Railwayana
Prints and Newspaper collection
Our collection holds a number of different original prints and both pages from, and complete copies of, historical newspapers all of which are illustrated on other pages where they are relevant. Not all are directly railway related but we thought it would be a good idea to gather them together on this page.
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Original prints
This image of Pangbourne Station was produced by J.C.Bourne for his book The Great Western Railway which was published in 1846, and gives some idea of what Culham station might have looked like when it first opened. David & Charles produced a limited edition, but abridged, monochrome reprint of the original book in 1969 and another limited edition of 500 to celebrate their 21st anniversary in 1981. This print does not originate from any of those books, and labels attached to the mount indicate that it is one of very few known examples of a hand coloured lithograph produced from the original lithograph stones circa 1860. Very close examination through a loupe suggests that this has neither been printed by another means nor that it has not been hand coloured, so the labels may well be accurate.
These engravings by John Le Keux, from drawings by F.Mackenzie, were taken from the book Memorials of Oxford by James Ingram D.D. which was first published in 1837.
The Town Hall
View of Oxford
from the Abingdon Road
View of Oxford
from the meadow near the Gas-Works
View of Oxford
from the Henley Road
Coloured print by Benjamin Fawcett from the original illustration by Alexander Francis Lydon and taken from the book by Francis Orpen Morris A Series of Picturesque Views of Seats of the Noblemen & Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland which was first published in 1860.
These four pages of maps illustrating routes of the Great Western Railway are all original pages taken from a map book published circa 1864 by Cassell, Petter & Galpin of La Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill E.C.
The Great Western Railway, Sheet 1
London to Reading, Oxford &c.
The Great Western Railway, Sheet 2
Continuation to Bath & Bristol
The Great Western Railway, Sheet 3
Bristol to Exeter & Plymouth
The Great Western Railway, Sheet 4
Oxford to Chester
Coloured lithographic print by J.Weiner Ltd. of London from the original painting of Windsor Castle by William Hoggart. This is believed to be one of a set published by the GWR for the 1924 Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
The GWR offered for sale full size copies of the image used for some of their jigsaws. They were printed on heavy art paper with a wide border ready for framing. The two prints shown here were each sold by the GWR for 1/- (one shilling) each. The print of 'King George V' was advertised in The Literature of Locomotion between 1928 and 1932 and that of 'The Cheltenham Flyer' was advertised in the the late 1932 edition of Literature of Locomotion, and appeared in every subsequent one. Our print is dated 1934 but we have seen other undated examples.
The space above seats in railway carriage compartments was often put to good use displaying advertisements for services, routes, destinations and views of locations served by the relevant railway company. We have two examples in our collection
The first one illustrates the routes served by the GWR and promotes the four hotels which it operated at the time. The location of each hotel is indicated on the map, together with the sea routes operated by the company. The map probably dates from the mid 1930s as the Manor House Hotel did not open under GWR ownership until 1929. The second is a much later one, dating from early BR days as evidenced by the totem seen on the black tender of the locomotive just about to enter the railway bridge crossing the River Conway (or more correctly, Conwy). We are looking out towards the sea and so the famous castle can be seen on the left, and Thomas Telford's road suspension bridge of 1826 is almost totally hidden by Robert Stephenson's tubular rail bridge which was opened in 1849. Hints of the suspension chains and one of the supporting towers are just visible however, and one of the abutments can be seen below the tubular bridge an the left. The painting is signed by Claude Buckle who was responsible for paintings or drawings used on 8 GWR jigsaws and a number of official GWR postcards, so there is a loose GWR connection.
Newspapers etc.
We have in our collection a number of pages from historic newspapers which illustrate various locally held fund-raising events on behalf of the GWR Widows' and Orphans' Benevolent Fund.
The Illustrated London News
14th August 1858
The Illustrated London News
21st January 1860
The Illustrated London News
16th July 1870
The Graphic
20th July 1872
The Graphic
26th July 1873
The Illustrated London News
4th December 1852
The Illustrated London News
4th December 1852
Towards the end of 1852 the whole country had suffered bad weather for several weeks which led to flooding in many areas. The Illustrated London News edition of 4th December carried a full page engraving on page 497, and on page 500 a report and two drawings illustrating the effects at Oxford and Deritend (on the River Rea, just south-east of Birmingham city centre and on the GWR line into Moor Street). The Oxford report concluded '...The railway passengers have for several days been rowed to and from the station to the city in boats.'
The Times, 31st August 1935
The Times, 20th September 1938
The Great Western Railway celebrated its centenary in September 1935. A special Great Western Railway Centenary Number of the Times newspaper was published dedicated to the company's history and current achievements. This large paper contains much of interest including many photographs and advertisements of the period. This was in fact the centenary of the the incorporation of the company by Act of Parliament on 31st August 1835 as the first 22½ miles of line, from Paddington station in London to Maidenhead Bridge station, did not open until 4th June 1838. The The London Midland & Scottish railway centenary celebrations in 1938 were perhaps a little bit more honest as the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was officially fully opened on 17th September 1838 and a similar London Midland and Scottish Railway Centenary Number of the Times newspaper was published on 20th September 1938.
