Didcot latest

I think you need to look at a map, Didcot is not on the edge of the country, short of moving to Birmingham I would say you would not get much more accessible, also good road links to Didcot (just not on site) and good rail links to quite a large part of the world, OK you may have to change, but not exactly out of the way!

Oh and at the moment there is no need to move, and there is no threat to force us to move. I do suggest that you come and see us over the next bank holiday when the 38 mob bar will be open and there will be a range of activities going on, see the website for further info. http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/events/calendar.html

 

Anyone not involved directly with Didcot can read the latest up-date here, and as you can see, there's no reason to be throwing ourselves on the sharp end of our coal picks just yet.

 

If the Society relocated somewhere else, it would become just another steam railway. As I've said before, very few places have access to a range of facilities like we have at Didcot, let alone have a site with a layout that is so readily adaptable, allows access to the entire collection and can be used to display what we have to great effect.

Maybe if your idea of preservation is standing in a field taking photos every half hour, then Didcot isn't the place for you, but I happen to think we provide a bit more of an all round experience than just a train ride with a cafe at the end. And as Balders says, short of moving to Birmingham, I really can't see how you could make the place any more accessible. It must be one of the most accessible railways in the country, and within a stones throw of a major tourist area as well.

I'm sure we've all got our own idea of where the Society could go, should the worst happen, but having outsiders openly discussing it on here in such a blasé manner, just smacks of arrogance and insensitivity. I realise that there are some on here who do have a genuine concern, but the fact is that Didcot isn't going anywhere, and most likely never will. Even I can see that, and I'm not exactly the most uncritical person ever.

Anyway, moving on as it were...

When it comes to making the centre better, I think the first thing you need to do is establish why you want to make it better.

 

How to make Didcot better? Only ways I can think of are those already planned - the Broad gauge engine shed, railmotor shed and the Station at the northern end of the main running line.

Oh, and 5572 back in working order, in GWR shirtbutton green 8-[

 

I dont think you could improve much on Didcot (except more of the same). As and when a REAL threat to it becomes apparenty, I'll be over to chain myself to something in protest....

I used to be a member many moons ago, maybe its time for me to re-join....

 

I think there would be quite a few joining you

 

And that's the fundemental problem. The site is limited by size for further development exacerbated by the lack of freehold tenure. Relocation to somewhere like the triangle at the WSR or the old sugar beat works at the SVR would unlock the real potential. Come on: what's the point of a GW 4-6-0 chuffing up and down a 1/4 mile demonstration line with 2 coaches.
I'm sorry but I think Didcot can be improved; but not at its present location. Contentious I know; but true.

 

Not true - either of those suggestions would destroy the revenue of the GWS and therefore put its collection at risk, and it would almost certainly result in the loss of one of only 2 preserved mainline sheds with associated infrastructure.

(The revenue loss would be because at either WSR or SVR very few people would pay an extra £10 over the train fare to visit the now plastic shed, and neither line would pay much in hire fees when they have sufficient locos of their own to cover most services. SVR only manages to charge £3 on top of a fare for its engine house so its impossible that the current GWS income could be sustained).

The point of Didcot is that it preserves a collection of locos in a historic environment amongst a collection of other artefacts and uses them sparingly to prolong their lifespan. The job of preserving steam train services is done admirably elsewhere - there is room for two and both should be celebrated not one wiped out for the other. The shed and water tower at Didcot are as important in rail preservation as the ability to run train services to Minehead - both contribute to the overall picture.

Its true that the lease on the site has limited development, but even so it has its admirers of which I am one - mitts off!

ETA Martin has probably made my point more eloquently while I have been struggling with mine!

 

Anyway, you can't instantly recreate a working steam depot like Didcot on a greenfield site. The great thing about Didcot is that feeling of having got into a working steam shed - OK it's not quite the same, but as near as we're likely to get in today's Britain. Let's not lose this gem!

