Cheltenham Spa Express
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The Cheltenham Spa Express is a British named passenger train service from Paddington station, in London, to Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire, via Reading, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester. During the 1930s, when operated by the Great Western Railway, the service was more popularly known as the Cheltenham Flyer.
Background
Prior to the First World War, the Great Western Railway ran a high-speed service between Cheltenham and London, covering the Script error: No such module "convert". from Kemble Junction to Paddington in 103 minutes. After the war, an additional stop was made at Swindon and the time for the Script error: No such module "convert". to Paddington was scheduled at 85 minutes.
In 1923, the first batch of Charles Collett's GWR 4073 Castle Class 4-6-0 express engines entered service and enabled a significant improvement in timings. The name "Cheltenham Spa Express" was given to the service, which reached Paddington in 75 minutes from Swindon, an average speed of Script error: No such module "convert".[1] making it the fastest start-to-stop scheduled service in Britain.Template:Sfn
Further developments
Fierce rivalry between the four main railway companies during the 1920s and 1930s to run the fastest train in the country, and therefore in the world, led to further accelerations to the service. In July 1929 the scheduled journey time became 70 minutes, an average speed of Script error: No such module "convert"., and publicity proclaimed this as the fastest train in the world.Template:Sfn By now the train had acquired its popular nickname of the "Cheltenham Flyer", although this was never adopted officially.[2] Two years later in 1931 the Canadian Pacific Railway ran a train with a slightly faster schedule, taking the fastest train in the world title across the Atlantic, but the GWR train was again accelerated in July to an average speed of Script error: No such module "convert"..Template:Sfn
On Monday, 6 June 1932, the train broke railway speed records with a time of 56 mins 47 seconds at an average speed of Script error: No such module "convert"..[3] Such a journey speed had never been previously recorded, making this run the fastest railway run in the world. The train was hauled by Castle class 5006 Tregenna Castle and was crewed by Driver Harry Rudduck and Fireman Thorp of Old Oak Common shed.[4]
In September 1932,[note 1] the time from Swindon to London was further reduced to 65 minutes, giving an extraordinary average speed, for the time, of Script error: No such module "convert". over the whole trip of Script error: No such module "convert".. This was the first occasion in the history of railways that any train had been scheduled at over Script error: No such module "convert"..[2]
Modern service
The unofficial title of Cheltenham Flyer, never used officially in timetables, ceased currency before World War 2 when trains elsewhere regularly achieved faster timings. The British Rail Western Region, as the successor to the Great Western Railway, continued to use the "Cheltenham Spa Express" brand until the 1960s, when it fell out of use. It was reintroduced in 1984, and continues to be used by the modern Great Western Railway train operating company.Template:Fact
Notes
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- ↑ some sources give 1931
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References
Citations
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References
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Further reading
- "Great Western Railway Engines" 1938. Republished by David & Charles: Newton Abbot. 1971.
External links
- The Cheltenham Flyer Mike's Railway History
- First Great Western
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