Great Western Railway - Swindon Works: Books - History (1/2)

GWR - Portrait of an Industry

Incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835 and completed just six years later, the Great Western Railway became one of the great icons of the Age of Steam, and perhaps the world's most famous railway company.
Spanning Southern England from the Thames to the Bristol Channel, the history of Brunel's greatest achievement, and the surprising offshoots of the company as an industry, are represented here for the first time in full colour from the Amberley Archive.

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The GWR Exposed - Swindon in the Days of Collett and Hawksworth

At the Grouping of Britain's railways in 1923 the Great Western Railway had an advantage over the other Big Four Railway companies in that it essentially retained the same management structure that it had before the Grouping. Yet the next 25 years were arguably characterised by a series of mistakes in engine building policies as the advances made by the other companies were largely ignored.

This is an explosive account of the role of two leading locomotive engineers - Collectt and Hawksworth - who were responsible for GWR engine building policy following Churchward's legacy, revealing a series of mistakes and missed opportunities in the years leading up to nationalisation.
The claims made in this GWR history are substantiated by material that has never been published before and will be fascinating reading for all enthusiasts of the railway and for more general readers.

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Swindon Works Through Time

Two men started the transformation from sleepy hilltop community into a thriving town. Gooch and Brunel chose the area near Swindon to build a factory for the Great Western Railway and for more than 140 years The Works was renowned for high-quality heavy engineering.
Gooch, Armstrong, Dean, Churchward and Collett would be responsible for the design and building of some of the world's finest locomotives and stock. In 1948 the GWR became British Railways and later diesels replaced steam.

In the town of Swindon a job in The Works was known locally as working 'inside'. After the peak in the 1920s when nearly 14,000 were employed there, the workforce was gradually eroded.
Sadly, in March 1986, Swindon Works was officially closed. Much of the great factory was demolished but thankfully some of it remains as a retail outlet. It is now twenty-eight years since the final hooter blew but Swindon will long be remembered affectionately as a railway town.

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Swindon Works 1930-1960

Despite the disruption caused by economic depression, the Second World War, nationalisation and the transition from steam to diesel manufacture, the 1930s through to the 1950s was, in many ways, the greatest period in the GWR Works' long history.

This book puts the company's range of output into perspective and records the means by which it was achieved, particularly from the viewpoint of the workers but also from that of the company as a business.
As with most historical research, this account is made up of fragments from many varied sources, not least from first-hand recollections of those who worked 'inside'. This book, together with the companion In and Around Swindon Works, sets out, for the first time, a comprehensive account of this vast subject over a thirty year period.
The author also confronts many widely held views and dispels some of the myths, one being that 'everything that can be written about the GWR has already been written'.

A fully revised and enlarged edition of "Working at Swindon Works 1930-1960", first published in 2007. It describes various aspects of the famous railway works of the Great Western Railway, later British Railways Western Region.

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Swindon Works : The Legend

The age of steam is past, the heyday of Swindon Works is long gone - but the legend lives on. What made the Great Western Railway's Swindon Works iconic? Was it its worldwide reputation; perhaps its profound impact in shaping the new town of Swindon; or that it melded those who worked there into one big family?

In a new and exciting format, this book, by popular railway historian Rosa Matheson, helps explain why the never-ending love story endures. With big facts and fascinating stories, it is a must read not only for ex-Works employees and their families, nor just for GWR fans and railway enthusiasts, but also for any newcomer seeking to find a good way into railway history.

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Swindon Steam - A New Light on GWR Loco Development

In this book L. A. Summers investigates the facts behind the myths and mysteries using modern research and newly discovered information. What was life really like for railwaymen in the days of steam? Did the locomotive superintendents of some companies network their ideas, and further, was GWR influence to be seen in far-flung parts of the world like Egypt, Malaya and Australia?

The author reveals the facts about the mythical 'Hawksworth Pacific' and in the projects that were never progressed, the Stanier-Hawksworth 4-cylinder compound, the express passenger Pacific tank of the early 1930s, the wide firebox 2-8-0 based on the LMS 8F, the coal fuelled gas turbine, the Caprotti County and the one that was completed - Dean's express passenger 4-2-4T, only ever to run a few yards outside the works.
The author paints a broad canvas putting Swindon in its British, European and world wide context.

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