BRUNEL'S BIG RAILWAY

'Creation of The Great Western Railway', this is a superb history of what was otherwise known as God's Wonderful Railway which stood above the rest as an international byword for excellence in the field of transport technology. These were the halcyon days when Stars, Castles and Kings either set the world alight or filled it with steam and smoke aplenty. The sight of Brunswick green-liveried engines big and small or in chocolate and cream-liveried coaches or long rakes of wagons was a mark of prestige for Britain. The company's Cheltenham Spa Express was the fastest train in the world, before the mighty London & North Eastern Railways glamorous streamlined A4 Pacifics made their debut on the East Coast Main Line. From the chairman, board of directors and chief mechanical engineers down to the ticket collector and station porter, the Paddington and Swindon empire was an immense source of pride to everyone who worked for it. Engineering genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway was bigger, wider and faster than any other. It linked London to New York via great steamships from Bristol. His unique broad gauge 'Super Railway' also connected Paddington to Plymouth and Penzance and took millions of people to these summer holiday destinations and inspired schoolboys who watched as the immaculately turned-out locomotives thundered down the lines. Two centuries on, many of Brunel's historic structures along the route have been given Listed Building protection and the book looks at the surrounding towns and villages during the construction of the railway and the affects such as how a GWR Medical Funds Society financed a cottage hospital in Swindon including dental and eye clinics used as a blueprint for the NHS a century later. Beautiful colour photographs include a replica carriage, the magnificent Clevedon Pier built from second-hand rails, and the Evening Star on display at the National Railway Museum at York. 32 pages of colour photographs, artworks, paintings and archive images. 168pp.