Virtual Railfan - England and Wales - Our Journey Starts
And now for something completely different. Paul and I will share some of the heritage treasures to be found in England and Wales.
We will start our journey at Paddington station, London which was the headquarters of the Great Western Railway (also known affectionately as God's Wonderful Railway). Above the entrance to the train shed is the GWR coat of arms being the coats of arms of London and Bristol the two cities that the GWR originally connected
Paddington brings back many trainspotter memories. On 8 June 1957 King class 6020 "King Henry IV" from Wolverhampton shed.
7029 Clun Castle on the last regularly scheduled steam hauled passenger train out of London, Paddington. It is working the 1615 Paddington to Banbury on 6/11/1965. I rode and fired this locomotive a few days before this.
But today we are riding out to Swindon. This is the cab of an HST. I rode in the cab on this route on 23 July 1984.
The line is easily graded and runs through Slough, Reading and Didcot to Swindon. It was conceived and engineered by Isambard Kingdon Brunel who built the line to the seven foot gauge. The major works of the GWR were located at Swindon. The GWR Museum is now located in a small part to the north of the main line and in the V with the Gloucester line
The museum has gone to great lengths to show more than just God's Wonderful locomotives. It portrays the myriad jobs that make up a factory town that produced everything a large railway would require. Here the work of the female labor during the war is set out
Carpentry
Stores
Lunch break.
But of course we have come to see the locomotives! Here is 4073, Caerphilly Castle carrying the record breaking Cheltenham Flyer headboard. Notice the locomotive is placed so that there is adequate space to stand back, admire and take pictures.
The brass safety valve cover had to be polished
The copper cap around the chimney/stack also had to be polished. One favorite trick was to wait until the cleaner was doing this then open the blower - he would be inundated with dirty water, steam and smoke - and would have to start all over.
We can even take a look at the underneath
What a treasure
6000, King George V. The bell was fitted when it toured the USA. I got to polish the bell one day while a cleaner at Reading. Click here for Close Encounter with a King
The footplate/cab of the King
City of Truro is reputed to have been the first locomotive to achieve 100 mph. 30 years later the first fully authenticated 100 mph was achieved by Flying Scotsman.
The smaller locomotives are covered. I never worked on one of these although I had several turns on the 57xx ones
This is a smaller Manor class 4-6-0. We had a couple at Reading because they were small enough for the Southern clearance envelope to Redhill. I had a bad trip on one - just once thank goodness.
There is a good block signalling exhibit
The broad gauge is covered
The museum also covers the travelling public
That includes the non-human travelling public.
GWR delivery vehicle
So we will end our visit to Swindon. The Scammel is not available so we will have to walk back to the station to continue our journey. The STEAM museum at Swindon is well worth a visit.
Click below to see the pictures I have taken in my visits to Swindon
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