Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: rail railway train passenger FGW

This train appears to be a C-Stock train, which is a 4-rail EMU (like all modern London Underground trains). I didn't see the builder plates on this one (looking on the doorsills also helps), but these were built in two batches in 1977-1978, and 1990-1994. These trains are too tall to use on the newer "tube" underground lines that have been bored 200 feet below the streets since 1890. Instead, they operate on the former steam, or "widened" lines.

This photo, shot in the opposite direction from the previous one, shows a section open to the sky.

This is the Paddington Underground station, which actually dates to 1863. This would make it one of the first subway stations in the world, as the original London Underground line was the Metropolitan, opened from Faringdon to Paddington in that year. Surprisingly, it was steam operated until the early 20th Century, which was achieved through ventilation, plus many stations that were open to the sky. Here you can see the remains of that, covered by a trainshed. The steam operation was probably chosen for lack of better technology at the time. The tunneling technology was similarly simple, being cut-and-cover. Essentially, the street was dug up to form a trench, the tracks were installed, and a stone structure was constructed above them to support the new streets, and the utilities, which even in those days were already being installed. Usually they were situated between the tunnels and the streets.

This was the lead unit on our Intercity 125, #43004.

When I got to Paddington, I got another look at the trainshed, which is impressive. The oldest parts of the current station date to 1854, and this includes the trainshed. Although many impressive projects had already been built at that time, it must have been one of the largest structures in the world at the time. Although Isambard Kingdom Brunel (founder of the Great Western Railway) was still alive at the time "Brunel's Paddington" usually refers to the earlier station built in 1838.