Tim Bryan was born deep in GWR territory in the city of Bristol and trained as a librarian before becoming curator at the GWR Museum in Swindon and later Collections Manager at STEAM: Museum of the GWR in Swindon. He is now Head of Collections at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon and has written numerous books, articles and reviews on railway, heritage and museum subjects including a biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and a history of the GWR in the Second World War.

With a network covering much of the west country, Wales and the West Midlands, and a history and tradition stretching back more than a century, the Great Western Railway (GWR) has been seen by many railway historians and enthusiasts as the most famous railway in the world. The history of the GWR was marked by an independence and swagger matched by few other railways, its foundations laid by the flamboyant engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel who designed the famous Paddington Station and Saltash Bridge. This book summarises Great Western Railway's place in British history, one secured by a nostalgic fondness for a bygone era.