Talk:Swindon Works
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Dubious claim
The Location section here says that "The GWR mainline was originally planned to cut through Savernake Forest": So, where does this idea come from? What is the source for this? Anyway, Brunel was wanting a high speed line, and aimed for the gentlest gradients achievable; so taking the line over the Marlborough Downs through Savernake would make no sense. The route actually taken offers the lowest way between the Thames and Severn valleys; Swindon station is about 80 meters above sea level, compared to Reading (40 metres) and London (20 meters). Contraiwise Savernake is 160 metres above sea level, so that would be a much steeper climb. Is that claim really true? Moonraker12 (talk) 16:13, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
- It's pre-Brunel. Several early schemes all favoured a route through Trowbridge and the Vale of Pewsey. Thgis would, I suspect, have passed to the south of Savernake Forest. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:28, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
- @Redrose64: Thanks for replying. My apologies for not responding sooner; I hadn’t had a chance to look into this until recently)
- So, I haven’t found anything to suggest that Brunel wasn’t the original engineer for the GWR, or that the route via Swindon wasn’t his original intent. I did find a mention of a previous scheme (or maybe a previous incarnation of the GWR) called the Bristol & London Rail-Road Company, but their chief engineer, John McAdam, also favoured a route through the Vale of White Horse, as being the flattest possible.
- So what would be the source of the info here, do you know? And is it reliable, do you think? Or has it got muddled up with the Kennet & Avon/Bruce Tunnel story? Moonraker12 (talk) 23:58, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
- Try E.T. MacDermot's History of the Great Western Railway, volume 1. Originally published in 1927, a second edition (revised by C.R. Clinker) was produced in about 1964, and has been reprinted occasionally since. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:15, 16 August 2025 (UTC)
- @Redrose64: OK, assuming I can’t easily get my hands on a copy, what does it actually say? Moonraker12 (talk) 00:19, 20 August 2025 (UTC)
- Try E.T. MacDermot's History of the Great Western Railway, volume 1. Originally published in 1927, a second edition (revised by C.R. Clinker) was produced in about 1964, and has been reprinted occasionally since. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 23:15, 16 August 2025 (UTC)