With a network covering much of the west country, Wales and the West Midlands, and a history and tradition stretching back more than a century, the Great Western Railway (GWR) has been seen by many railway historians and enthusiasts as the most famous railway in the world. The history of the GWR was marked by an independence and swagger matched by few other railways, its foundations laid by the flamboyant engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel who designed the famous Paddington Station and Saltash Bridge. This book summarises Great Western Railway’s place in British history, one secured by a nostalgic fondness for a bygone era.