Resources

Loco, tender, coach and wagon listings


Locomotives

Spreadsheet of GWR loco lot numbers and loco numbers
(courtesy of John Daniel)
List of GWR loco classes (text file)
List of GWR loco classes (Wikipedia)

  Tenders Tender lot numbers and tender numbers (Word document)
This list, courtesy of Jim Champ, is a provisional one, and updates to the file may be issued from time to time
  Coaches Word document (or equivalent pdf) for lot numbers, diagrams and coach numbers, compiled by Glyn Jones. Mike Flemming has added more details, particularly on the earlier coaches, in an Excel spreadsheet.

Spreadsheet of GWR coach numbers, compiled by Lloyd Roberts (includes NPCCS)
  NPCCS The first set of pdfs compiled by Barry Scott and updated by Dave Bowden for NPCCS diagrams P, O and M, plus Goods Stores Diagram BB
  Wagons Spreadsheet listings for GWR wagons, compiled by Lloyd Roberts:
GWR wagon numbers up to c 1905 (pdf), compiled by Stephen Lea

  Miscellaneous vehicles Spreadsheet for Cranes, Match Trucks, Mess & Tool Vans, Pilot Vans, Gas Tanks, Water Tanks etc, compiled by Lloyd Roberts:
  Absorbed companies Stock list spreadsheets for Absorbed companies, compiled by Lloyd Roberts:
A selection of Swindon drawings

This collection of Swindon drawings was compiled by John Daniel as part of his excellent Great Western Archive.


Locomotives
Railmotors, railcars and coaches


Wagons & freight stock


For tips on how to convert drawings to scale, see Roger Swainson's useful notes below.

Coach drawings





A growing collection of coach drawings and illustrations for short and early bogie coaches, and the first of over 300 bogie coach drawings from the Jack Slinn collection covering pre-1904 designs

Other coach drawings
 
Books, magazines and other resources for drawings and articles

 


Books

A very useful set of pdfs of historic wagon and coach articles from various model railway magazines by prominent GWR sources including John Lewis, 'Sparks', and Mike Longridge, curated by Dave Bowden

BRMNA drawings and articles listing

Many early coach diagrams on the Penhros Junction site (see above for specific links)

Swindon Mechanical Institution Lectures, 1896–1955 – a series of downloadable pdfs covering a wide range of subjects – a listing of all the available lectures is given below

Dean's 'Instructions for working the continuous automatic vacuum brake', 1883

Western Times

Western Times, published by Transport Treasury Publishing, is a new periodical for the Great Western Railway and British Railways Western Region.


Great Western Railway Journal

The GWRJ was a quarterly magazine published by Wild Swan Publications, and is highly recommended as a modeller's resource and general source of reference on the GWR. A useful index, compiled by John Dolan, is given here, but please note the last update has been indexed only to Issue 67 (July 2008).

●  Microsoft Excel file   (can be sorted by date, type of article etc in Microsoft Excel)

●  CSV file   (readable by most spreadsheet programs and word processors, but some of the original formatting may disappear)

Mat Ots' searchable index for the Great Western Journal.

Photo database
A database of GWR photo references

 

Prototype
The Great Western Archive Extensive website on the GWR, by John Daniel
'Going loco' blog An excellent blog from the Didcot Railway Centre, usually monthly
Great Western Star Online magazine, edited by Rodney Pitt
SVREnthusiast's photostream An extensive collection of pictures of preserved vehicles, many of which are taken at the Great Western Society's depot at Didcot and the Severn Valley Railway
Warwickshire Railways A fabulous collection of period pictures, curated by Mike Musson
Mike Morant Collection A great collection of period pictures, curated by Mike Morant
Rail-Online A useful resource of period pictures, concentrating mainly on 1950s and later
Rail Photoprints Large selection of GWR and BR(W) locomotive pictures, arranged according to running number
Railway-Photography Neil Dimmer's collection of historic locomotive photographs
The Transport Library Historic railway prints, mainly BR(W), but not categorised
Brian Daniels Outstanding albums of detailed pictures for several preserved GWR classes:
94xx 61xx 53xx 2251 14xx Railcar 22

