Didcot Railway Centre

It's too wide for most of the network these days sadly, so I doubt mainline running will occur with it, unless it gets drastically altered as per 6024. The reduced height fittings were used when it went to Derby a few months ago, so even getting it out of Didcot is a struggle.

 

It wasn't about "too much bother". It basically just came down very very expensive for a very small annual mileage. The Mainline decision was - I recall - based on a number of factors:
- Not being a TOC, realistically any mainline running would need to be in conjunction with another organisation - probably VT.
- With the King and anything 2-cylindered out of gauge almost everywhere, the pool of viable locos was (and will continue to) shrink.
- Mainline would not cover costs, so a long-term income stream (aka fund raiser) would need to be in place.

The King has to go into cut-down mode to leave Didcot as it travels under the electrification through Didcot station to the loading bay in Milton Park. There are a couple of exhibits that - realistically - cannot now leave again post electrification.

I share the previous comments about "might just need a re-tube". I would love to be positively surprised!

I think I posted way back on this thread, but ideal is a 4-6-0 "namer" coming on stream every 5 years. S0 something to replace the Saint as she goes out of ticket is next up.

 

Does anyone know what's gone on with the DRC Facebook page? It seems to have vanished.

 

Got a conscience and decided not to have anything to do with American "tech bros"?

 

Usually, hacked and renamed.

 

Below from the GWS FB page

Hi everyone
You may have noticed that our official ‘Didcot Railway Centre’ Facebook page is out of action at the moment due to technical issues.
Whilst we attempt to recover this, please visit us here and like and share this information so we can get the word out.
Thank you!

 

It's back up and running with some new "on this day in history" articles

 

Didcot in miniature spotted earlier at a Lego festival in Bedford!

 

Any insights into what is going on re the Chief Executive post at Didcot? Railway museum head resigns amid reported power struggle

Oxford Mail 11th February 2026:
"The head of an Oxfordshire railway museum has resigned amid a reported power struggle at the organisation.
After five years as chief executive of Didcot Railway Centre, Clive Hetherington stood down on January 22 and has today (Wednesday, February 11) said this was because of a “change in governance”.
He added this change would have prevented him from delivering an agreed five-year plan, which he believes is vital to the charity’s success."

 

Just came across this

https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news...ail&utm_term=0_5a5428978b-8f233e6622-87741883

 

Not ideal, and a lesson to us all I think, particularly those who denigrate the family market for whatever reason

 

Ah, the old chestnut "are we a working, educational museum or are we a theme park complete with bouncy castles?". Discuss ad nauseum.

 

I didn't get that from the piece linked - rather a concern that in focusing on being a museum*, the ability to attract the families who will actually pay what's required was being lost. I also noticed worrying suggestions in that piece that trustees were trying to act as managers, rather than in their trustee capacity.

* - I may as well be the one to bring up the point that the number of recreations of extinct classes raises interesting challenges as to what a museum actually is.

 

Does it need to be a binary choice? The Bluebell run plenty of family friendly events, and I don't think they can really be accused of being a theme park, despite all the cartoon characters that appear. Railways can't rely on enthusiasts turning up and buying the occasional cup of tea and secondhand mag any more.

 

Please don’t be taken in by this nonsense. I’m usually the first person to be critical of the GWS management, but this article is not an accurate portrayal of the situation. The reality is more akin to some of the discussions in the NYMR thread.

"Since Hetherington took over in 2021 the charity’s income almost tripled from £1.32m in 2020-21 to £3.85m in 2024-25"

Because 2020 is a perfectly good year to use as a yardstick for business performance, right? …Right? But pandemic aside, a quick look on the Charities Commission website shows that during this period the income from donations and legacies increased from £731k to £2.5m.

Perhaps it might be better to leaving any spinning to the turntable.

 

There are 2 sides to every story. Legacy income of £2.2M to year to 31 Jan 2025 was conveniently overlooked. The only thing to increase in the last year was staff turnover. Trustee oversight is a key part of being a charity.

 

Let's hear the rest of the GWS side then please, as the Communications/Marketing Manager left three days after Clive according to his post on LinkedIn.

 

Oversight is; the article suggested rather more than mere oversight (the line "This decision follows a change in governance in which the non-executive board has begun acting in an executive capacity." was what rang alarm bells in my mind, even if the situation is as you and @Mr Valentine state. That is a path where, as trustees employing managers, great care has to be taken - an employment dispute is absolutely not in a charity's interests.

 

I've just had an email from Didcot (regarding a possible group visit) saying that another member of staff "left the company rather suddenly" and has not handed over any info about our enquiry to their colleagues before they went. Not sure if it's related to the other departure(s).