling tactics intended to undermine the case for the line, but after a struggle, royal assent was given to the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxxxvii), and to the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway (Birmingham Extension Railway) Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxxxviii), on 3 August 1846. Capital was to be £1 million for the two railways combined;
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#17328517257721488-627: A task completed through to Exeter on 1 March 1876 by the GWR. 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 the South Devon Railway to also amalgamate with the Great Western. The Cornwall Railway remained a nominally independent line until 1889, although
1612-544: Is Box Tunnel , the longest railway tunnel driven by that time. Several years later, the railway opened the even longer Severn Tunnel to carry a new line between England and Wales beneath the River Severn . Some other notable structures were added when smaller companies were amalgamated into the GWR. These include the South Devon Railway sea wall , the Cornwall Railway 's Royal Albert Bridge , and Barmouth Bridge on
1736-635: Is known as the West Coast Main Line . The LNWR's network also extended into Wales and Yorkshire . In 1923, it became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway, and, in 1948, the London Midland Region of British Railways . The company was formed on 16 July 1846 by the London and North Western Railway Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. cciv), which authorised the amalgamation of
1860-509: The 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (5.6 km) Clevedon branch line ; others were much longer such as the 23-mile (37 km) Minehead Branch . A few were promoted and built by the GWR to counter competition from other companies, such as the Reading to Basingstoke Line to keep the London and South Western Railway away from Newbury . However, many were built by local companies that then sold their railway to their larger neighbour; examples include
1984-603: The Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway , later to be a GWR offshoot. In addition there was a Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway , which was in fact to construct no further south than Wolverhampton. It was evident that amalgamation with the GWR by the B&;OJR as well as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway was advantageous. Some shareholders of the B&OJR objected on the grounds that better terms might be secured from
2108-552: The Cambrian Railways . 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. The board was led by a chairman and supported by a secretary and other "officers". The first Locomotive Superintendent was Daniel Gooch , although from 1915 the title was changed to Chief Mechanical Engineer. The first Goods Manager
2232-577: The Channel Islands and France. The railway's headquarters were established at Paddington station. Its locomotives and rolling stock were built and maintained at Swindon Works but other workshops were acquired as it amalgamated with other railways, including the Shrewsbury companies' Stafford Road works at Wolverhampton, and the South Devon's workshops at Newton Abbot . Worcester Carriage Works
2356-587: The Channel Islands , operated a network of road motor (bus) routes , was a part of the Railway Air Services , and owned ships , canals, docks and hotels. The Great Western Railway originated from the desire of Bristol merchants to maintain their city as the second port of the country and the chief one for American trade. The increase in the size of ships and the gradual silting of the River Avon had made Liverpool an increasingly attractive port, and with
2480-572: The Chester and Holyhead Railway and became responsible for the lucrative Irish Mail trains via the North Wales Main Line to Holyhead . On 1 February 1859, the company launched the limited mail service, which was only allowed to take three passenger coaches, one each for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth. The Postmaster General was always willing to allow a fourth coach, provided the increased weight did not cause time to be lost in running. The train
2604-671: The Dearne Valley Railway ) and at the same time absorbed the North London Railway and the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company , both of which were previously controlled by the LNWR. With this, the LNWR achieved a route mileage (including joint lines, and lines leased or worked) of 2,707.88 miles (4,357.91 km). The company built a war memorial in the form of an obelisk outside Euston station to commemorate
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#17328517257722728-631: The District Railway at Earl's Court and over the route to Richmond. With the Bakerloo Tube Line being extended over the Watford DC lines , the railway was electrified at 630 V DC fourth rail . The electricity was generated at the LNWR's power station in Stonebridge Park and a depot built at Croxley Green. The LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway when
2852-594: The Grand Junction Railway acquisition of the North Union Railway in 1846, the London and North Western Railway operated as far north as Preston. In 1859, the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway amalgamated with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and this combined enterprise was leased to the London and North Western Railway, giving it a direct route from London to Carlisle. In 1858, they merged with
2976-479: The Grand Junction Railway projected a line from their Birmingham terminus to join the Oxford Railway at Oxford. The Grand Junction Railway was dependent on the London and Birmingham Railway for access to London, and there was considerable friction between the two companies; an Oxford line would get to London without involving the L&;BR. The Great Western Railway too found the L&BR a difficult trading partner, and gave
