Didcot latest

Bit of an update on the site acquistion:

http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/n ... tml#news01

 

Is a 25 year lease long enough to unlock the necessary funding for heavy building repairs etc?

If not it sounds as though a plan B may be required for the whole collection?

 

After reading the release it would seem that the future for Didcot is no more certain than before.

They now face the prospect of losing their mainline and the new centre sidings, the shed area is only on a 25yr lease, what happens then?

The first bit about the CS and ML would knock on the head the extension to the branch and Steam Railcar shed as this would be on land that NR could require back at any point.

Should NR what to 4 track the East Curve, this would take the Didcot Demo Line, so if this happened were would the GWS run its large engines? It would appear the future of the GWS at Didcot at least is no more certain then before, if anything now even more uncertain.

Marc.

 

The issue with 8 road has been known about for a long time; if the land there does ever get reclaimed, then 8 road would be 'shifted over' several yards to the west. Heyford station (the building planned for Oxford Road) is of a reversible design, in that either side can serve as the platform side, so it would not be too badly affected. I believe the line might terminate in the bay, although I can't remember the exact details.

I can't see work on the railmotor shed stopping, at the end of the day it's got to go somewhere, and I believe they're looking at a relatively low budget structure. The main issue is to get the engine shed sorted, although a 25 year lease isn't brilliant, it does at least provide long-term relief from the previous 6 month clause.

I don't know of any plan B - if there is one, it may have been decided prudent not to make it widely known. Personally, I'm a bit concerned that 'acquiring the site' has become such a focussed objective, that no-one has stopped to consider what would happen if it failed. If you suddenly find yourself in a situation where a 25 year lease is all you're going to get, you don't want to then spend another ten years wondering what to do next. Likewise if we were ever evicted, it would be prudent to have a contingency plan. But there may well be some or all of the above, naturally, it would be very sensitive.

 

So there is a real risk that the GWS may finally have to pay the ultimate price for the (then difficult to understand) policy of taking all the items from the original groups round the former GW system & centralising them at Didcot thus snuffing out nearly all non Didcot based GWS activity.

Without site security & the funding to upgrade & develop the facilities there is no long term future at Didcot it appears - the rest of the movement will find it quite difficult to absorb the whole collection at short notice so the lack of a plan B is disturbing.

(GWS member since 1965)

 

No more risk than there has been for the past 41 years.

I wasn't aware that there was definitely no plan B... I was aware however that I didn't know of one.

If lack of long term security prevents development, I'd be interested to know what's been going on these last 40 years... museum, shop, cafe, works, carriage shed, carriage shed extension, turntable, transfer shed, 2 signal boxes etc etc.... how about that £20k the education people got for the air raid shelter a year or two back? Hmmm.

 

You are right - a lot has been achieved & the current centre is a credit to the society & its working membership.

But if it has to shrink, forever has a cloud over it re the future (25 years is not that long), is surrounded by an ever developing modern railway making access to move locos/stock in & out ever more problematic, does it really have a long term future as other than a static or near static museum as the rest of the preservation scene moves on?

 

I can't really see why the place would be forced to end up as a static/near static museum... yes, it could happen, but only if the people within allow it to happen. With regards to the big railway, 'ever developing' is a bit of a tenuous phrase; how exactly does this affect our movements over Network Rail? Yes, things aren't as easy going as they used to be, but access charges, inspections, UAT etc... these are all normal procedures for anyone with a mainline connection these days. A pain, yes, but I don't really see this as a major problem, as long as you know how to make it pay.

 

I have always thought that if Didcot Rly Centre did close how about moving lock,stock and railmotor to the New triangle at Norton Fitzwarren on the WSR?
I realise its a pipe dream and I will get shouted down 8-[ but it gives a line to run on for all that fantastic collection of locos.
Rail-motor shuttles Bishops Lydeard Norton Fitzwarren anybody?? \/

 

Interesting idea! I've always prefered to visit 'working lines' as opposed to 'steam centres' anyway. It would be a good enhancement to the WSR and give the GWS a natural home.

Regards

 

I would have thought that any 'Plan B' would have looked for locations nearer to Didcot. A move to Norton Fitzwarren for instance would mean a very long round trip for the current GWS volunteers.

Regards,

Dan

 

My vote for Plan B would be Southall.. Big Yard, lots of potential, and maybe take over the branchline too.
In my opinion loads of potential..with links to two Major London termini, and finally a place I could get my hands dirty within traveling distance of home !

