Isambard Kingdom Brunel considered the Great Western Railway the ‘finest work in England’. He contributed many ground-breaking features, including the unorthodox decision not to adopt the ‘standard’ track gauge of 4ft 8½in and instead introduce the new ‘broad gauge’ of 7ft ¼in.
Describing the rationale behind the choice of broad gauge, this beautifully illustrated introduction to Brunel's railways chronicles the building of the original GWR between Bristol and London, and the expansion of that original 112-mile main line into a network stretching across the West of England, Wales and the Midlands. It describes how the clash between broad and narrow led to the ‘Battle of the Gauges’ and also provides a list of places to visit where broad gauge artefacts still survive.
Paperback
64 pages
Publisher: Shire
ISBN: 978-1784422776