3100-514: The Grand Junction Railway , London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway . This move was prompted, in part, by the Great Western Railway 's plans for a railway north from Oxford to Birmingham. The company initially had a network of approximately 350 miles (560 km), connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. The headquarters were at Euston railway station . As traffic increased, it
3224-490: The Inter City network , such as the main lines from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Carlisle, collectively known in the modern era as the West Coast Main Line . These were electrified in the 1960s and 1970s, and further upgraded in the 1990s and 2000s, with trains now running at up to 125 mph. Other LNWR lines survive as part of commuter networks around major cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. In 2017 it
3348-774: The Launceston and Brixham branches. Further variety came from the traffic carried: holidaymakers ( St Ives );. royalty ( Windsor ); or just goods traffic ( Carbis Wharf ). Brunel envisaged the GWR continuing across the Atlantic Ocean and built the SS ; Great Western to carry the railway's passengers from Bristol to New York . Most traffic for North America soon switched to the larger port of Liverpool (in other railways' territories) but some transatlantic passengers were landed at Plymouth and conveyed to London by special train. Great Western ships linked Great Britain with Ireland,
3472-528: The Midland Railway and it was converted to standard gauge in 1854, which brought mixed-gauge track to Temple Meads station – this had three rails to allow trains to run on either broad or standard gauge. The GWR extended into the West Midlands in competition with the Midland and the London and North Western Railway . Birmingham was reached through Oxford in 1852 and Wolverhampton in 1854. This
3596-599: The Midland and South Western Junction Railway , a line previously working closely with the Midland Railway but which now gave the GWR a second station at Swindon, along with a line that carried through-traffic from the North via Cheltenham and Andover to Southampton . The 1930s brought hard times but the company remained in fair financial health despite the Depression . The Development (Loans, Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929 allowed
3720-507: The River 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. Swindon was also the junction for a line that ran north-westwards to Gloucester then south-westwards on the far side of the River Severn to reach Cardiff , Swansea and west Wales. This route was later shortened by
3844-644: The West Country as well as the far southwest of England such as Torquay in Devon, Minehead in Somerset , and Newquay and St Ives in Cornwall . The company's locomotives, many of which were built in the 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
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3968-611: The " grouping ", under which smaller companies were amalgamated into four main companies in 1922 and 1923. The GWR built a war memorial at Paddington station, unveiled in 1922, in memory of its employees who were killed in the war. The new Great Western Railway had more routes in Wales, including 295 miles (475 km) of former Cambrian Railways lines and 124 miles (200 km) from the Taff Vale Railway . A few independent lines in its English area of operations were also added, notably
4092-454: The "gauge war" and led to the appointment by Parliament of a Gauge 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. Other railways in Britain were to use standard gauge. In 1846, the Bristol and Gloucester was bought by
4216-549: 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. In 1851, the GWR purchased the Kennet and Avon Canal , which was a competing carrier between London, Reading, Bath and Bristol. The GWR was closely involved with the C&;GWUR and the B&ER and with several other broad-gauge railways. The South Devon Railway
4340-577: The 1890s, bringing the total to 15. The LNWR described itself as the Premier Line. This was justified, as it included the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway of 1830 and the original LNWR main line linking London, Birmingham and Lancashire had been the first big railway in Britain, opened throughout in 1838. As the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom, it collected a greater revenue than any other railway company of its era. With
4464-611: The 1960 connection. The Great Central Railway built its London Extension and it opened a connection from Woodford Halse in 1900. There was considerable co-operation between the GWR and the GCR over through passenger services, some of which used this connection. Aynho Junction was the divergence of the Bicester cut-off, below. A branch line was built to serve the Duke of Marlborough’s seat; it opened in 1890 and closed in 1954. The OW&WR main line
4588-622: The 3,719 of its employees who died in the First World War. After the Second World War, the names of the LMS's casualties were added to the LNWR's memorial. The LNWR were also involved in the mass manufacture of replacement legs in the mid 19th century and the early 20th century. This is due-to the routine demand for prostheses for disabled staff. Serious injuries that resulted in the loss of limbs were common at this time with over 4,963 casualties in
