Western Enterprise

For the second afternoon meeting of the season our speaker was Colin Brading who had previously given us a number of presentations. On this occasion he used the names of Western Class Diesel Hydraulics as headings to cover different aspects of the talk. It is difficult to detail all of the names used so some examples are included in this summary.

The emphasis was very much on things which made the GWR different from other Railway companies. The opening section was titled Western Hero and looked at the work of Brunel with his approach of detailed design of stations from small to large. His novel approach was seen in the original design of Bristol Meads Station which combined the engine shed and platforms into one building and separated arrivals and departure platforms with separate access for horse drawn carriages.

Under the heading of Western Patriarch we looked at the work of Daniel Gooch who became the Locomotive Superintendent of the GWR with previous experience working for Robert Stephenson and Company. He had job of sorting out the early unsuccessful locomotive designs with GWR Star Class locos and then the Firefly class of 2-2-2  locomotives. In later years he became Chairman of the Great Western Railway.

The establishment of Swindon was covered under the title of Western Renown which was the highest point of the line and also initially the location for Locomotive Changes. The Swindon Works became the manufacturing facility which in addition to Locomotives and Coaches produced such items as gates, posts and station supports. The works also produced the prototype Mark 2 coaches with B4 Bogies. The  The railway also built a complete village for its workers incorporating medical facilities and a Railway Institute.

The presentation was interesting in not only using the names of Western Locomotives but also details of lesser know facts about the GWR and what made it different from other Railway Companies.