Steam is the official Museum of the Great Western Railway (GWR), and located in some of the former…read moreworkshops of the GWR locomotive works in Swindon.
Famously built by Brunel, the GWR expanded from the original London-Bristol main line to operate lines throughout Wales and the West, with lines running to from London via Birmingham to Birkenhead and to Penzance, and most of the territory between. It was one of the 'Big Four' railway companies nationalised into British Railways in 1948.
The museum makes for a great day out for families, covering the history of the works itself, the development of Swindon as a railway town, the development of the GWR as a railway, and houses some of the preserved locomotives and carriages built there. (It's also 100 metres from the Outlet Village, so you can mix heritage and shopping easily in one day!)
The handsome Grade-II building in which it is housed is just one small part of what was once one of the world's largest railway engineering sites. Opened in 1843 as a repair and maintenance facility for the new Great Western Railway, by 1900 the works employed over 12,000 people, and by the 1930s, the 300-acre site was capable of producing three locomotives a week.
Closed piecemeal after World War II, the last steam locomotive built for British Railways, Evening Star, rolled off the production line in 1960, and the whole site closed for good in 1986. Some parts were redeveloped, but others have been converted into offices, the designer retail outlet village and housing.
The museum is laid out as a trail, beginning with the life of the works and the different crafts employed to build and maintain rolling stock, through a series of rooms furnished as they would have been in the heyday days of the site. Subsequent sections cover the building and development of the railway (lots about Brunel), different types of rolling stock (both freight and passenger), operating the railway, and the social role of railways in wartime and in the development of mass tourism.
The highlight for many will doubtless be the locomotives: pride of place goes to Caerphilly Castle, one of the famous GWR Castle Class express locomotives, which in the 1930s hauled the 'Cheltenham Flyer', at the time the fastest scheduled train in the world. A pit (with stairs) allows you to walk underneath the locomotive, providing a very different perspective from the usual above ground view!
The goods display has an 0-6-0 Dean Goods locomotive, and an 0-6-0 Pannier Tank. Sitting in a recreated passenger station is the last passenger loco built for British Railways (at Swindon), No. 92220 Evening Star. Also here is an early GWR diesel railcar and one of Queen Victoria's 1897 GWR Royal Saloons.
The station itself has on display a magnificent silver coffee urn in the form of a locomotive from the early days of the GWR. It unfortunately dispensed terrible coffee, moving Brunel himself to write this wonderfully stinging letter to the owners of Swindon refreshment room, in December 1842:
Dear Sir,
I assure you Mr Player [the manager] was wrong in supposing that I thought you purchased inferior coffee. I thought I said to him that I was surprised you should buy such bad roasted corn. I did not believe that you had such a thing as coffee in the place; I am certain that I never tasted any. I have long ceased to make complaints at Swindon. I avoid taking anything there when I can help it.
Yours faithfully,
I K Brunel.
As well as lots of audiovisual displays, there are attractions for children, including a mock-up of an old-fashioned signal box with levers to pull, building bricks to demonstrate the function of an arch, a simulation of a steam loco footplate ride (which really does jerk and roll around), and a small model railway.
Special days out can be arranged for schools and other children's groups, including dressing up in 19th century attire. (It is very popular with schools).
Facilities include a shop selling railway-related items, a small cafe area, toilets and baby-changing facilities. There is ample car parking, and the main trail in the museum provides level access throughout (except for the pit under Caerphilly Castle).
Bags and coats can be left in a secure room by asking the extremely helpful and pleasant staff, and two wheelchairs and mobility scooters can be hired at no charge - phone 01793 466 626 for details. There are also buses from the City Centre to the site, or it's a 10-minute walk from Swindon railway station.