4712-563: The Birmingham Extension Railway, and the laying of mixed gauge track on it. The entire route from Millstream Junction, south of Oxford, to the future Snow Hill station in Birmingham, as well as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway, were now in GWR hands. Work had started on the Oxford and Rugby line in 1845, but there was a delay in getting possession of the necessary land; then the contractor proved unsatisfactory, and work
4836-418: The Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway (Birmingham Extension Railway) Act 1846 authorised the station scheme, and directed that the extension should immediately be amalgamated with the B&OJR. In fact sixteen railway bills were passed that day; two of them for railways between Birmingham and Wolverhampton: the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway , which was soon to fall into LNWR hands, and
4960-471: The Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway. Through the agency of the Oxford Railway, it had opened a line from Didcot , on the Great Western Railway main line, to Oxford, opening on 12 June 1844. The Oxford terminus was immediately south of the river, near Folly Bridge , in what is now Marlborough Road. The capital was put up by directors of the GWR, with no independent shareholders, and the company
5084-547: The GJR scheme its support. The GWR and the Oxford Railway were broad gauge, and the new line would be broad too; indeed the GJR prepared estimates for converting its own network to the broad gauge. The GJR observed that the Oxford and Rugby Railway scheme was successful in Parliament, and they altered their own proposal to join the O&;RR line at Knightcote, north of Fenny Compton, shortening
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5208-505: The GWR by Brunel's Chepstow Bridge in 1852. It was completed to Neyland in 1856, where a transatlantic port was established. There was initially no direct line from London to Wales as the tidal River 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 the Severn Tunnel had begun in 1873, but unexpected underwater springs delayed
5332-454: The GWR held a large number of shares in the company. One final new broad-gauge route was opened on 1 June 1877, the St Ives branch in west Cornwall , although there was also a small extension at Sutton Harbour in Plymouth in 1879. Part of a mixed gauge point remains at Sutton Harbour, one of the few examples of broad gauge trackwork remaining in situ anywhere. Once the GWR was in control of
5456-463: The GWR main line obliquely at Fenny Compton, running alongside it for some distance, but there was no connection. However in 1960 a junction was installed providing a shorter route for iron ore trains from Banbury to South Wales than the former route by way of Leamington. Although almost all of the SoA&;MJR has closed, a short stub has been retained to serve MoD Kineton , a Defence Munitions base, using
5580-447: The GWR route being via Chippenham and a route initially started by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway . Further west, the LSWR took over the broad-gauge Exeter and Crediton Railway and North Devon Railway , also the standard-gauge Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway . It was several years before these remote lines were connected with the parent LSWR system and any through traffic to them
5704-417: The GWR to obtain money in return for stimulating employment and this was used to improve stations including London Paddington , Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff General ; to improve facilities at depots 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 in air services . A legacy of
5828-401: The GWR to reach Crewe . Operating agreements with other companies also allowed GWR trains to run to Manchester . South of the London to Bristol main line were routes from Didcot to Southampton via Newbury , and from Chippenham to Weymouth via Westbury . A network of cross-country routes linked these main lines, and there were also many and varied branch lines . Some were short, such as
5952-458: The Great Western Railway, but it was authorised in three sections: Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway ( GWR ) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales . It was founded in 1833, received its enabling act 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
6076-527: The L&BR amalgamated with others) made a branch from Rugby , running to the L&BR station. There was a connection between the routes made in 1864 allowing through running from the GWR station towards Coventry, and this was modified in 1966. The connection and the line to Coventry are in use at the present day. There was also a connection from the GWR station towards Rugby, opened in 1908, and closed in 1961. The former LNWR Rugby line closed in 1966. The Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway crossed
6200-414: The LNWR demanding that the useless third rail should be provided, but the GWR held out. The line between Oxford and Banbury was opened as a broad gauge single line on 2 September 1850; the formation was made for double track. As yet there was no station at Oxford on the line, and trains reversed at Millstream Junction and used the Oxford Railway terminus. Work started on construction of the B&OJR part of
6324-599: The LNWR owned the 26-mile (42 km) Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway , which connected to other lines of the Irish mainline network at Dundalk and Newry. The LNWR also had the Huddersfield Line connecting Liverpool and Manchester with Leeds , and secondary routes extending to Nottingham , Derby , Peterborough and South Wales . At its peak just before World War I , it ran a route mileage of more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km), and employed 111,000 people. In 1913,