British railway wagons – The Railway Clearing House wagons Fantastic collection of official RCH drawings, curated by Adrian Johnstone
Great Western Society Bristol Group – Other buildings and structures Excellent page on GWR huts and ancilliary structures
Culham Ticket Office Excellent and extensive website on the railway and its history at Culham
Train interiors of Great Western Railway Some interiors of GWR coaching stock (see also some views of the preserved Toplight 3rd 3930)
Station nameboards A selection of different station nameboards
Alextrack Useful broad gauge information, with pictures of locos and stock
GWR 813 Preservation Fund Contains various galleries for South Wales locos
Swindon's other railway Excellent site dedicated to the Midland & South Western Junction Railway
Station colours Peter Smith's excellent guide to GWR structure colours
Gone With Regret Superb colourised GWR and BR(W) pictures, by Katerfelto
BRDatabase Useful listing of loco build dates, withdrawal dates and some shed information
Jim Whittaker's sketchbook Useful set of sketches showing many details of rolling stock fixtures on some brown vehicles
Steamindex Commentary on book and magazine coverage of GWR locos
The Fairford Branch Line Excellent and comprehensive site on the Fairford branch
The Lambourne Valley Railway Good website on the Lambourne branch line
Michael Clemmens Railways Timetables, some GWR emphemera, and an excellent 1931 GWR Route Availabilty Map
Existing GWR locos Peter Pascoe's useful picture collection of preserved GWR locos
'Railway Wonders of the World' A good introduction to slip coaches, which includes pictures and diagrams produced by the GWR

Groups and Societies
Great Western Railway e-list For all your questions and on-line discussion
Great Western Study Group Visit and join!
The Broad Gauge Society

The BGS website

Suppliers
Model Shop Directory

Lists and hosts shops and traders

Modelling
RMweb Lively model railway forum
Bambrick Studio Inspiring modelling and scenic work from Paul Bambrick
Missenden Abbey Railway Modellers' Courses Regular courses on all sorts of modelling subjects and skills. Courses are residential or non-residential.
Welsh Wizard Loco Works 7mm models by Fred Lewis
David Smith models Many excellent GWR locos, coaches and wagons 7mm
MuiderRail Dutch GWR modellers site
"A" Shop Malcom Mitchell illustrates his work, including his Painting Guide for Great Western Locomotives
Ian Rathbone Model Railway Painting Ian Rathbone's comprehensive guide to loco painting, covering 1923 to 1955

 

Swindon Mechanical Institution Lectures, 1896–1955


P_206 – The Automatic Train Control system of the Great Western Railway, A W J Dymond, 1936



The following downloadable pdfs covers a wide range of subjects. P_011, P_044 and P_079 are particularly useful for GWR rolling stock details


