{"id":35361,"date":"2025-02-06T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=35361"},"modified":"2025-02-06T14:17:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T14:17:07","slug":"beautiful-steam-engines-vintage-carriages-and-industrial-history-at-the-didcot-railway-centre-in-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/beautiful-steam-engines-vintage-carriages-and-industrial-history-at-the-didcot-railway-centre-in-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Beautiful steam engines, vintage carriages and industrial history at the Didcot Railway Centre &#8211; in photos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-01.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For anyone interested in Britain&#8217;s railway heritage, steam engines and signalling (and you can count me in for all three) this is an absolutely brilliant day out.<\/p>\n<p>Located about an hour from central London via Paddington station, the Didcot Railway Centre lets you explore a unique collection of\u00a0 steam locomotives, carriages, wagons, buildings and small artefacts.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-02.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Situated on the 21-acre site of a former Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point, the living museum offers steam train rides on certain days, along with tons of fascinating exhibits.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s some of the things you can see:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-03.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a short branch line connecting the quaint Didcot Halt to a platform, named Burlescombe Station, located next to the transshipment shed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-04.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The lavish carriage interior,<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-05.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-06.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-07.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dating from broad gauge days, this shed was used for transferring goods from broad to &#8220;narrow&#8221; gauge rolling stock and vice versa.<\/p>\n<p>Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1838, broad gauge was used by the Great Western Railway until 1892., with the rails being 7 ft 1\u20444 in (2,140 mm) apart.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-09.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A replica brad gauge engine stands on the left hand platform.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-08.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The GWR autocoach (or auto-trailer) train arrives.<\/p>\n<p>Designed by the Great Western Railway, these push-pull trains are powered by a steam locomotive and feature a driving cab at one end, allowing the driver to control the train without needing to be in the steam loco cab. This eliminates the need to run the engine round to the other end of the coach at the end of each journey.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-10.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Mixed gauge tracks lead out of the station.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-11.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-12.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-13.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A look inside the autcoach.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-14.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Arriving at another small halt, with a GWR style &#8216;pagoda&#8217; hut.<\/p>\n<p>My home village of Rhiwbina in Cardiff used to have<a href=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/railway-archive-photos-the-cardiff-to-coryton-branch-line-in-the-1960s-and-1980s\/\"> something similar.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-15.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On Midsummer\u2019s Day, the 24th of June 1914, \u00a0the poet Edward Thomas made a\u00a0\u00a0journey from London to Ledbury on a steam train which stopped at\u00a0Adlestrop, a\u00a0tiny settlement on the border between Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n<p>The Lambeth-born, Anglo Welsh poet later recalled the sights and sounds of that hot summer afternoon in a rather wonderful short poem\u00a0called \u2018Adlestrop\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/one-hundred-years-on-adlestrop-train-commemorates-the-evocative-edward-thomas-poem\/\">Read more here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-16.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Despite the fact that the entire site is hemmed in by active BR tracks, there&#8217;s plenty to see at the Railway Centre.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-17.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-18.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-25.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Carriage restoration works,<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-24.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-21.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-19.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Inside the loco shed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-22.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-23.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-26.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-27.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-28.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-29.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-30.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-31.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The signalling centre lets you control nearby semaphore signals, which brought me far more pleasure than expected.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-32.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-33.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-34.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/pics\/didcot-museum-photos-35.jpg\" alt=\"Steam engines, vintage carriages and history at the Didcot Railway Centre\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>More info<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Didcot Railway Centre<\/a><br \/>\nNext to Didcot railway station<br \/>\nOxfordshire<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk\/article.php\/3\/plan-your-visit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Plan your visit<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk\/section.php\/2\/1\/whats-on\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What&#8217;s on<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Didcot_Railway_Centre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wiki entry<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For anyone interested in Britain&#8217;s railway heritage, steam engines and signalling (and you can count me in for all three) this is an absolutely brilliant day out. Located about an &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[456,17,90],"tags":[2794,1754,883,60,370,18,1195,1200,2081,125,231],"class_list":["post-35361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-photos","category-railways","tag-didcot-railway-centre","tag-great-western-railway","tag-gwr","tag-history","tag-oxfordshire","tag-photography","tag-photos","tag-railways","tag-steam-locomotive","tag-steam-train","tag-trains"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/didcot-museum-photos-01.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pQI7P-9cl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35361"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35429,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35361\/revisions\/35429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}