John

 

Absolutely agree...Didcot has not been created or re-created...it is essentialy the same as it was in steam days...the track around the depot Im pretty sure is the original from 1931 and the ash "ballast" is original too, straight out of 30 years of genuine steam use...and the short train rides are really of secondary importance to the whole experiance

Now having said that, I dont like those bogies (bridge beam carriers?) in the ash road and 5 and 6 roads are a bit like a scrap yard and these bits need sorting at some stage as they are right in the central part of the depot but I realise the shortage of labour and the more important calls on it. Didcot should be at the top of everyones annual "must visit" list.

What did I like? well on my last visit I stood quite shaken in the workshop surrounded by a King a Castle a Saint and a County all being built or rebuilt (amongst others).

I'll be there in the summer and Im going to re-join after 30 years absense....

 

Interesting thread. A few points:

1. Network Rail is a business, and as such has a duty to its shareholders and its customers (the train operators) to protect and maintain any assets which may be required in future expansion plans. As I see it, this is what they're doing.
2. The offer currently on the table of a 25 year no break lease represents 24 years 6 months more security than is presently enjoyed by the GWS, and is a good platform from which to negotiate further. The centre sidings and 8 road issues are I believe both resolvable seperately - 8 road could be re-laid closer to the shed and centre sidings has not yet been developed and could therefore be developed on the basis of short term expectation only.
3. The GWS is also a business which requires funding to support its activities, a more secure tenure even if it is relatively short term leasehold, would lend weight to any fund raising.
4. Yes, Didcot offers a unique experience, but will there be enough interest among future generations to support it financially? If indeed there is now. If not, then the GWS needs to seriously consider where its funding is to be found in the future, and market itself accordingly. I feel that lack of public financial support is far more likely to bring about Didcot's demise than any development by Network Rail.

 

The bogies you refer to were built around 1908/09, and were actually used for transporting naval gun barrels. They're owned by the NRM, and as is the way of things there isn't an awful lot we're allowed to do with them. To be honest I've thought for some time that the situation with these needs to be reviewed, as they're starting to go now.

I agree that 5 & 6 road isn't the most aesthetically pleasing part of the site, but every line has its own scrapyard, and more to the point, where else is this stuff supposed to go? The coaches on 6 road are used for volunteer accomodation, and were given an external tart up a couple of years back. There's only so much you can do, and I happen to think we do a very good job of hiding the scrap out of the way.

Anyone who reckons the size of the place or the lack of a freehold prevents us from developing, needs to take a good long look at what has been achieved over the last 40 years. Look at what the Society started off with in 1967. If you don't call that development, you're in the wrong business. And there definitely is a lot more that could be done with the site, but 'development' is not just about building fancy buildings, or restoring those that are falling down. As far as I'm concerned, if the place wants to develop, then it needs to start making propper use of what it already has. Plenty of room for development there, and it wouldn't take a lottery grant to happen.

Can I just say though - there's more to the Society than bleedin' 4-6-0's!! :-#

 

Exactly. And I've been banging on about this since God knows when. 1: Establish market. 2: Satisfy market. I don't think we're really doing any of that at the mo.

I agree with what you say about the 25 year lease as well. Potential golden carrot there.

 

Indeed there is much more to the GWS than 4-6-0's. If indeed we had one that worked at the moment!

Running 4-6-0's (or 2-8-0's come to that) with 2 coaches for 5/8ths of a mile is uneconomic and to some a pointless exercise. I accept that and freely admit that if people want to ride on trains they'll probably go somewhere else - but a steam shed with no steam is just a shed full of old engines, it needs locos in steam to bring it alive.

The GWS is custodian of a priceless and unique collection of artefacts, rolling stock, buildings and equipment. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I'd say Didcot is probably the only place on the planet where you can or soon will be able to trace railway development from one companys' viewpoint almost from its earliest beginnings (Firefly/Broad Gauge) to its ultimate end (County) via absorbed stock, railmotors, TPO, express goods (38xx), branch services (Auto train & Pannier Tanks). Yes there are a couple of gaps - but we could always build a replica Armstrong Goods!

Yes Didcot should be no.1 on everyones 'must visit' list - the questions are: Why isn't it? and: What can we do about it?

