Centenary of the great western railway

ABSTRACT ON August 31, 1835, after nn unduly protracted and very expensive Parliamentary struggle, the Royal Assent was given to the Bill authorising the constmction of the railway between

Bristol and London, to which two years earlier the name of the Great Western Railway had been given. Notable among British railways for many reasons, the Great Western Railway as it is

to-day has a fine record of achievement, and last week the centenary of the passing of the Bill which brought it into being was commemorated in various ways. On tho evening of August 30, the

B.B.C. included in its programme an account of the railway and its many activities, while on August 31, The, Times issued a Great Western Railway Centenary Number as a special supplement,

of 28 full-sized pages. Tho forty articles in this supplement include not only sketches of the history of the line, a biography of Brunei and a review of locomotives and rolling stock, but

also others dealing with co-operation in transport, speed, safety and comfort in travel and the organisation of a great railway. As is well known, whon planning the Great Western line,

Brunei adopted the 7 ft, or broad gauge, as compared with the 4 ft. 81 in. or narrow gauge, as used by the Stephensons and others, and it was this that gave rise to the famous “battle of the

gauges”. When that battle was at its height, a Royal Commission reported that the broad gauge was superior for speed and steady running, and for the greater capacity of the engines, but as

there were then ] 900 miles of narrow gauge line in existence as compared with only 274 miles of broad gauge, the verdict was given in favour of the former. This and other matters are all

dealt with in an interesting manner in The Times supplement, which will remain of permanent value to all students of transport. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a

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ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Centenary of the Great Western Railway. _Nature_ 136, 367 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136367a0 Download citation * Issue Date: 07 September 1935 * DOI:

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