Didcot Railway Centre

19/06/2026

Today, 19 June, is the anniversary of the birth in 1566 of the future King James I of England. King class locomotive No 6011 was named after him, and this photograph by C F H Oldham shows ‘King James I’ with an express train at Hatton on 4 August 1956.

James I was the son of Mary Queen of Scots. His mother was forced to abdicate when James was 13 months old, and he became King James VI of Scotland. He succeeded to the throne of England in 1603, on the death of his cousin Queen Elizabeth I. She was the last Tudor monarch, and James was the first of the Stuart dynasty. He continued to reign in Scotland as James VI, and James I in England, until his death in 1625.

18/06/2026

This month 75 years ago, June 1951, Britannia class 4-6-2 No 70019 ‘Lightning’ was built at Crewe Works. A British Railways Standard design, she was one of the members of the class allocated to the Western Region.

This photograph by John Ashman shows No 70019 departing from Reading in the early 1950s, with the 1.18pm train from Paddington to Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. The leading coach is a concertina brake third dating from 1906. The name ‘concertina’ is because the doors are recessed to keep the handles within the loading gauge, giving a concertina appearance.

17/06/2026

On this day in history – 17 June 1957, the inaugural run of The Mayflower train was made, named after the Pilgrim Fathers’ ship which sailed from Plymouth for America in 1620. This train was the 8.30am Paddington to Plymouth and the 5.30pm for the return service. This photograph, by E W Fry, shows the London-bound train near Hungerford on 26 June 1957 behind King class locomotive No 6018 ‘King Henry VI’. The coaches are BR Mk1 stock in chocolate and cream livery.

The train name was withdrawn in June 1965 but has been used sporadically since. One such occasion was from 5 May 1970 to mark the 350th anniversary of the sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth in the ‘Mayflower’.

16/06/2026

Our Tuesday Treasure this week from the Great Western Trust collection a small leaflet detailing the policy for dog fares in the 1930s. To read the full blog please click on the link: bit.ly/DRC-Treasure and scroll down to Tuesday 16 June.

The emotive title “Don’t leave me with strangers” is guaranteed to pull the heartstrings of dog lovers feeling guilt at planning to put their pet in kennels while they enjoy a holiday.

Interestingly enough, railway companies today which are considered to charge high fares to travel, allow each passenger to take two dogs free of charge!

15/06/2026

100 years ago today, on 15 June 1926, this photograph was taken of 2-6-2T No 4403 shunting at Princetown station on Dartmoor, one of the Great Western Railway’s more isolated locations.

No 4403 had been built in October 1905 at Wolverhampton Works, originally with the number 3103. There were 11 engines in the 44XX class, with 4ft 1½in diameter coupled wheels. The similar, but more numerous 45XX class had coupled wheels six inches larger in diameter. No 4403 was withdrawn in January 1953.

Princetown was the location of Dartmoor prison. The branch line trains saw some prisoners, chained and escorted, en route for the prison.

25 years before this photograph was taken, on 13 June 1901, there had been high drama on the Princetown branch. The driver of a goods train from Princetown to Yelverton saw two men in their shirtsleeves near the line who looked like convicts from Dartmoor prison. The train was stopped and the driver, fireman, guard and two men working nearby went off in pursuit of the convicts.

They caught up with them but were threatened with being shot. All they had to defend themselves was a shunting pole and the convicts ran off and disappeared on the moor. A hundred people with sporting dogs later searched for the escapees, Frith and Silvester, both of whom were recaptured within four days. One was found near the house of Sir Massey Lopes, a director of the GWR, who gave his name to Bulldog class 4-4-0 No 3423 (later No 3371).

15/06/2026

14/06/2026

On this day in history – 14 June 1913, the ‘Terra Nova’ docked at Cardiff at the completion of Captain Scott’s ill-fated and controversial Antarctic expedition, having sailed home from New Zealand. Among the ship’s crew were a number of the expedition’s dogs, shown in this photograph published in the Great Western Railway Magazine. The caption describes them as ‘Eskimo Dogs’, although other sources describe the breed as Siberian Huskies.

The dogs were due to be taken to taken to Cardiff General station to be sent on to pre-arranged homes, but were very restless on arrival and didn’t take to dry land in Cardiff at all. One escaped by smashing its kennel but was recaptured by one of the party. They were eventually successfully carried by GWR to their destinations.

Cardiff was the port from which the ‘Terra Nova’ had set sail with a crew of 57 at the start of the expedition three years previously.
Captain Scott and his four companions on the final push to the South Pole had reached their objective on 17 January 1912, using dogs to haul sledges part of the way there. But they found that the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beaten them by a few weeks. Scott and his companions then died from exhaustion and lack of food on the return from the pole to the ship.

14/06/2026

Our second dog story today reports on the community performance at Slough station yesterday (Saturday 13 June) to celebrate Station Jim, described as Slough’s “best loved hound”. Station Jim’s career as a collecting dog during the 1890s for the Great Western Railway’s Widows and Orphans Fund was told in a presentation on the station forecourt; Station Jim was played by a puppet dog complete with collecting pouch. The real Station Jim was preserved by a taxidermist after his death in 1896, and carefully restored last year to be unveiled in a new display case on the station.

13 June, it was pointed out, was also the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s first railway journey, from Slough to Paddington in 1842.

12/06/2026

On this day in history – 12 June 1944 is the date on the back of this print of Weymouth harbour. In peacetime the harbour would be busy with Great Western Railway passenger and cargo ships serving the Channel Islands. A week earlier it was crowded with vessels preparing for the D-Day invasion. Now they have crossed the channel to the Normandy beaches, and Weymouth appears curiously empty.

11/06/2026

This month in history, June 1903, “Kruger” class 2-6-0 No 2610 was outshopped new from Swindon Works. She was the last of the imposing goods locomotives that were short lived. They were built between 1899 and 1903 and there were only ten of them. The boiler had a Belpaire firebox that was continued forward as a combustion chamber.

The boilers experienced trouble with expansion and the success of the “Aberdare” class 2-6-0s meant that the “Krugers” were withdrawn after a short life. All were withdrawn by the beginning of 1907, No 2610 going in August 1906.

This photograph was taken at Southall engine shed, and behind No 2610 is the prototype of the large 2-6-2T prairie tanks, No 99, built in September 1903. She was the forerunner of a successful class which was built right up until the end of the 1940s. Nos 4144 and 6106 preserved at Didcot are direct descendants of No 99.