Didcot To Newbury (1)

 Today, The X34

But Then, A Train

If you were to visit the Didcot Railway Centre, you might spot this sign for a station on the long-closed branch line between Didcot and Newbury. Moreover, if you explore east from Didcot Parkway station, you might come across the Jubilee Way roundabout.

Just to the west of Jubilee Way and courtesy of Streetview, we espy two hearty souls who are walking down the ramp from a footpath and cycleway that used to be the Didcot to Newbury line.

Here is part of said path as it runs behind Didcot housing on Shannon Road, plus Severn, Kennet and Thames - looking north towards the GWR main line.

To attempt to put things in context, this old OS map extract shows the GWR line's exit from Didcot station, but well before Didcot suffered its population explosion!

The roundabout from the pictures above is where the line crosses Broadway, the RED road, and the BROWN road is Hagbourne Road. 

Here is a train leaving Didcot.

No 1 Son has cycled the route ...

... and the first station southbound was, indeed, Upton and Blewbury.

We can place this with reference to Harwell Atom Park.

The still-extant station building at Upton lies half hidden in trees on a short track off Station toad ...

... better pictured from further up the drive.

Even better ferroequinologically is an older view from the overbridge nearby.

Next the line passes the tiny stop at Churn.

This was a small and very isolated single platform halt with access only via an unmetalled downland sheep road. It was built as a temporary stop to accommodate a competition held by the National Rifle Association in 1888. However, from 1889 military summer camps were established near to the station which required the use of the halt as the only access to the site. Timetables provided that trains would not call at Churn unless prior notice had been given to the Stationmaster at Didcot.

You can just about see whare this halt was, using the YELLOW road end (on the map extract) as a guide.

Said road end is top left in the above aerial view.

Next we come to Compton.

Here Google Earth allow us to pick out the site of the station and the line of undergrowh where once ran the track.

Streetview has trundled down the lane and there in all its glory is the former station.

Also very much extant, and a road-narrows burden for motorists, is the overbridge bottom right of the aerial view.

Thanks to intrusive sunlight, the above is looking back towards the village. 

This train at Compton is travelling south towards Newbury and will soon cross the bridge

And here is the station, looking south towards Newbury.

Sweet.

But Compton could have been a junction station; if only .... ?

There was to have been a branch to East Illsley.

It is only two miles away and, by the standards of the day, that would be close enough for passengers to walk!

The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, like so many that emerged in the early days, had visions far too big for its financial boots. As the line progressed the Company teetered ever closer to bankruptcy.

It probably never made any profits of significance fot its over-optimistic investors.

So the branch to East Ilsley was dropped from the plans. The village was (and still is) cute and bucolic ...

... but you cannot see the revenue stream contribute more than a groat or two towards the perennially depleted coffers of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton!

fbb will complete his review of this little line on  Wednesday .

 No 3 Son Reaches The Airport - Sat 2nd Nov