BGS New Site
New Site - An Intro.
Hello, and welcome to the revised BGS web presence; new for 2012. I'm Rob Speare - and I have recently taken over the reins as web-master for the BGS.
The site is built from entirely new and uptodate code, which should work with most screen sizes and browsers.
Your computer will need Javascript enabled to view this site; if you find any errors, please let me know.
The site is still evolving so there is more to come. I'm still part way through re-indexing all Broadsheet articles, but the new Search facility should make it much faster to find something.
You are welcome to make suggestions for improvements or new features, perhaps there's a particular Broadsheet article you think might be of appeal to our web audience; drop me a line. I hope you'll like and enjoy the reworked site; cheers for now - Rob
Info : May 20th - 21st, 2012
120th Anniversary of the massive 'gauge conversion weekend', that took place in Devon and Cornwall - bringing about the end of the Broad Gauge operation.
A small re-enactment will be taking place at Didcot.
Changes : May 2012
2012 Field trip announced - Neath & Llanelli area; on 7th July.
Changes : April 2012
Please note revision of postal charges for all modelling parts.
Welcome to the BGS
Please use the Menu structure above to navigate your way around the site. Whether it is history, research, modelling or a further reading, we hope you will find the site informative, maybe inspiring !
Broad Gauge Society
- Events Calendar
See more details on the Events page.
This site is our window to the web, so if your first visit here, we invite you to investigate more. . . If you were unaware of the Britain's broad gauge railways, or the Society that actively researches, documents and models it today; we've already achieved something !
We hope you find the site interesting - if so, perhaps you may consider joining the Society, no special qualifications required.
The Membership subscription is very reasonable, and will entitle you to our Journal and mailouts, expanding on information about this facinating period of railway operation.
I am keen to hear from model engineers who may be constructing, or have completed a live steam broad gauge loco.
Britain's Broad Gauge Railways.
In 1836, the fledgling Great Western Railway was laid to a gauge of 7 feet 0¼ inches, as directed by young engineer I. K. Brunel. A number of other new Companies adopted the specification, creating a network with a unique style and infrastructure that spread across much of South West England and S. Wales. This most creative period was part of the huge industrial revolution that transformed everyday life in England.
Early locomotives were typically wide bodied with fairly large spindly driving wheels, most often sporting polished brasswork on the splashers and firebox cladding. And their train crews needed to be hardy - with often barely a small weatherboard as protection from the elements, as in this photograph of 0-6-0 Caesar class locomotive 'Nemesis', photographed at Trowbridge in Wiltshire.
This period saw the creation of locomotive and signalling technologies that were to shape railways for the next 100 years, along with engaging architecture, some of which we can still view.
Many lines were absorbed into the larger Great Western Railway; but its Broad Gauge routes remained the best way to travel; a definitively superior and elegant pasasenger railway system, with creative transport solutions for goods, lasting over fifty years.
Its supercession came in May 1892, with conversion of all G.W.R. lines to narrow gauge, and the withdrawal of most rolling stock.
The Broad Gauge Railway was part of a fascinating period of optimism, with new travel opportunities for ordinary people - fortunately just as photography was becoming available to record it. 120 years later, and those images capture the imagination of today's many researchers, period enthusiasts and modellers, who find this railway has a very unique and enduring magic.