LONDON, ENGLAND—Excavations ahead of the construction of a new underground station, garage, and cement factory near Paddington Station have uncovered Victorian railway foundations laid by civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel is remembered for his Great Western Railway, which ran its first steam trains in 1838 on broad-gauge train tracks. In 1846, Parliament regulated the size of railroad tracks, requiring a switch to the narrower standard gauge tracks throughout the Great Western Railway. This change is reflected in a wrought iron turning circle found within the brick foundations of the site. Dating to 1881-82, it could accommodate both broad and standard gauge engines so that they could enter the 1850s engine shed, whose foundations were also found. “Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway is the most complete early mainline railway in the world. Whenever we expose parts of the original infrastructure it is vital to record these for posterity and the history of rail in this country. Using the latest 3-D scan technology provides a permanent and accurate model of Brunel’s distinctive architectural legacy,” Jay Carver, lead archaeologist for Crossrail, told The Telegraph. To read more about the history of trains in Victorian England, see ARCHAEOLOGY'S "Trains in the Round."
