14th January 2020 · Oxford to Paddington

Presenter: Richard Binding

Richard Binding was our first speaker of 2020 on 14th January to continue his journey along the Great Western mainline towards London. He started at Oxford with a short journey to Didcot to pick up where he left off last time. On the main line it was a location by location approach to Paddington including the Wallingford, Henley and Marlow branches and special spots of Goring water troughs, the inside of Reading Signal Works, Sonning Cutting and Maidenhead bridge plus the engine sheds at Didcot, Reading, Slough, Southall and Old Oak Common.

The images were predominantly of many GWR steam classes taken in the 1950s and 1960s but there were earlier photos including a Bulldog and a stunning one of The Great Bear inside Old Oak Common. Visiting LMR and SR types were also seen as well as the BR diesel classes seen on the Western Region. Richard has accumulated a rich collection taken at sites not available for many many years.

The limiting of photos between Didcot and Oxford leaves scope for a possible future presentation to either Worcester or Birmingham, possibly both or westwards from Exeter our starting point in his first one