 

The bogies you refer to were built around 1908/09, and were actually used for transporting naval gun barrels. They're owned by the NRM, and as is the way of things there isn't an awful lot we're allowed to do with them. To be honest I've thought for some time that the situation with these needs to be reviewed, as they're starting to go now.

I agree that 5 & 6 road isn't the most aesthetically pleasing part of the site, but every line has its own scrapyard, and more to the point, where else is this stuff supposed to go? The coaches on 6 road are used for volunteer accomodation, and were given an external tart up a couple of years back. There's only so much you can do, and I happen to think we do a very good job of hiding the scrap out of the way.

Anyone who reckons the size of the place or the lack of a freehold prevents us from developing, needs to take a good long look at what has been achieved over the last 40 years. Look at what the Society started off with in 1967. If you don't call that development, you're in the wrong business. And there definitely is a lot more that could be done with the site, but 'development' is not just about building fancy buildings, or restoring those that are falling down. As far as I'm concerned, if the place wants to develop, then it needs to start making propper use of what it already has. Plenty of room for development there, and it wouldn't take a lottery grant to happen.

Can I just say though - there's more to the Society than bleedin' 4-6-0's!! :-#[/quote:2i5nri4y]

I hope you dont think I was critising, just giving balance to the fact that I bl00dy love the place...

(PS No6 road is very visible from the avoider and maybe should have a better profile,its your shop window, perhaps a range of goods vehicles would look better there...with a dead loco parked on them when the site is open...the gun barrel bogies should at least carry some ID so as people know what they are and possibly the Ash road should have ash wagons parked in it instead, to help the great British Public interpret the site better.

 

Could it be that a steam hauled train ride FROM somewhere TO somewhere through attractive scenery & to a destination offering other activities is much preferred to a stroll round a "museum", which some times has the odd loco or two in steam, is easier to "sell" to the more general public ?

Granted Didcot is a major attraction for the pure enthusiast but telling the missus that todays trip is to an old engine shed rather than a train ride to Minehead/Kingsweir/Bridgnorth etc with other things to do on arrival is unlikely to produce a sufficiently enthusiastic response.

There is a place for the "museum" element - there will always be some wanting to visit. It could be argued that having both Didcot & STEAM is overkill though. The sad fact is that the core enthusiast market is probably set for a fairly rapid decline once todays over 55s have passed on. The crunch is whether the museum approach then holds sufficient attraction to make it financially viable in the future.

The real key would be to combine the museum & travel to an attractive destination into a joined up operation - difficult to do a Didcot unless some regular sufficiently attractive steam run over local NR metals ever became possible.

 

I don't think many railways actually do go from 'somewhere' to 'somewhere'. Although WSR has the great final destination of Minehead, the start destination is a field in the countryside. Even the GCR which goes from Loughborough - Leicester ends up in a housing estate on the tip of the City, hardly an ideal destination.

I love Didcot as it is - it's nice to walk up and down the length and breadth of the centre visiting the various buildings, transfer shed, look through the carriage sheds etc, and have a locomotive steam by every few minutes, plus the location is great with the Chinnor & Princes Risborough, Cholsey & Wallingford and even Swindon not too far away

 

No worries, nothing wrong with a bit of criticism as long as it's constructive and realistic. 6 road actually looks an awful lot better than it used to, I think though that in the sudden rush to tidy the stock up, paint was just slapped on without really thinking it through, and the whole lot now looks rather sombre. A 2-tone scheme would've at least matched the Mk1 and provided a uniform rake. I did suggest a while back that we should put the website address on the coaches in big letters, but I think that may be too radical for some people.

At the moment, if you tried to shunt an engine up 6 road, you'd have a track-based failure of Tay Bridge proportions!

It's an important question and one that I'm not totally sure on how to approach. Places like Beamish & Crich seem to be doing ok, so what sort of market are they supported by? Of course Crich has the benefit of Matlock just up the road, but then again Didcot is within shouting distance of Oxford. It's a shame we can't do the Didcot - Oxford shuttles anymore.