Museums
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Museums |
Click Here to See What's New on this site |
Didcot Railway CentreDidcot Parkway Station, Oxfordshire |
 One
of the aims at Didcot is to recreate a working broad gauge railway. Exhibits
already include broad gauge signalling, track, and the transfer shed which
once stood nearby for transhipping goods between broad gauge wagons and
those of standard gauge routes from the North.
A working replica is under construction of Fire Fly, a 2-2-2 locomotive of 1840. Once it is completed in August 2004 it will be possible to ride along a short section of line. A replica broad gauge engine shed is then due to be built near the transfer shed to house the locomotive. |
The carriage collection includes the remains of a broad gauge 'convertible'
vehicle built for easy conversion to standard gauge when the West Country
broad gauge lines were narrowed in 1892. In the carriage workshop there
is also part of a broad gauge carriage which shows the extra width available
in these vehicles before the conversion.
|
STEAM: Museum of the Great Western RailwayKemble Drive, Swindon, Wiltshire |
 The
museum opened on a site in the old railway workshops in 2000, the building
being partly an original Brunel designed structure.
Inside can be found the 1925 built replica of North Star, the first engine on the line which worked the first Director's Special in May 1838. Other broad gauge era buildings survive nearby, both on the workshop
site and in the railway village on the other side of the railway.
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Bristol Industrial MuseumPrincess Wharf, Bristol |
 The
museum is situated alongside the old Bristol Harbour Railway, a one-time
broad gauge line. Outside the museum are various items of dockside interest
including an 1876 built steam crane which once moved goods between ships
and the railway.
On exhibition inside are the remains of a Bristol & Exeter broad gauge coach, still wearing GWR livery. Further along the harbour is Brunel's SS Great Britain, at rest
in the dry dock where it was constructed. A steam railway links the two
sites on certain days of the year. While in Bristol, take time to visit
the Clifton Suspension Bridge, designed by Brunel in his youth but not
completed until after his death, and Temple Meads station.
|
National Railway MuseumLeeman Road, York |
 York
is the normal home of the 1985 replica of Iron Duke and also holds
part of a Cornwall Railway carriage.
Outside the car park entrance are a huge pair of driving wheels from
a Bristol & Exeter Railway 'single' locomotive.
|
South Devon RailwayBuckfastleigh, Devon |
| This standard gauge preserved railway operates from Totnes to Buckfastleigh,
once part of a broad gauge route to Ashburton. In the museum at Buckfastleigh
is the South Devon Railway's Tiny, a little four-wheel vertical
boiler engine which used to work at Plymouth. After withdrawal it was used
as a stationary boiler at Newton Abbot for many years. This is the only
surviving broad gauge locomotive, any others you may see are more modern
replicas.
Museum Website |
West Somerset RailwayMinehead, Somerset |
 A
journey from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead is as close as we can get to travelling
along a broad gauge branch today. While the steam trains are now standard
gauge, most of the buildings and bridges date from its days as a broad gauge
line. Station buildings, goods sheds, a signal box, workers cottages, and
bridges can all be found at various locations. Museum Website |
Other museums |
| Bovey Tracey Station, Devon
The station at Bovey has been restored and now houses the Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre. It is staffed by volunteers from the Bovey Tracey Heritage Group. The planned opening times are: weekdays 10 a.m. to 12 noon & 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.; on Saturdays it will open for the morning period only (all subject to volunteer availability). Entry is free - donations welcome! - and there is adequate free parking during the opening times. A nearby path takes walkers along part of the abandoned route of the Moretonhampstead branch. Bristol - Empire & Commonwealth
Museum
Instow
Signal Box, North Devon
Newton Abbot Town & GWR Museum,
Devon
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© 2002-04 Broad Gauge Society Last Modified: 8 August 2004 |
A
display near the transfer shed shows how the South Devon atmospheric traction
pipes fitted into the railway.