Cheltenham Flyer - Worlds fastest train (before the war) STEAM - The Museum of the Great Western Railway
STEAM is situated in the heart of what was once one of the largest railway engineering complexes in the world.
Swindon Railway Works opened in January 1843 as a repair and maintenance facility for the new Great Western Railway. By 1900 the works had expanded dramatically and employed over 12,000 people. At its peak in the 1930s, the works covered over 300 acres and was capable of producing three locomotives a week.
The railway dominated the fortunes of Swindon until after the Second World War, when new industries moved to the area. The completion of the last steam locomotive for British Railways - Evening Star - at Swindon in 1960, marked a watershed in the history of the works, and in 1963 a large part of the old carriage and wagon works on the eastern side of the Gloucester branch line was closed and sold for redevelopment.
Despite a brief renaissance in the 1970s, the works finally closed in 1986.
Cheltenham Flyer - Worlds fastest train (before the war) STEAM - The Museum of the Great Western Railway
STEAM is situated in the heart of what was once one of the largest railway engineering complexes in the world.
Swindon Railway Works opened in January 1843 as a repair and maintenance facility for the new Great Western Railway. By 1900 the works had expanded dramatically and employed over 12,000 people. At its peak in the 1930s, the works covered over 300 acres and was capable of producing three locomotives a week.
The railway dominated the fortunes of Swindon until after the Second World War, when new industries moved to the area. The completion of the last steam locomotive for British Railways - Evening Star - at Swindon in 1960, marked a watershed in the history of the works, and in 1963 a large part of the old carriage and wagon works on the eastern side of the Gloucester branch line was closed and sold for redevelopment.
Despite a brief renaissance in the 1970s, the works finally closed in 1986.