Revisiting Didcot

Having spent much of Saturday at Didcot Railway Centre's Victorian-themed weekend (entertaining and enjoyable - a pity the patronage appeared to be on the low side), I've taken the opportunity to make a few changes at the Didcot end of the layout. I'll be adding a few more small railway objects to what's already in place, and I've also started work on adding the 'backscene' to the railway triangle: with so much going on in the middle of the three sides of the triangle, it's easy to overlook what's beyond the railway. So my 'recce' on Saturday included taking in detail of the townscape. The foot- and roadbridge at the north junction are now pretty much in place: below is a shot of 66201 passing under the A4130 bridge en route to the Appleford stone terminal.


I've been toying with the idea of giving the main line a break for a few weeks while I concentrate on either the Bicester or the Cowley branch. The track is laid to Bicester and given that - once past Kidlington - the line runs through little more than countryside, this should be simple enough to complete. The Cowley branch will be more of a challenge, running as it does through the outer suburbs of Oxford, with some landmark scenery items along the way (Thames bridge, Sainsbury's and Tesco's supermarkets, Blackbird Leys towers, the Greyhound stadium and, of course, the BMW factory). On the other hand, the line is within spitting distance of my place of work, making site visits and photography extremely practical.