Before the British, flushed with the success of their collectivist endeavours from 1939-1945, decided to nationalise their railways in 1948, there were four main companies. One of them was called the Great Western Railway, or, to its enthusiasts with fervour or its detractors with sarcasm, God's Wonderful Railway. Its beginnings from London to Bristol were engineered by that greatest of all British engineers, Isambard Kingdom Brunel (that line is now a UNESCO world heritage item). The company's works in Swindon are also preserved in part for a museum; one book that's worth looking out for as a true description of what the works were like is Alfred Williams' "Life in a railway factory", reissued with a good introduction in 1984. This saw, made by Wheatman & Smith, of Sheffield (whose former works now house, appropriately enough, the Ken Hawley Tool Gallery), is marked GWR on the plate, and branded on both sides of the handle. The reason for putting it on to a thread of its own is partly to flag up what might be to less railway-enthusiastically minded collectors than me (or Fred) a bit of a puzzle. I've seen saws marked for other railway outfits such as the London Passenger Transport Board and the 19th century London & North Western Railway Company, but not for any of the myriad 19th century ones, or the other big three post 1948, the LMS, the LNER or the SR. Any examples out there?
That's a lovely Wheatman & Smith, Simon. I can't answer your question regarding British railways, but I once owned a saw stamped GNR for Great Northern Railway. That line was established across the northern U.S. in the 19th century and still runs today under a different name after merging with other companies. It's interesting that railways, wherever they may be, seemed to use the same method for marking their tools. Bob