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#17328517257726448-483: The LNWR realised this must involve a flat crossing of their Birmingham (New Street) extension line, and they objected to the GWR connection entering their property, although they had demanded it. The GWR meanwhile constructed the necessary viaduct up to the property boundary; in fact work on it was still progressing when the line into Snow Hill opened. The connection on the viaduct was not wanted by either company and never carried track or trains. MacDermot commented: And so
6572-515: The LNWR. However after considerable procedural difficulties, the amalgamation was approved. It was formalised on 2 January 1847. At this the LNWR faction attempted to subvert the whole affair, at first by acquiring large numbers of B&OJR shares, buying them at a premium. They were thereby able to win votes at shareholders' meetings. A forged common seal of the company was procured, and numerous procedural devices were attempted. At length in January 1848
6696-525: The Lancashire industrial areas. However the broad gauge was not permitted to be extended north of Wolverhampton , and this proved to be the seed of the end of the broad gauge. The route became an important corridor for express passenger trains and heavy freight flows. In 1910 the Bicester cut-off was opened, shortening the journey to the north by avoiding the route by way of Oxford. When the West Coast Main Line
6820-488: The Midlands but which had been built as standard gauge after several battles, both political and physical. 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 from Grange Court to Hereford 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,
6944-618: The North Main Line continued in the twentieth century. There were heavy freight flows, and the line was an important trunk passenger route. Semmens shows eleven daily express services between Paddington and Wolverhampton in 1922, including three by the "old route" via Oxford. Some of the down trains slipped coaches at Oxford or Banbury. One train ran via Ealing Broadway , making a call there, and then ran non-stop to Birmingham. There were also long-distance trains from Portsmouth , Bournemouth and Dover , all travelling via Oxford. By 1939 there
7068-578: The Thames twice and opened for traffic on 1 June 1840. A 7 + 1 ⁄ 4 -mile (12 km) extension took the line to Faringdon Road on 20 July 1840. Meanwhile, work had started at the Bristol end of the line, where the 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (19 km) section to Bath opened on 31 August 1840. On 17 December 1840, the line from London reached a temporary terminus at Wootton Bassett Road west of Swindon and 80.25 miles (129 km) from Paddington. The section from Wootton Bassett Road to Chippenham
7192-471: 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 the boat train services that conveyed transatlantic passengers to London in luxury. When the company celebrated its centenary during 1935, new "Centenary" carriages were built for the Cornish Riviera Express, which again made full use of
7316-403: The broad-gauge Bristol and Gloucester Railway had opened, but Gloucester was already served by the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge lines of the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway . This resulted in a break-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
7440-478: The city. It was authorised in 1846 and formed a single project to connect Birmingham and Oxford . The Great Western Railway used the broad gauge at the time; the rival narrow (standard) gauge London and North Western Railway used dubious tactics to retain the West Midlands in its own monopoly. Nevertheless the line was opened throughout in 1852. It quickly became the springboard for the anticipated expansion to
7564-453: The company achieved a total revenue of £17,219,060 (equivalent to £2,140,160,000 in 2023) with working expenses of £11,322,164 (equivalent to £1,407,230,000 in 2023). On 1 January 1922, one year before it amalgamated with other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the LNWR amalgamated with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (including its subsidiary
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#17328517257727688-436: The company's previously circuitous routes. The principal new lines opened were: The generally conservative GWR made other improvements in the years before World 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
7812-408: The derelict Duddeston Viaduct or most of it still stands, a melancholy monument to the ill-conditioned spite of a great Railway Company against a victorious rival in the old fighting days. The viaduct still stands at the present day (2019). In 1846 the Oxford and Rugby Railway was absorbed into the GWR. On 31 August 1848 an act of Parliament was passed authorising the absorption of the B&OJR and
7936-407: 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 firm Osborne Clarke , who on one occasion rowed Brunel down the River Avon to survey the bank of the river for the route. George Thomas Clark played an important role as an engineer on the project, reputedly taking the management of two divisions of
8060-444: 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-class restaurant cars and the service was extended to all classes in 1903. Sleeping cars for third-class passengers were available from 1928. London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway ( LNWR , L&NWR ) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In
8184-499: The former GWR lines in particular. In the first half of the 1960s main line electrification work on the West Coast Main Line was in progress, and for a while this involved enhanced express trains on the Paddington to Birmingham line (to reduce traffic on the lines under development). However in 1966 the work was substantially completed between London and Birmingham, and main line express trains were transferred to that line. These two factors almost wiped out Snow Hill station and in 1968 it
