Auction – FGW Cab Ride – now closed


PING! goes the AWS as you approach a green signal.

A deep ‘BEEP’ sounds the ATP to signify a change in speed or signal aspect.

These are all sounds you could become familiar with thanks to our friends at First Great Western who have donated a CAB RIDE to Swindon Panel Society!


Your view from the secondman’s seat.

The cab ride will be auctioned to raise funds for the Panel move that we all hope will be happening this summer.

The lucky winner can select the locations between which they would like to cab ride from anywhere on the First Great Western network. Travel to and from the location of the cab ride will also be provided from your local station within the FGW network.

The cab ride can last up to (approximately) 30 minutes.

So it’s up to you… would you prefer a trip through the Severn Tunnel… over the Royal Albert Bridge…. through Box Tunnel…. 125 MPH between Reading and Paddington… the Dawlish Sea Wall… a toddle down the Gunnislake Branch… Reading Viaduct… a trip through the mechanical signalling in Worcester or Cornwall… or a jolly around the Swindon Panel area…? And then there’s the question of traction…!


Clear road ahead in DM101R as you enter Box Tunnel.


Approaching the last gantry before Paddington… which platform will you get? (And more importantly, which signal is yours?!)

The auction will run from 1st – 28th February 2015.

The current highest bid is: £1,200.
(Note this total may lag behind slightly)

[THIS AUCTION IS NOW CLOSED. Check out our Auctions page to see if there are other auctions in progress!]

You can bid as many times as you like. Please remember that if you send a bid you are agreeing to pay that amount if you win. We will reply to your email to confirm receipt of your bid. If the highest bid amount is received from more than one bidder, the first-received bid will be the winning one. We will process the bids every couple of days through the period, and more frequently at the end. The close of the auction will be at 21:00 on 28 February 2015. The winner will be contacted on Monday 2nd March.

There is no minimum age for the cab ride, but anyone under 12 would need to be accompanied by an adult (Dads up and down the land will be most “disappointed”!) Unfortunately the space inside the cab is not sufficient to accommodate a wheelchair.

Payment may be made by (in order of preference): online bank transfer, cash, credit/debit card, PayPal. Payment must be made by Monday 9th March (unless agreed otherwise in order to pay by cash), otherwise we will offer to the next-highest bidder (without obligation).

The date of the cab ride is to be agreed between the winner and FGW. The cab ride must be used by 31/12/15. (And, as similarly applies to our signal box visits – in the very unlikely event of a significant operating issue (such as, in this case, train failure, etc) the date/time of the arranged cab ride may need to be altered at short notice or re-arranged for another time/day. Clearly this is not the plan, but nothing can ever be 100% guaranteed.) It is unlikely that the Chiltern or Waterloo diverted HSTs will be an available option. If, for any reason, the cab ride becomes unavailable or withdrawn, a refund will be made.

Last but not least, thank you very much indeed to First Great Western for this most generous donation!


A number of areas of the FGW network retain semaphore signals, such as the Worcester area and the line to Hereford, and Cornwall.