Great Western Railway

Map of the GWR network circa 1930

The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, founded in 1833. With a principal terminus at Paddington Station in London, it served the south-west and west of England, the Midlands, and most of Wales. At 'grouping' in 1923 it was the only one of the 'Big 4' to retain its original identity, the LMS, LNER and SR being newly created by merger of other railway companies. The GWR eventually became the Western Region of British Railways under Nationalisation on 1 January 1948.

Although the original Severn Valley Railway Company built the line between Hartlebury and Shrewsbury, it was operated from opening in 1862 by the West Midland Railway. On 1 August 1863 the West Midland Railway was absorbed by the GWR. The "Severn Valley Railway" thus became the GWR’s "Severn Valley Branch". The GWR were subsequently responsible for the construction of the Kidderminster Loop Line which opened in 1878.

Links

• Great Western Railway on Wikipedia
• The Great Western Archive