Catalogue description British Railways Board: Great Western Railway: 150th Anniversary Celebrations: Correspondence and Records

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Details of AN 131
Reference: AN 131
Title: British Railways Board: Great Western Railway: 150th Anniversary Celebrations: Correspondence and Records
Description:

This series contains records relating to the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Great Western Railway Company. Subjects covered include commemorative events, royal visits, the exhibition train, locomotive namings, photographs, postage stamps, postcards and other memorabilia.
Date: 1980-1986
Arrangement:

This series has been arranged with correspondence files first, in order of their relative importance, followed by other associated papers and artefacts.
Related material:

Minutes and reports of the Great Western Railway Company are in RAIL 250
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

British Railways Board, 1963-2001
Physical description: 33 files and volumes
Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
Administrative / biographical background:

The Great Western Railway Company was incorporated by the Great Western Railway Act 1835 and it was felt by various enthusiasts that the 150th anniversity should be celebrated. They formed an ad hoc committee in 1980 to arrange appropriate events and interested British Rail's Western Region which, realising that it would be a good public relations exercise, took over and made the celebration official.

Many different events were arranged, the foremost of which was to have been an exhibition at Swindon Works. In early 1985, however, the British Railways Board announced the closure of the Works and the exhibition was necessarily cancelled. The other events, a touring exhibition train, a lecture tour and sundry local exhibitions and events, duly took place.

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