It’s a little known fact, but one weekend in May 1892, once it was decided that Brunel’s broad gauge was to be replaced by narrow gauge, 177 miles of mainline was reduced from the former to the latter in a little under 48 hours.

In one weekend a whole stretch of line was completed with minimal interruption to traffic. A remarkable feat of engineering and a single minded approach to getting the job done. Fast forward 120 years, I wonder what those workers would have made of the time being taken to lay a few slabs and plant a few trees outside the station that their narrow gauge line still serves?

S Barclay Purton Road Swindon