(Incidentally I noticed the Maroon painted Pullmans there tonight !

 

Yes, because it is used by WCRC as their London operating base. I don't think that there is room anymore for the GWRPG, let alone the GWS to move stock there.

Regards,

Dan

 

Its a bit premature to be talking of closure and a "Plan B" is the province of the GWS council and no doubt is being looked at .
Didcot is a gem and, though it may have to adjust to fit the modern railway,it will still be there. Even if No8 road has to be moved,it wont be a disaster. In any case,there should be quite a bit of land on the Network Rail side of the fence, as I think there used to be up and down "gullies" on the curve didnt there?.
At the end of the day, any upheaval could work to the GWS's advantage as perhaps it may prove possible to gain direct access to the site and other gains in other areas.
Overcoming problems like this is what Preservation is about and bigger obstacles have been overcome before.

 

There aren't too many places that have access to a wheel drop, covered 50t hoist, turntable, propper coaling stage, carriage jacks, well equipped machine shop, well equipped woodworking shop, mainline connection, and the ability to accomodate almost 70% of stock undercover, all on one site.

So lets just bear that in mind first, before we get all over excited about where the GWS could relocate to. I myself already have to make a 400 mile round trip, so I can't really say I fancy the idea of having to travel even further.

I'm not sure of the exact details of the curve, but from memory there's a fair bit of space on the east side of it. As you say, you have to take the rough with the smooth... and even acquiring the freehold doesn't solve every problem, in fact it may create one or two of its own.

 

I suppose the east side could be a problem as it would be closer to the houses (that didnt use to be there when there were loops)

Is the proposal for quadding just the avoiding line or more of the line north towards Oxford? (a bit off topic, just curious) I would imagine that it and other developments are contingency plans arent they?

 

I believe the original proposal a few years ago was not just to quad the east avoiding line, but the extra lines could well be a fly over from the down and up mains at Didcot East Junction. This would alleviate the bottleneck of having the Cross Country and Oxford fasts holding up the services on the relief lines while crossing over to head north. At that point in time there was only a single set of crossovers. The quick fix was to double the crossovers to both up & down, which for the moment seems to have put the fly over on the back burner, but has only reduced and not cured the "bottleneck" problem.
Where the loop used to be on the up side, (wearing my Network Rail Hat) there is enough room to drive our vans, road railers etc from Moreton right through to Appleford. It's the down side (with my Didcot volunteer hat) that means any extra line or flyover would land on 8 road and if the scheme ever went ahead, the site would probably lose the width of a single line (and maybe fly over abutments). Could well spoil the photographers view point.
But things have moved on... the focus is more on the Reading re-development and how far Cross Rail is likely to go. So it would seem in spite of the GWS council's efforts, someone in Network Rail has yet again scuppered attempts to buy the site with the above in mind. I believe it's already been stated that the Reading project & Cross Rail will not need "Didcot space", so maybe it's the back burner "Didcot East Junction" that's stopping the freehold purchase and why there's mention of freehold this bit and lease that bit. Reading Re-development is not scheduled to complete until 2015 so who knows long the limbo condition will last?
In the meantime, I'm sure the GWS council will do all it can to secure tennure, but the current status is unchanged, no one has been asked to vacate, and the lease will be up for renewall in 2019. I suppose all we can do is plod on regardless and await developments,... any "plan B" is still way premature.
The statement Here pretty much sums it up.

Obviously I'm biased towards Didcot, but as Kerosene Castle says, there are few places, equiped as Didcot is, and strategically placed with a mainline connection. How may places can you walk freely around the shed and even climb on the static loco's? Didcot's still got a lot to offer, even if 8 road does have to be moved over one day!

 

Is there any way that a whole site can be protected from adverse development? Similar to listing a building but instead it would be the land and its associated buildings?

After all Didcot is a unique survivor, the only thing that comes close to it is Barrow Hill and even then the operational concept is different. Didcot is something that the preservation movement should be fighting to protect, regardless of regional bias.

Regards,

Dan

 

I think the only way that can happen is if it became a World Heritage Site.

 

well it isnt one of them is it!

the pyramids yes, but its just an engine shed, important to US but just a tourist attraction to most people most of whom wouldnt give a second thought to its loss. Should the time come, we'd all need to shout very loudly to get heard....