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The Dinting Railway Centre

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by lynbarn, Aug 5, 2026.

  1. MuzTrem

    MuzTrem Well-Known Member

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    Small, yes, but a rather nice piece of genuine GCR architecture. I wonder if the building itself could still be salvaged and relocated, perhaps to the GCR or Quainton? Or is it too far gone now?
     
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  2. crantock

    crantock Member

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    I thank Rail Ranger for his concise summary. A perspective so much better than the heated commentary of the time.

    As I recall Dinting there was not just the old steam shed but a concrete display shed. What happened to that as I can’t see it on satellite views.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  3. Rail Ranger

    Rail Ranger New Member

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    Thanks Crantock. I think the concrete display shed may have been moved to Ingrow, where it now contains a museum.
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2026 at 12:20 PM
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  4. 26D_M

    26D_M Part of the furniture

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    I thought ELR acquired it but failed to make use of it. Perhaps it was a different building.
     
  5. pete12000

    pete12000 Member

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    Anyone wanting to learn about the Dinting Railway Centre might consider reading the story from those who were there...

    "The story is brought up-to-date through the rise and fall of the Dinting Railway Centre"

    The 'Dinting Men' moved site and are actively involved with restoring a certain Jubilee jointly with Tyseley Locomotive Works. They aren't all there of course, some of them will be operating 1054 at the KWVR this weekend before it heads off to a couple of other preserved railways this autumn

    Bahamas - the story of a steam locomotive, by Peter W Skellon - The Bahamas Locomotive Society Shop - The Bahamas Locomotive Society

    All support is gratefully received... thankyou !!
     
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  6. Rail Ranger

    Rail Ranger New Member

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    I've done some research on the exhibition hall. All I can find is that it was dismantled and the steelwork and the trackwork were saved for future re-use.
     
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  7. 26D_M

    26D_M Part of the furniture

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    I'm fairly sure it went to ELR, there was often discussion of the "Dinting shed" being part of the grand Buckley Wells schemes of the late 90s/2000s.
     
  8. pete12000

    pete12000 Member

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    Delete
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2026 at 4:29 PM
  9. pmh_74

    pmh_74 Part of the furniture

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    You must have gone on a day when there were loads of locos out on the main line then.
    I went to Steamtown a few times as a child - the first time in about 1977 remains one of my earliest childhood steam memories - and over those various visits I rode behind both Flying Scotsman and Sir Nigel Gresley on the shuttle trains, and I think I saw L&Y 1300 in steam as well. I remember on one occasion people were hanging around at the end of the day for Princess Elizabeth to come in off a main line tour (I don't remember if we waited for it though, so probably not). Other memories include an 0-4-0 (maybe a fireless?) being craned onto an isolated bit of track, the 15" gauge railway breaking down and people getting off to push(!), and the fantastic model railway in an old bus(?) out the back.
    The last time I went would have been in the early 90s and by that time it was a shadow of its former self, and the yard overrun with Pilkington liveried carriages. It wasn't a great surprise to me that it closed. But it had been great in the 70s and 80s.

    (Only mildly on topic... I never went to Dinting!)
    The stock was marooned there after BR lifted the rail connection to the main line. It needed a possession, temporary reconnection via track slew, and multiple shunts back and forth to get everything out, and that only happened because they wanted the land for redevelopment. Even then, it's a wonder they didn't just cut everything up where it was. I think we have to thank Andrew Goodman for that, and probably the presence of a couple of exceptionally rare vintage bodies which were deemed to be too important to lose.
    It's a brick building... too small to be of any practical use if it were to be relocated, which anyway would be frighteningly expensive, and surely it's industrial and archeological interest is best served by being on its original site? Not everything has to be cleaned up and sanitised for interpretation.
     
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  10. D7076

    D7076 Well-Known Member

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    Ex MOD now the Llangollen carriage and dmu shed at Pentrefelin .
     

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