8308-408: The late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connected four of the largest cities in England; London , Birmingham , Manchester and Liverpool , and, through cooperation with their Scottish partners, the Caledonian Railway also connected Scotland's largest cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh . Today this route
8432-411: The line approaching it into the centre of Birmingham, in order to reach the station that was later named New Street. The LNWR would not allow the GWR to make the mandatory connection into that line, fearing that the GWR would make advantageous use of the Stour Valley Line, and insisted on completion of the original connection to Curzon Street, although that was now useless. Nevertheless as matters proceeded
8556-436: The line decided to proceed anyway, and the scheme became known as the Birmingham and Oxford Junction Railway. As the earlier scheme had presumed the use of the Grand Junction's Curzon Street station in Birmingham, an additional bill was prepared, for the Birmingham Extension Railway, a short line from Bordesley to the central station that later became known as Snow Hill station. The London and Birmingham Railway had resorted to
8680-416: The line in 1847, the contractors Peto and Betts being employed. Money was very short and the work was delayed on that account. The portion of the Oxford and Rugby Railway as far as Fenny Compton was being proceeded with. There was to be a new station at Oxford. Captain Douglas Galton of the Board of Trade visited the line for the statutory inspection of the line for passenger operation on 14 September 1852. He
8804-482: The masterpieces of railway design". Working westwards from Paddington, the line crosses the valley of the River Brent on Wharncliffe Viaduct and the River Thames on Maidenhead Railway Bridge , which at the time of construction was the largest span achieved by a brick arch bridge. The line then continues through Sonning Cutting before reaching Reading after which it crosses the Thames twice more, on Gatehampton and Moulsford bridges. Between Chippenham and Bath
8928-616: The matter was found in the GWR's favour in the Court of Chancery, and the LNWR finally acquiesced. The amalgamation was settled, and the line from Fenny Compton to Wolverhampton was to be built by the GWR. The furore was well publicised, and it moved the House of Lords to order the Railway Commissioners to consider the gauge question. It was obvious that a through railway from London to Birmingham ought not to have an avoidable break of gauge , but
9052-419: 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. The Bristol and Exeter Railway amalgamated with the GWR on 1 January 1876. It had already made a start on mixing the gauge on its line,
9176-412: The necessary construction. However, soon afterwards, the hostility between GJR and the L&BR suddenly abated, and they became allies; the GJR summarily resiled from the agreements it had made with the GWR. The GJR and the L&BR, together with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway , amalgamated to form the London and North Western Railway on 16 July 1846. The GWR and the other parties interested in
9300-508: The network. The original Great Western Main Line linked London Paddington station with Temple Meads station in Bristol by way of Reading , Didcot , Swindon , Chippenham and Bath . This line was extended westwards through Exeter and Plymouth to reach Truro and Penzance , the most westerly railway station in England. Brunel and Gooch placed the GWR's main locomotive workshops close to
9424-447: The north of England to the south coast (via the London and South Western Railway – LSWR) without transshipment . The line to Basingstoke had originally been built by the Berks 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 to Weymouth on the south coast,
9548-488: The opening of a more direct east–west route through the Severn Tunnel . Another route ran northwards from Didcot to Oxford from where two different routes continued to Wolverhampton , one through Birmingham and the other through Worcester . Beyond Wolverhampton the line continued via Shrewsbury to Chester and (via a joint line with the LNWR ) onwards to Birkenhead and Warrington ; another route via Market Drayton enabled
9672-439: 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 permanent nationalisation but decided instead on a compulsory amalgamation of the railways into four large groups. The GWR alone preserved its name through
9796-506: 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 the Marlborough Downs , which had no significant towns but which offered potential connections to Oxford and Gloucester . 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. Brunel surveyed
9920-624: The railway into the Edwardian 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; and George Jackson Churchward (the Chief Mechanical Engineer ). It was during this period that the GWR introduced road motor services as an alternative to building new lines in rural areas, and started using steam rail motors to bring cheaper operation to existing branch lines. At
10044-536: The railways of Great Britain were merged in the grouping of 1923. Ex-LNWR lines formed the core of the LMS's Western Division. Nationalisation followed in 1948, with the English and Welsh lines of the LMS becoming the London Midland Region of British Railways . Some former LNWR routes were subsequently closed, including the lines running east to west across the Midlands (e.g. Peterborough to Northampton and Cambridge to Oxford ), but others were developed as part of
