GWR ...

It was a railway just waiting to be made. The capital, London, was in the east; Bristol, second city in the land, 110 miles to the west or a sea journey of 672 miles. By the late 1820s, technology had improved to a state where the very latest form of transport, a steam railway, could make a far superior link than travel by canal, sea or road. This in-depth study of the Bristol to Bath line by the master of West Country railway history, Colin G. Maggs, covers the line's conception, construction, opening and its dramatic effect on the district from the nineteenth century to the present day. It illustrates many aspects of the railway: the first English Pacific locomotive, GWR diesel railcars, gas-turbine locomotives and the pioneer HST, as well as damage and uses during the Second World War and the many accidents that occurred, including one that could have proven fatal to the author. The GWR Bristol to Bath Line is illustrated with maps and over 200 photographs showing every aspect of the line, which passes through sylvan scenes and industrial ugliness. This book also contains appendices giving financial and traffic information, along with descriptions of all stations. This fact-filled, authoritative study offers a rare insight into the development of an integral section of the British railway.

Sorely neglected by railway authors, the line between Bristol and Taunton was part of the Bristol & Exeter Railway. A fascinating line, it was built to serve a moribund coalfield and a grand harbour scheme which proved a dismal failure. The line had many interesting features: two short dock branches, one of which had a telescopic bridge; several industrial concerns with their own locomotives; vital wartime factories; the busy holiday and excursion traffic to Weston super Mare requiring a special station.Wind strength had its effect on the railway because on the horse-worked Weston super Mare branch, when an adverse wind blew, it was quicker to get out and walk. The line has had more than its fair share of accidents and mishaps. The B&ER favoured express tank locomotives, some magnificent specimens having 9-foot-diameter flangeless driving wheels. The human side is not ignored: there are details of navvies lives and deaths; of a spat between Brunel and his resident engineer and the daring robbery of a mail train. Colin G. Maggs, one of the country's leading railway historians, covers all these details and more in this gripping and well-researched story illustrated with over 200 images.