Description

The second part in our series featuring scenes of the former Great Western Railway using archive film from the 1920s all the way to the diesel hydraulic era in the 1960s. In this part we mostly feature the freight and mixed-traffic classes, from the large 2-8-0 class 42xx and 72xx 2-8-2 tank engines used in Wales, through to the Prairie 2-6-2T and the Pannier 0-6-0Ts which were unique to the GWR, including the condensing varieties and the last 84xx series, on both passenger and freight trains. The tender classes are covered in more depth than in our first volume, ranging from the heavy freight 2-8-0s to the mixed-traffic 4-6-0 Hall classes. We also feature the 43xx 2-6-0s and the 2251 class 0-6-0s. The GWR also ran extensive maritime services and we show footage of the Fishguard and Weymouth operations. There are scenes of steam all over the GWR network with normal service trains and special rail tours. We conclude with footage of the first locomotive to exceed 100mph, 4-4-0 No.3440 “City of Truro”, newly restored and running on preserved lines plus the replica broad gauge engines at Didcot Railway Centre. Apart from a few scenes, filmed in the 1930s and 1940s, all the material is in colour and the film has an extensively researched commentary with an authentic sound track.

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