Didcot Railway Centre: Join us in our rural setting based around the original engine shed. The Great Western Society has had a home in Didcot since 1967 and the range of activities and facilities on offer is substantial. The collection of Great Western coaches is probably the most comprehensive of any of the pre-nationalisation railways. Over 40 vehicles cover the period from the 1880s through to the 1950s and there is a great variety of goods wagons.
The Engine Shed area dating from 1932 includes a coal stage, lifting shop and turntable; together with the modern Locomotive Works where the engines are overhauled. On the branch line there are signal boxes, a level crossing and signalling including a re-creation of Brunel's original broad gauge railway and the Great Western's 'overhead' signalling of the 1880s. Didcot Halt is a typical small country station; all the buildings and lineside fittings have been recovered from closed stations.
The Trust collection is housed at Didcot Railway Centre in a purpose built museum that was opened in August 1982 as part of the Great Western Society's 21st Anniversary Year Celebrations. The constantly changing display encompasses many of the items from the Trust Collection that were once in daily use on the Great Western Railway.
The Trust collection comprises
thousands of items including locomotive nameplates, posters, cast iron signs, company records, books and printed ephemera, far more than can be displayed at any one time. The basis of the printed material is formed by the King Bird collection, this is probably the most comprehensive collection of Great Western publicity material in one place.
OPENING TIMES
27 December 2004 to 3 January 2005
12 to 20 February
25 March to 17 April
30 April to 4 September
22 to 30 October
27 December to 2 January 2006
(closed Christmas Day & Boxing Day)
The entrance is at Didcot Parkway railway station in Didcot, Oxfordshire. Didcot is 53 miles west of London, 10 miles south of Oxford, almost halfway between London and Bristol on Brunel's original Great Western Railway. .
For more information about Didcot Railway Centre, please contact , or see event details on the left.
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For a full list of forthcoming events taking place in Oxfordshire, as well as local attractions, days out, theatre, visual arts and sport, visit our what's on Didcot page.
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