Using archive photographs, artefacts and memorabilia and drawing on images of the Great Western Railway in preservation, the author paints a portrait of God's wonderful railway at the height of its prosperity and influence. The book looks at the period from 1895 to 1914.

Roden’s comprehensive new history of this remarkable railway company tells the story of nothing less than the opening-up of the isolated Southwest of England to the trade and tourism of the modern age. It has left us with soaring termini like Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads as well as glorious railway institutions like the Night Riviera overnight sleeper to Cornwall that endure to this day (not least thanks to the author’s own campaigning!). While the GWR’s green locomotives and chocolate and cream carriages may have given way to purple, anyone who wants to return to the golden age of the railways will find the company’s history an enthralling journey.

In August 1914 the GWR was plunged into war, the like of which this country had never experienced before. Over the years that followed life changed beyond measure, both for the men sent away to fight and the women who took on new roles at home. Not since 1922 has the history of the GWR in the First World War been recorded in a single volume. Using modern data-bases and enjoying greater access to archives, Sandra Gittins has been able to produce a complete history which traces the GWR from the early, optimistic days through the subsequent difficult years of the Great War, including Government demands for war manufacture, increased traffic and the tragic loss of staff. From GWR ships and ambulance trains to the employment of women, every part of the story is told, including the saddest of all, which is represented by a Roll of Honour.

This chronicle of one of England’s most popular railway museums tells the remarkable story of four friends who turned their boyhood dream into reality. Located in the Didcot Railway Centre in Oxfordshire, England, the Great Western Society is dedicated to preserving the steam locomotives and other artifacts of Great Western Railway. Starting in the 1830s and operating well into the 20h century, G.W.R. brough a sense of romance to train travel as it connected London to Western England and Wales. But while this British railway company is truly legendary, The Great Western Society has a fascinating history of its own. Formed in 1960, The Great Western Society was founded by a group of schoolboys who wanted to save a Great Western Tank locomotive and an auto trailer. A letter they sent to The Railway Magazine proposing their idea led to one of Britain’s most successful heritage railway projects. Today that original project has blossomed into the best collection of Great Western rolling stock and locomotives in the world.