DIDCOT RAILWAY CENTRE
We’re so much more than just a train ride!
Explore the golden age of the Great Western Railway and savour the sights, sounds and smells of steam as you explore our 21 acre living museum which includes the largest collection of locomotives, vehicles and artefacts from any one single railway company in the world.
Stroll through our original 1932 engine shed which houses our collection of engines, our carriage shed with our extensive collection of coaches and wagons, and our transfer shed which houses our unique broad gauge exhibit. On some open days we also open our workshops so you can go behind the scenes and some of the projects we are working on.
We started in the most humble of settings. Four schoolboys were good friends and spent time together at Southall footbridge, which gave a magnificent vantage point over the GWR main line and entrance to the locomotive shed. The 4 loved to watch the trains coming and going and thought it would be a travesty if the fate of these beautiful engines was not preserved in some way. This being the pioneering era, the boys decided that if no one else was willing to do anything about this, they would. They would save a locomotive!
One of the four wrote a letter to The Railway Magazine. The letter was sent in April 1961 and published in August. It asked for support to raise the £1,130 needed to find the purchase of an engine. Money came in, and in May 1962, the Great Western Preservation Society was formed. By 1964 they had raised enough to purchase engine number 1466. The rest as they say, is history. To this day, we still own 1466, which is an integral part of our collection together with about 30 other locomotives, plus numerous other coaches, wagons and items of memorabilia a lot of which is displayed for the public to enjoy.
We have open days throughout the year, so see the calendar on our website for full details of these, together with our special events.
To book, visit www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Find, Follow & Contact Didcot Railway Centre
Didcot Railway Centre,
DIDCOT,
Oxfordshire,
England OX11 7NJ
TEL: +44 (0)1235-817200
info@didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk
