Swindon and the Great Western as they were in 1908

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Grace's Guide - a plan of Swindon Works from 1908



Copyright - "Copyright. You may copy and use any of the content of this site provided you make a clear link on your web site or printed matter to Grace's Guide as the source of that information" ... so link to http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Main_Page with my grateful thanks to all those behind this great resource!  If you're bored with the relatives today or over the rest of the festive season, what a great set of historic documents to browse!

Swindon is the headquarters of the Great Western Railway Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Department. The works, which have grown with the railway, were founded in 1842. At that time, the old town of Swindon (which dates back some eight centuries, and is mentioned in Doomsday book) had a population of 2,500, and was a mile distant from the works. The population is now nearly 51,000. The original line of the Great Western Railway extended from London to Bristol, a distance of 118 miles. Extensions and amalgamations have brought the total mileage up to 2,878 at the present time.
The Rolling Stock owned by the Company on 31st December, 1907, was as follows:^ Locomotives 2,538; Carriages 6,525; Carriage Stock 1,159; Wagons 68,238; Rail-Motor-Cars 99; and Trailer Cars 70.
All new carriage and wagon stock (including rail-motor-cars and road vehicles) are built at Swindon, also the greater portion of the locomotives. A few of the latter, however, are constructed at Wolverhampton.

The numbers make a very interesting comparison with today!

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Swindon_Works

[Oberon]

Thank you for this wonderful and informative link. I remember all too well visiting the works on an official tour in the early 1960s, wide eyed at the sight of outshopped steam locomotives, diesels under construction and those poignant lines of condemned engines. They sold number & nameplates off at scrap prices in those days. I wonder if any of our Coffee Shop bretheren took advantage of this sort of thing?