Carriage and Wagon Works Gallery

No 4 Shop, Carriage Body Shop, 1946

These men are working hard helping to construct a Hawksworth coach body. Each piece of timber and frame had its own place and slotted in with exact precision

© STEAM Museum of the GWR

Carpenters, Carriage Works, Coach, Coach Building, Staff, Swindon, Swindon Works, Wood

Brake Third coach No. 3307 converted into a mobile cleansing unit, 1941

The fear of gas attack was of paramount concern during World War II, as demonstrated by the mass issuing of gas masks prior to the outbreak of war in 1939. One of the responsibilities of the ARP services was to lead the decontamination and cleansing process in the event of such an attack. Mobile cleansing units were made available to the ARP service to clean people who had been exposed to gas attack, and in July 1941 the GWR converted Brake Third coach No. 3307 into an ARP Cleansing Unit for this purpose. The van was equipped with an air lock leading to an undressing room, showers, and further along the vehicle, a dressing room stocked with fresh clothing. As can be seen in this photograph, the windows were completely blacked out and they were also made to be blast proof. This was one of 47 such units converted by the major railway companies, which were stationed at strategic locations for immediate dispatch to any station or rail depot where they were needed

Production line for wartime shells in No.24 Shop, Swindon Works, 1942

No.24 Shop, on the Carriage and Wagon side of Swindon Works was fitted out with two production lines for 25-pounder shells. The refurbishment was quite a feat and required the excavation of new foundations for heavy machinery and furnaces. The Production line is in full operation in this photograph from February 1942. The various machines are fully manned by female operatives who finished, turned, weighed and riveted the 25-pdr shells and in total produced over 63,000 of them. A stack of machined shells can be seen on the floor to the left and centre of the image