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Broad gauge bastion

Its Bath stonework freshly cleaned and sparkling in the evening sun, this is the one-time headquarters of the Bristol & Exeter Railway, situated close to the entrance to Bristol Temple Meads station, whose overall roof can be seen in the background. The architect of this Tudor-style masterpiece of 1854 was Samuel Fripp. Even more so than the Great Western Railway, the B&ER was wedded to Brunel's broad gauge of 7' 01/4". The B&ER was eventually amalgamated into the GWR in 1876 and its lines were among the last to be converted to standard gauge in 1892.

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Uploaded on February 10, 2011