Peco - NR-44W - Wagon, Open, Steel, Butterley - Great Western - 23301

Road Name History: The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England, the Midlands, and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of 7 ft (2,134 mm)—later slightly widened to 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm)—but, from 1854, a series of amalgamations saw it also operate 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways.

The GWR was called by some "God's Wonderful Railway" and by others the "Great Way Round" but it was famed as the "Holiday Line", taking many people to English and Bristol Channel resorts in the West Country as well as the far south-west of England such as Torquay in Devon, Minehead in Somerset, and Newquay and St Ives in Cornwall. The company's locomotives, many of which were built in the company's workshops at Swindon, were painted a Brunswick green colour while, for most of its existence, it used a two-tone "chocolate and cream" livery for its passenger coaches. Goods wagons were painted red but this was later changed to mid-grey.

Great Western trains included long-distance express services such as the Flying Dutchman, the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cheltenham Spa Express. It also operated many suburban and rural services, some operated by steam railmotors or autotrains. The company pioneered the use of larger, more economic goods wagons than were usual in Britain. It operated a network of road motor (bus) routes, was a part of the Railway Air Services, and owned ships, docks and hotels.

From Wikipedia

Brand/Importer Information: Peco is a UK-based manufacturer of model railway accessories, especially trackwork, based at Pecorama, Beer in South Devon, England, UK. PECO business started trading in 1946 and is now in its second generation.

From quite early days PECO has concentrated its manufacturing skills in the direction of producing trackwork for the model railway enthusiast. Individual component parts was how it started but this developed into HO/OO ready made track with fibre sleepers. With plastics becoming more popular in the 1960s it was decided to introduce the famous Streamline range which over the years has become one of the world’s leading brands for not just HO/OO but all scales from Z to G. 2004 saw the introduction of yet another range with code 83 rail especially developed for the HO North American market.

Publishing is another aspect of the work undertaken at the headquarters of PECO. Railway Modeller, now in its 60th year continues to be Great Britain’s best loved model railway magazine with by far the largest readership.
www.pecopublications.co.uk

The headquarters or PECO, located in a most wonderful coastal part of Devon, has not unnaturally attracted visitors over the years and so it is that the site has become one of the country's most important tourist attractions. The Exhibition of model railways is there to inspire you and technical advice is on hand from one of our experts should it be needed.
This is not all, for PECO is set within beautiful gardens which are home of the famous 7.25in gauge passenger carrying Beer Heights Light Railway. Before you make your visit obtain a copy of our free leaflet or visit our website (www.pecorama.info) which explains in detail the facilities available as well as opening and closed times, ensuring that you will not be disappointed.