Trains at: Didcot Parkway, GWML, 26/10/2020

A fantastic afternoon spent at Didcot Parkway where we see no end of services from Great Western Railway, Cross Country and freight from Freightliner, GBRF and DB Cargo UK.

Didcot Parkway was built and opened by the Great Western Railway in 1844. When First built the station was simpky known as Didcot. It wasn't until 1985 when British Rail renamed the station due to the then new bus link that was brought in. Thus making it a parkway station.

The town of Didcot owes is growth and success to the coming of the railway, as the same year as the station being opened the line towards Oxford was also opened. This allowed greater ease of access for passengers and freight alike which meant the local economy was able to grow which meant more people could move out of the louder areas of the country and move to a relatively small community. But this eventually became a sprawling town with markets a plenty and houses popping up all over the place.

There was another line that lived here before it closed. This was the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway. This line saw a connection from the Great Western Mainline down to Southampton via Newbury, Highclere, Winchester and Eastleigh. This line though finally saw the end of its life in 1962 just before the infamous Dr Beeching report saw the closure of hundreds of rural lines across the UK. Many of which are actually in the process of being brought back into working life.

There used to a regular commuter service running to Swindon from Didcot Parkway that would call at Steventon, Wantage Road, Challow, Uffington, Shrivenham and Stratton Park. This was run up until 1964 when the service was terminated. Which then resulted in the closure of those stations.

1985 saw the current station building opened along with a 600 space car park to make the station more accessible, it would also serve as an entrance for the Park and Ride buses to pull into which would also aim to take traffic off the city Centre roads. This has still worked to this day and is very successful, however A new multi story car park is currently being built to the West of the station.

Unfortunately because of how November ended up along with the vast majority of December it does mean that this will be my final film of the year, I wished I could have gone to Clapham Junction to see the year out as I always do but sadly that just wasn't possible this time. However I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for continuously supporting my channel over this last year. This year has been Absolutely horrible for so many and I hope that my films have managed to bring some joy and happiness into your lives this year. I treat every one of you like my family and I truly wish each and every one one you a truly magical Christmas despite the news that so many of us have seen lately. I will be back next year with some more Trains At content, but at this time I can't say when I will be making my return. January is going to be a hard month for all of us, but please don't feel like you have to sit in silence, talk to as many people as you can and I promise you things will get better. Once again guys and girls thank you all so very much for supporting me this year and I look forward to getting back into the saddle for you all next time round.

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Stay safe out there everyone. I'll see you all very soon!!!