G04 - Railway Road Services

Did You Know?

Personal recollections of railways

“Blazing Saddles”

Railways at one time encouraged tourist bicycle traffic. (With apologies to Mel Brooks and his 1974 film of the same name.) Bikes were...

The little friend in the corner

The “Friend” is the Great Western Railway (GWR) Automatic Train Control system. Known as ATC, it was first used on the Henley-on-Thames...

Getting the meat to Smithfield

As a child familiar with red Underground trains, I remembered the excitement of seeing a steam train coming out of the tunnel into the...

An interesting load for the GWR

During a spell working in Exeter in 1970, my daily route to work took me past the bronze equestrian statue of General Sir Redvers Buller...

Riding a "toad"

The name “Toad” was the Great Western Railway (GWR) telegraphic code name for the goods train brake van. There was also the “Toadfit”...

Hotels and Holidays

The story of Dean and Dawson, travel agents, and Sheffield’s Royal Victoria Hotel. . . . . . It was a pleasant morning in the hotel...