North Star pub, Whitton Road, Hounslow
Introduction
The photograph on this page of North Star pub, Whitton Road, Hounslow by Marathon as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
North Star pub, Whitton Road, Hounslow
Image: © Marathon Taken: 9 Feb 2011
The locomotive 'North Star', seen on the pub sign, was built by Robert Stephenson & Company in 1837 for the 5ft 6in gauge New Orleans & Carroltown Railroad in the United States. When this venture failed, the engine was purchased by the Great Western Railway, and being modified to run on Brunel's broad gauge it ran as a Directors' special from Paddington to Maidenhead in 1837, thus becoming one of the first trains. The original engine was scrapped at Swindon in 1906, but a full size replica was built at the works in 1925 and can be seen at the GWR Railway Museum, Swindon. Strangely, the pub is opposite Hounslow station, which was opened in 1850 by the London & South Western Railway and was never on the GWR.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.463258
Longitude
-0.36295