Recent and Future Projects at Didcot Railway Centre

Richard is now the Civil Engineering Advisor to the GWS, and the talk started with a major project finished fairly recently: the new ramp and steps into the entrance.  This has allowed many more elderly visitors to easily access the centre, as well as making it easier for materials ton be taken ono the site.   We then saw some trains and the new building being built at Oxford Road from the stonework removed from Culham station.

The next major project will be the new Goods Shed, to be bult as an exhibition centre between the signalling centre and the motor vehicle garage.  A small project completed recently is to house some of the GW road vehicle collection, on a site near the Depository shop.  We also saw some of the other relics saved and waiting use, including two footbridges.  A fair part of the track through the centre of the site has been laid recently, mostly to improve access to the carriage sheds and we were shown the revised turnouts and plastic sleepers used.

Turning to recent events we saw some evidence of filming activity, short term storage of GWR IETs, and a variety of visiting locomotives including the recent weekend steaming with Bluebell railway’s borrowed SECR 0-6-0 number 65.

A varied and enjoyable evening which concluded with the usual thanks to our host and a short quiz.