InfoBritain

 

Didcot Railway Centre, Oxfordshire

In the early 1830s Bristol was concerned about George Stephenson's recently opened Liverpool to Manchester railway. This was the world's first fully scheduled rail service for passengers and goods. Bristol was worried that the port of Liverpool would use its railway to enhance its status at the expense of its southern rival. Bristol had to keep up, by having its own railway running to London. A young engineer named Isambard Kingdom Brunel was in Bristol recuperating from an injury sustained in helping to build his father's revolutionary tunnel beneath the Thames at Rotherhithe. Brunel was in the right place at the right time. Seizing his opportunity he immediately surveyed a potential route, and was selected to build the Great Western Railway. Work started in 1835, and was completed in stages by June 1841.

The Didcot Railway Centre, once an important station on Brunel's Great Western Railway, has a collection which begins with the earliest days of rail. It is possible to sit in an open carriage behind the 1840s locomotive Fire Fly. There are many other exhibits tracing the story of engineers who developed the railways into the world's first mass transport system. Reflecting Didcot's place as part of the Great Western, most of the exhibits are connected with this famous network.

Bringing the story up to more recent times there are, on certain days, recreations of the experience of being evacuated by steam train during World War Two. With road transport virtually suspended during the war, the railways took over for the last time as Britain's main transport system. As part of this Second World War theme an authentic air raid shelter has been recreated with realistic audio effects.

 

 

Address: Didcot Railway Centre, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 7NJ

Opening Times: Open at weekends, and at other times of year detailed on the official web site. See link below.

Access: Entrance to the centre is via a flight of eighteen steps. This severely limits access for those with mobility problems. Providing a ramp would cost "three times the Centre's annual income." If the steps can be managed the Centre provides wheelchairs for visitor use.

Directions: Didcot Railway Centre is at Parkway Station in Didcot. Signposted from the M4 - junction 13, and from A34 and M40. Click here for an interactive map centred on Didcot Railway Centre.

Contact:

telephone: 01235 817200

web site: http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/index.html

Share