Iron Duke Toddington 25 April 2011

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway was originally constructed in the 1830s to the broad (7ft žin) gauge, for superior speed and comfort. Whilst the idea was (and still is) correct, the cost, and land required was a problem, and more importantly the vast majority of other lines being built at the time were to standard gauge. The end finally came in May 1892 when the remaining 177 miles of track from Paddington to Penzance was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge in two days! Just imagine how many months it would take Network Rail to do that now! With the exception of the small vertical boiler 0-4-0 loco 'Tiny', no original broad gauge locomotives survive. However, in 1985 a working replica of 4-2-2 Iron Duke was constructed. It is pictured here in the car park at Toddington station on 25 April 2011, during its visit to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.