Model Railway Monthly International Online

GWR Didcot InterCity Depot! An early morning visit to @didcotrailwayc — where a @GWRHelp IET has arrived at this former steam depot alongside the preserved GWR locos, and ventured up the “demonstration” line as far as Oxford Road platform. A team inc @GWRHelp @GBRailfreight & @networkrail has been working to trial the occasional & complex temp stabling of units here for when blockades of Paddington occur (& some services divert to @NetworkRailEUS ) due to @HS2ltd Old Oak Common station construction over the next few years - starting this Winter. The block at OOC means that North Pole Depot, where all units currently have their regular check-ups, can’t be accessed easily - so the stock needs to go somewhere else secure. Today’s trial shows that there is room for a few units, as hoped. Further locations are currently being trialled across GWR as well. Track surveys were earlier in week- volunteers made PW repairs so the unit could come in for the tests. The OOC issue is not ideal - but today is a brilliant example of where an extremely gnarly problem is being solved by people from right across the railway thinking laterally and co-operatively. It’s also meant that young volunteers at the Centre, keen to work in the industry, are meeting rail staff & getting experience; the Great Western Society gets a useful income stream too. Passenger info on the disruption, btw, is here gwr.com/travel-informa…

It's lineside vegetation time. Again. @GarethDennis @railnigel @RAIL @PaulCliftonBBC @christianwolmar @ASLEFunion @MickWhelanASLEF @RMTunion