10168-644: The route including bridges over the River Thames at Lower Basildon and Moulsford and of Paddington Station . Involvement in major earth-moving works seems to have fed Clark's interest in geology and archaeology and he, anonymously, authored two guidebooks on the railway: one illustrated with lithographs by John Cooke Bourne ; the other, a critique of Brunel's methods and the broad gauge. The first 22 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (36 km) of line, from Paddington station in London to Maidenhead Bridge station , opened on 4 June 1838. When Maidenhead Railway Bridge
10292-558: The same route in June 1879 and became known as The Zulu . A third West Country express was introduced in 1890, running to and from Penzance as The Cornishman . A new service, the Cornish 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. The Cheltenham Spa Express
10416-478: The short Wolverhampton Railway with the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway. As it moved north, the GWR acquired narrow (standard) gauge lines, the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway . It considered running broad gauge trains throughout to Birkenhead, but the idea was frustrated early on. The GWR obtained running powers to Birkenhead, Liverpool and Birmingham, and shortly afterwards
10540-493: The spirit of the times, these were marketed as a cheaper and lower quality alternative to the Euston main line trains, branded The Chiltern Line. The service proved commercially attractive, and led to successful privatisation in 1996. Infrastructure improvements enabled enhanced journey times and frequencies, and the line became an equal competitor with the Euston services. The opening of Birmingham International station in 1976 led to
10664-508: The standard livery. This finish has been described as "blackberry black". Major accidents on the LNWR include: Minor incidents include: The LNWR operated ships on Irish Sea crossings between Holyhead and Dublin , Howth , Kingstown or Greenore . At Greenore, the LNWR built and operated the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway to link the port with the Belfast–Dublin line operated by
10788-465: The use of the water trough designed by John Ramsbottom . It was introduced on a section of level track at Mochdre, between Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay. The company inherited several manufacturing facilities from the companies with which it merged, but these were consolidated and in 1862, locomotive construction and maintenance was done at the Crewe Locomotive Works , carriage building
10912-472: 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 through Wootton Bassett Junction to cross
11036-429: The volume of third-class passengers grew to the extent that second-class facilities were withdrawn in 1912. The Cheap Trains Act 1883 resulted in the provision of workmen's trains at special low fares at certain times of the day. 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
11160-534: The war effort in France. At Hatton, there is a triangular junction serving the Stratford-on-Avon branch. It opened in 1860 from the south, using Leamington as the railhead for the branch. The north curve was opened in 1897. At Leamington, the London and Birmingham Railway already had a terminus of a branch line from Coventry , opened in 1844. The stations were separate. In 1851 the LNWR (which had been formed when
11284-429: 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. 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
11408-418: The whole question was reopened. This issue was now debated inconclusively, but on 31 August 1848 the amalgamation bill was passed and mixed gauge was authorised. The GWR line was required to make a narrow (standard) gauge connection with the LNWR on the south side of Birmingham. The original authorisation of the B&OJR was to terminate at Curzon Street, but the LNWR was now vacating that station and extending
11532-496: The wider loading gauge on that route. With the outbreak of World 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 the Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948. The Great Western Railway Company continued to exist as
11656-509: The windows of the carriages. For instance, the late-morning Flying Dutchman express between London and Exeter was named after the winning horse of the Derby and St Leger races in 1849. Although withdrawn at the end of 1867, the name was revived in 1869 – following a request from the Bristol and Exeter Railway – and the train ran through to Plymouth. An afternoon express was instigated on
11780-401: The work and prevented its opening until 1886. Brunel had devised a 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) track gauge for his railways in 1835. He later added 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.4 mm), probably to reduce friction of the wheel sets in curves. This became the 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge. Either gauge may be referred to as "Brunel's" gauge. In 1844,
11904-523: The work. The original 1854 Leamington Spa station was cramped and unsatisfactory, and in 1938 it was reconstructed in Art Deco style. Christiansen recorded in 1981 that Those who knew the striking, white Leamington Spa station at the time of its creation in 1938, with its walnut veneered waiting rooms, windows edged with stainless steel, and the long wide and widely separated up and down platforms outside, will find it virtually untouched today. Banbury station
12028-522: The year of 1910 on the LNWR alone, and over 25,000 injuries across the whole industry, manufacturing prostheses resulted in self-sufficiency for the company. From 1909 to 1922, the LNWR undertook a large-scale project to electrify the whole of its London inner-suburban network. The London and North Western Railway London inner-suburban network, encompassed the lines from London Broad Street to Richmond, London Euston to Watford, with branch lines such as Watford to Croxley Green . There were also links to