P_011 – Modern Railway Carriages, G J Churchward, 1896
P_012 – Some notes on India-rubber manufacture, J Charles Margetson, 1897
P_017 – Some notes on Permanent Way, Henry Harvie, 1898
P_020 – Applications of Electricity in Workshops, F L Whit, 1896
P_023 – The steam heating of railway carriages, Frank W Marillier, 1898
P_026 – Water tube steam boilers, J W D Clinch, 1899
P_030 – Notes on marine engineering, Charles H Kent, 1899
P_031 – Superheating, W Longland, 1899
P_032 – Locomotive balancing, G H Pearson, 1899
P_033 – Factory Accounts, W H Stanier, 1900
P_034 – Notes on locomotive running, Trevor Roberts, 1901
P_035 – Electric Traction, Thomas E Gleadowe, 1901
P_036 – The principles of ventilation, G H Pearson, 1901
P_037 – Indicator and entropy diagrams, H Noble, 1901
P_039 – Train lighting by electricity, Francis L Wait, 1902
P_042 – Culverts and subways at Swindon Works, H W Harris, 1903
P_044 – Carriage and Wagon rolling stock, F W Marillier, 1903
P_057 – Notes on engineering workshop organisation, Douglas T Heap, 1904
P_058 – Errors in indicator cards, C K Dumas, 1904
P_062 – Boilermaking, L Dyer, 1905
P_064 – American railway practice as I saw it, H C King, 1905
P_067 – The practical working of a locomotive, R H Smith, 1906
P_068 – Selection and improvement of water for boiler purposes, W R Bird, 1906
P_069 – The electicity works and tramways of Swindon, J G Griffin, 1906
P_070 – Valve motion developments, W H Pearce, 1906
P_071 – The work of a running department, Henry Simpson, 1906
P_072 – The construction of modern railway wagons, J M Llewellyn, 1906
P_073 – Stephenson versus Walschaert valve gear, W H Pearce, 1906
P_074 – Composite roof principals and roofing, J H Baker, 1906
P_075 – The micro-analysis of metals, with examples of its value, T C Davison, 1907
P_076 – Locomotive cranks and axles, Rodon L Burge, 1907
P_077 – The equipment of a running shed, W A Stanier, 1907
P_078 – Beams, shafts, struts and ties in the locomotive, C C Champeney, 1907
P_079 – The construction of Steam Rail Motors, A H Nash, 1906
P_080 – The construction and maintenance of motor omnibuses, C S Wilson, 1907
P_083 – Single phase electric traction, M G Tweedie, 1908
P_084 – Locomotive smokeboxes, H Arkell, 1908
P_085 – Pattern making, H Brittain, 1908
P_087 – The history of the compound locomotive in Austria, James C Crebbin, 1908
P_088 – Injectors and feed pumps for locomotives, W A Stanier, 1908
P_089 – Railway tyres and tyre fastenings, R L Burge, 1908
P_090 – Flexible wheel bases for locomotives, A H Nash, 1908
P_091 – Automatic cab signalling, H Arkell, 1908
P_092 – Arrangement of locomotive cylinders, H Holcroft, 1909
P_093 – Freight train working, Trevor Roberts, 1909
P_094 – A comparison of English and American locomotive practice, H Holcroft, 1909
P_095 – The consideration of the unit of cost of locomotive operation, W A Stanier, 1909
P_100 – The heat treatment of carbon tool steel, Shipley H Brayshaw, 1910
P_101 – The mechanical aspect of the cylinder lubrication problem, A H Nash, 1910
P_102 – Locomotive erecting, E T J Evans, 1910
P_103 – Systems of erecting reinforced concrete structures, W Hopkins, 1911
P_104 – The G.W.R. Road Motor Car Department, F C A Coventry, 1911
P_105 – Modern machine tools, R J Chirgwin, 1911
P_106 – Some notes on cranes, F W Harris, 1911
P_107 – The legal development of inventions, J F Tonkin, 1911
P_108 – Centrifugal fans, W Gath Watkins, 1911
P_109 – Oxygen in engineering works, A E Knowles, 1911
P_110 – Breakdown vans Part 1: The equipment, R G Hannington, 1911
P_111 – Smoke-box design, G Goddard, 1912
P_112 – Experimental work on cast iron, A H Nash, 1912
P_113 – Locomotive steam chests and valves, E R Jones, 1912
P_115 – Internal combusiton engines for using crude oils, J W Cross, 1912
P_117 – The construction and inspection of 10-ton open goods wagons, L Lynes, 1912
P_123 – Notes on the layout and upkeep of hydraulic machinery, C Hinton, 1920
P_124 – Pyrometers and Pyrometry, R K Innes, 1920
P_125 – Assembly of locomotive parts, E H Gooderson, 1921
P_126 – Freight locomotives for working across the Rocky Mountains, George Bulkeley, 1921
P_127 – Brakes for modern express passenger trains, C K Dumas, 1921
P_130 – Boiler shop plate flanging equipment, N H Cook, 1922
P_132 – Locomotive proportion and performance, W H Pearce, 1922
P_133 – Machine tool design, E H Gooderson, 1922
P_134 – Roads and road construction, L G Dryland, 1923
P_135 – The modern 3-cylinder locomotive, H Holcroft, 1923
P_136 – Some aspects of electric propulsion, J C Jones, 1923
P_137 – Manufacture of solid drawn steel tubes, Capt. J A Richards, 1923
P_139 – Stainless steels, Dr W H Hatfield, 1923
P_141 – Favourable points in four cylinder design locomotives, W H Pearce, 1924
P_142 – Petroleum, E A Evans, 1924
P_143 – Pulverised fuel and some of its applications, H Norman Bassett, 1924
P_147 – The Uniflow Engine, G Mavor, 1925
P_150 – Steam Power, A W J Dymond, 1925
P_151 – Petroleum Engineering, G S Taitt, 1926
P_152 – Oil fuel and its combustion, H N Bassett, 1926
P_153 – The work of the Bridge Stress Committee, A C Cookson, 1926
P_154 – The evolution of the automobile, L A Smith, 1926
P_157 – Corrosion in steam boilers, H N Bassett, 1927
P_169 – Permanent way fittings and their manufacture, G E Hobbs, 1929
P_172 – The development and potentialities of scientific management, W M Dawson, 1929
P_173 – The accounting arrangements of the Chief Mechanical Engineers Department, H W Gardner, 1929
P_174 – The steam injector, F T Barwell, 1930
P_175 – Signalling practice on the G.W.R, A W Woodbridge, 1930
P_176 – General foundry practice, C Webb, 1930
P_177 – The cleaning of locomotive parts, K J Cook, 1930
P_178 – The handling of coal for export, R M Dymond, 1931
P_179 – Modern water treatment and sodium aluminate for railways, R B Beal and S Stevens, 1931
P_182 – Recent developments in cylinder lubrication, W H Pearce, 1931
P_183 – Maintenance methods of the G.W.R Road Transport Department, A E C Dent, 1931
P_184 – Practical setting of locomotive valves, W F G Aldridge, 1932
P_185 – The maintenance of a railway, A C Cookson, 1932
P_186 – Pattern making, S H Fortune, 1932
P_218 – The Lubrication of Prime Movers, R Murray, 1948
P_220 – An Outline of the Train Lighting System of the British Railways, Western Region, A H Cole, 1949
P_221 – Notes on Running Shed Practice, T J Tarrant, 1949
P_222 – Some notes on the heat-treatment of ferrous metals, J Hardy, 1950



