Rail Britannia: Newly found pix reveal train travel was once glorious experience, not shabby ordeal

The Daily Mail (U.K.) / various ^ | December 12, 2008

[Stoat]

The golden age of steam was never more glorious than during the heyday of the Great Western Railway.
 

As these newly discovered photographs reveal, the everyday workings of God's Wonderful Railway (as it was dubbed) reveal a world of style, order and civility almost unimaginable to harassed commuters.

(edit)

Uniformed porters carrying bags, dining cars where you would actually want to eat and stations that seem more like temples than places of transit  -  all this is a world away from the crowded, ugly and noisy experience of train travel in Britain today.

It is a timely reminder that there was a time, a few decades back, when travel was a glamorous experience and where the passengers' comfort was paramount.
 

This glimpse into a long-forgotten world would have remained lost and forgotten itself were it not for a tireless team of volunteers.

(edit)

They pieced together the details of these pictures, which were discovered by chance when Swindon council acquired the old GWR workshops eight years ago.
 

Piled up in scores of boxes, unlabelled and in disarray, was a pictorial treasure trove of GWR's heyday.
 

It has taken thousands of hours of research by rail enthusiasts to sift through them and piece together the stories behind them

 

 

[Mercia]

Oh man, my memory is going...

Thanks for the recap of the A1 story, good to look through all the pics posted and marvel at the design.

Keep up the imformative posts Stoat, always enjoy (if not agree) reading what you have to say.

[manc]

spot on

[gorush]

As a retired “Expert” rated skydiver, I can tell you that that is closer to 1000 ft AGL.