12152-439: Was all but closed, and on 4 March the southern approach to Snow Hill was actually closed. Moor Street station became the northern terminus of the residual GWR services from the south. In 1987 Snow Hill station and the connection to Moor Street was reopened, and Leamington and Stratford-upon-Avon services were diverted back to the route. In 1993 through trains from London Marylebone via Bicester and Leamington Spa were introduced. In
12276-411: Was announced that the new franchisee for the West Midlands and semi-fast West Coast services between London and North West England would utilise the brand London Northwestern Railway as an homage to the LNWR. The LNWR's main engineering works were at Crewe (locomotives), Wolverton (carriages) and Earlestown (wagons). Locomotives were usually painted green at first, but in 1873 black was adopted as
12400-470: Was appointed engineer on 7 March 1833. The name Great Western Railway was adopted on 19 August 1833, and the company and was incorporated by the Great Western Railway Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4 . c. cvii) on 31 August 1835. This was by far Brunel's largest contract to date. He made two controversial decisions. Firstly, he chose to use a broad gauge of 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ) to allow for
12524-475: Was appointed in 1850 and from 1857 this position was filled by James 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. Early trains offered passengers a choice of first- or second-class carriages . In 1840 this choice was extended: passengers could be conveyed by the slow goods trains in what became third-class. The Railway Regulation Act 1844 made it
12648-455: Was authorised at the same time as the B&OJR and opened in 1853. It remains open at the present day (2019). The Buckinghamshire Railway , controlled by the LNWR, opened a line to its own Oxford station in 1851. The line was extended eastwards, becoming the Oxford to Cambridge Line . During World War II this was planned to be part of a freight diversionary route avoiding London, and a connection
12772-635: Was completed in 1849, extending the broad gauge to Plymouth , whence the Cornwall Railway took it over the Royal Albert Bridge and into Cornwall in 1859 and, in 1867, it reached Penzance over the West Cornwall Railway which originally had been laid in 1852 with the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge or "narrow gauge" as it was known at the time. The South Wales Railway had opened between Chepstow and Swansea in 1850 and became connected to
12896-435: Was created by flattening land north of Worcester Shrub Hill Station , Reading Signal Works was established in buildings to the north of Reading railway station , and in later years a concrete manufacturing depot was established at Taunton where items ranging from track components to bridges were cast. More than 150 years after its creation, the original main line has been described by historian Steven Brindle as "one of
13020-559: Was done at Wolverton and wagon building was concentrated at Earlestown . At the core of the LNWR system was the main line network connecting London Euston with the major cities of Birmingham , Liverpool and Manchester , and (through co-operation with the Caledonian Railway ) Edinburgh and Glasgow . This route is today known as the West Coast Main Line . A ferry service also linked Holyhead to Greenore in County Louth, where
13144-469: Was electrified in the 1960s, the former GWR route declined substantially, renamed as the Chiltern Main Line , it revived in the 1980s and now carries an excellent train service to rival the West Coast Main Line . In the mid-1840s the Great Western Railway wanted to build a railway line from Oxford northwards. It did so by promoting subsidiary companies; in particular the Oxford and Rugby Railway, and
13268-406: Was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft ( 2,134 mm )—later slightly widened to 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm )—but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR
13392-460: Was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall, designed by Philip Charles Hardwick in classical style. It was 126 ft (38 m) long, 61 ft (19 m) wide and 64 ft (20 m) high and cost £150,000 (equivalent to £19,650,000 in 2023). The station stood on Drummond Street. Further expansion resulted in two additional platforms in the 1870s with four more in
13516-499: Was handled by the GWR and its associated companies. By now the gauge war was lost and mixed gauge was brought to Paddington in 1861, allowing through passenger trains from London to Chester. The broad-gauge South Wales Railway amalgamated with the GWR in 1862, as did the West Midland Railway , which brought with it the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway , a line that had been conceived as another broad-gauge route to
13640-477: Was in abeyance for some time. By August 1849 it had been decided that the Oxford and Rugby powers would only be used as far as Fenny Compton , and that the Rugby part of the powers would be abandoned. The company obtained Board of Trade permission to open a single line to Banbury on the broad gauge only, as for the time being no narrow gauge line connected with it. The Board of Trade were cowed by an angry response from
13764-486: Was laid in from the Bicester direction into the GWR Oxford line. In 1910 the GWR opened a cut-off line, that ran directly from London to Banbury and cut nearly 19 miles from the distance to Banbury. The Oxford to Banbury section naturally continued in use, but the new line took the majority of the through trains. A grade-separated junction was provided at Aynho , where the two northward routes converge. The line's status as
