Didcot Railway Centre

Thursday 13th and Friday 14th September 2018 in Abingdon.
As planned, we both caught the bus from Abingdon to Didcot Parkway Railway Station on Thursday morning. M then caught a train home and R went into the Didcot Railway Centre, which is next to the station. The Centre is what used to be the engine shed and sidings in the era of steam; it is a huge site, over 20 acres and about 3/4 mile long. On Friday, when M came back to Didcot by train, we both went back into the Railway Centre for the afternoon.
The site is dominated by the large "coaling station". Coal was brought up the slope to the second level in trucks and then poured into the engine tenders on the tracks below.

We liked the little engine called "Captain Baxter" that was parked in front of the engine shed. The engine shed houses about 20 locomotives although only two are currently fully operational. In its heyday before the war, the shed employed 170 people, now it is looked after by two volunteers.

On Thursday, the Centre was running an "Engine Experience" day with six lucky gentlemen. They had a full day including a guided tour of the Centre and then a chance to drive one of the engines up and down the 3/4 miles of track. They looked very happy, posing in front of the engine with their "Guard", a lady who we met again on Friday - but in mufti, in charge of the shop!

R was lucky enough to see quite a lot of activity, including turning a wagon around on the turntable. A manual operation reminiscent of struggling with canal lock beams!

 

On Friday, after her journey back from Reigate, M was peckish and a kind volunteer in the café baked some fresh croissants especially for us. Delicious - how's that for service!
Next to the café was a nod to World War II - a sign directing us to the Air Raid Shelter...

Which looked far too comfortable and clean!

A lovely old sign that we haven't seen for many years.

The Centre is dedicated to the Great Western Railway or GWR, which pioneered the use of "Broad Gauge" track with a gauge of 7ft 1/4in as opposed to "Standard Gauge", which is 4ft 8 1/2 in. The Centre has one of the very few lengths of useable Broad Gauge in the country; here a part of it is seen next to a Standard Gauge track on the right.

One short piece of Broad Gauge has another very rare artifact, a piece of Brunel's "Atmospheric Railway", which used a vacuum in the pipe to "suck" a train along. It was never a success, mainly because it proved impossible to keep a tight seal over the slot on the top. Interesting to compare this with the concept of the new "Hyperloop" trains pioneered by Elon Musk to travel at very high speeds inside a vacuum tube.

The Centre has two Broad Gauge engines, the "Iron Duke" and the"Fire Fly", and two carriages, a third class carriage open to the elements and a second class carriage , which has the luxury of a roof.

Both the engines are recent replicas, the "Iron Duke" did once steam but is now a static exhibit. The "Fire Fly" was run regularly at the Centre until 2014, when its boiler certificate expired. Now it is awaiting time and funds for a major overhaul and the renewal of its 10 year boiler certificate.

These engines were capable of over 60mph in their day. With no protection of any kind for the train crew, it must have been tough on the footplate - it must have been quite breezy in the carriages too!
An 1840 notice advised passengers in third class to "...select a seat with their backs to the engine, by which means they will avoid the ashes emitted therefrom that prove a great annoyance."
One brilliant thing about the Centre is that one is very free to wander around. In the engine shed, you can even climb into some of the engines.

It is not just people who are free to roam around the site - we saw this very relaxed cat happily dozing in the sunshine between the tracks.

We caught the double decker bus back to Abingdon and, as ever, sat up top in the front seat. It was a lovely ride through several picturesque local villages. A super day out!
R took MM across to the service bay of the local marina for fuel and water.

R did a "Kilroy woz 'ere" from the bow deck. Only folks of a certain age will know what that is!
MM had two days off.