In addition, the following Swindon Mechanical Institution lectures are available from the Kent and East Sussex Railway Virtual Mutual Improvement Classroom:

P_018 – Railway brakes, George H Burrows, 1894
P_060 – Compound locomotives and their work, J C Crebbin, 1905
P_065 – Locomotive boiler design, H C Rodda, 1905
P_145 – Brakes for long goods trains, C K Dumas, 1924
P_149 – The evolution of the locomotive, J G H Warrren, 1925
P_160 – Locomotive boiler washing, W H Pearce, 1927
P_165 – The origin, formation and characteristic of coal, W L Whittle, 1928
P_166 – Mineral oils and lubrication, R Murray, 1928
P_220 – Lubrication and lubricants in railway practice, A W Southam, 1935
P_228 – The steam locomotive: a machine of precision, K J Cook, 1955

 

Reproducing drawings to scale – some notes by Roger Swainson

The drawing archive is a most useful resource – but, whilst accurate, are not to any particular scale. I have found a relatively quick and simple way of re-producing them to a given scale which might be of interest to others. It's certainly much quicker than manually re-drawing the image to the required scale.

It works with the programme I use for manipulating .jpeg images (Paintshop Pro) but I'm pretty certain it will work the same way with others:

1
Save the image file to your PC
2
Open the image in Paintshop
3
Go to page set-up and set the printer to "fit image to page"
4
Print the image (in my case the Van to Diag V9)
5
Measure a convenient dimension as printed, e.g. the wheelbase (in my case this printed as 106mm)
6
Calculate the percentage increase or decrease required to bring the dimension to its correct value (in this case 20' in 4mm or 80mm) i.e. 80/106x100 = 75.47%
7
Open your printer settings utility, go to 'advanced settings' and create a 'user defined (custom) paper size to match the percentage change required. e.g. my original print was on A4 which is 29.70cm x 21.00cm – the custom page size was set to 22.41 x 15.85cm, i.e. 75.47% of A4, and named 'v9 for identification'
8
Repeat steps 3 & 4 setting the paper size to 'V9' and 'fit image to page' (no need to change 'actual' paper in printer!)'

What you should now get is a printout with the wheelbase measuring 80mm, i.e. the drawing is now to 4mm scale.

Most 4mm drawings should fit onto an A4 page set to print in Landscape format – working in '0' gauge would probably require an A3 printer – but A3 inkjet printers can now be had for a reasonable sum.