AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY

摘要

Britain had four major railway companies before the advent of Nationalisation in 1948. Three - the LNER, the LMS and the Southern - had been created in 1923 at the grouping of numerous smaller companies. But the fourth remained largely intact from its early Victorian inception right through to the advent of Nationalisation in 1948. Its name was the Great Western Railway. Even the most die-hard supporter of its three rivals would have to admit that, love it or hate it, there was something special about the Great Western. Whether it be the copper-capped chimneys of its locomotives, the romantic association it had with summer holidays in the West, or the fact that it retained its fierce independence for more than a century, there was an undeniable boldness of approach about it that saw it capture the hearts of many millions of travellers and enthusiasts - and which continues today in the form of numerous heritage centres devoted to 'God's Wonderful Railway'.