13888-553: Was later changed to mid-grey. Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman , the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express . It also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam rail motors or autotrains . The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain. It ran ferry services to Ireland and
14012-483: Was on the up side of the line between Banbury Junction (where the GCR Woodford Halse line joined) and Banbury station. The hump yard had 19 sidings and was capable of holding 1,400 wagons. In the first years of the twentieth century the GWR had quadrupled the line between Birmingham Moor Street and Olton. In 1933 the quadruple track was extended to Lapworth; 33 bridges and five stations were reconstructed as part of
14136-524: Was one additional train between London and Birmingham. The Birkenhead trains were shown as making connections for the Isle of Man , or Belfast overnight. Four trains covered the London to Birmingham journey in two hours. In 1931 a large hump marshalling yard was built at Banbury; it was with government financial assistance under the Development (Loan Guarantees and Grants) Act 1929 ( 20 & 21 Geo. 5 . c. 7). It
14260-457: Was opened on 31 May 1841, as was Swindon Junction station where the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWUR) to Cirencester connected. That was an independent line worked by the GWR, as was the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER), the first section of which from Bristol to Bridgwater was opened on 14 June 1841. The GWR main line remained incomplete during the construction of
14384-478: Was quickly absorbed by the GWR. At the time Rugby was an important hub for traffic to and from the northern districts of England; the Midland Counties Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway connected there, and formed the only route to the north. The Oxford and Rugby Railway was conceived to enable the GWR to connect the southern areas it served into the northwards network. It would run from
14508-576: Was ready the line was extended to Twyford on 1 July 1839 and then through the deep Sonning Cutting to Reading on 30 March 1840. The cutting was the scene of a railway disaster two years later when a goods train ran into a landslip ; ten passengers who were travelling in open trucks were killed. This accident prompted Parliament to pass the Railway Regulation Act 1844 , requiring railway companies to provide better carriages for passengers. The next section, from Reading to Steventon crossed
14632-449: Was reconstructed in the years following 1945; Christiansen did not find that so attractive. Oxford station was subject to "continuous station change" and the new station was opened in 1972. It has a "pre-fab" appearance. In the 1960s the general decline in railway passenger and goods traffic struck the line with some force. British Railways rationalised much of the duplication of lines in the greater Birmingham area, and this seemed to attack
14756-761: Was revived by Great Western Trains , the train 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 the FirstGroup , but in September 2015 changed its name to Great Western Railway in order to 'reinstate the ideals of our founder'. The operating infrastructure, however, was transferred to Railtrack and has since passed to Network Rail . These companies have continued to preserve appropriate parts of its stations and bridges so historic GWR structures can still be recognised around
14880-557: Was satisfied with the line in general, but the final short section into Snow Hill, and the Duddeston Viaduct, were not ready, and he declined to approve those last sections. The shortcoming was rectified and the line into Snow Hill was approved on 28 September 1852. The line was opened to the public throughout from Oxford to Birmingham on 1 October 1852, as a mixed gauge double track. The connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway opened on 14 November 1854, connecting through
15004-643: Was the fastest train in the world when it was scheduled to cover the 77.25 miles (124.3 km) between Swindon and London at an average of 71.3 miles per hour (114.7 km/h). The train was nicknamed the 'Cheltenham Flyer' and featured in one of the GWR's 'Books for boys of all ages'. Other named trains included The Bristolian , running between London and Bristol from 1935, and the Torbay Express , which ran between London and Kingswear . Many of these fast expresses included special coaches that could be detached as they passed through stations without stopping,
15128-427: Was the furthest north that the broad gauge reached. In the same year the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway both amalgamated with the GWR, but these lines were standard gauge, and the GWR's own line north of Oxford had been built with mixed gauge. This mixed gauge was extended southwards from Oxford to Basingstoke at the end of 1856 and so allowed through goods traffic from
15252-532: Was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways 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 was nationalised and became the Western 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 to English and Bristol Channel resorts in
15376-411: Was timed to leave Euston at 20.30 and operated until the institution of a dedicated post train, wholly of Post Office vehicles, in 1885. On 1 October 1873 the first sleeping carriage ran between Euston and Glasgow, attached to the limited mail . It ran three nights a week in each direction. On 1 February 1874 a second carriage was provided and the service ran every night. In 1860, the company pioneered
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