The Joy of Small Engines (A Visit to Didcot Railway Centre)
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Small is beautiful. Or, tiny things please tiny minds. As you please.
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“…that made Tolkien look lazy.” HAHAHAHAHA I love this 😂
I agree ☝️
it gets better when you realise thats true. The Rev had far too much spare time.
@@upthebracket26 That's what I was going to say! I've spent hours on the wiki because I don't have the expansion lore books
Them’s fighting words.
Didcot is absolutely fantastic! Not a barrier in sight, just common sense to keep away if they happen to be moving a huge engine through the yard!
I have no idea how they’ve managed to keep this up in 2023, but long may it continue!
They normally have a guy walking ahead if an engine is moving.
That is Sadiq Khan's dream for all cars in London.
@@JagoHazzard Does he carry a red flag? :P
What on earth is Brunell's Atmospheric Railway? Here I go down another rabbithole!
A delight to watch, Mr. Hazzard (as usual!). YES PLEASE to the projected "Thomas the Tank Engine" video. Looking forward to it!!
As a childhood fan of Thomas the Tank Engine I second this
Thirded!
Fourthed!
Indeed/10
Another vote from a serious rail nerd for Thomas The Tank engine videos please. Wouldn’t it be great if the original Thomas videos were rereleased with Jago doing the voice overs.
I like steam trains, and I can not lie,
Please do explore more of these compact locomotives. The early electric and diesel locomotives would be most welcome also.
Amazing that these survive and are even operational 160+ years after being built, especially considering the tools and manufacturing methods of the time, and how many parts would have been individually fabricated and fitted by hand...Really is a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the builders of the era.
Beautiful stuff, Jago..Thanks for the share...Everybody give a LIKE 👍
And the skill and craftsmanship of the people who make new parts and fit them and those who know how to maintain them.
WTC loco Jane was originally called Shannon after the locos owner, and Sandy and Potton Railway owner - Sir William Peel VC , its named after his ship HMS Shannon. But Sir William never got to see the railway completed.
Is that HMS Shannon the famous frigate which captured the USS Chesapeake in that glorious action, or a later ship?
@JohnyG29 1812 ship is Chesapeake one, Sir William Peel's 1855 Liffey-class steam frigate
Under the command of Sir William Peel, Shannon played an important role in the Indian Mutiny landing a naval brigade which fought at the Siege of Lucknow, including the Storming of the Sikandar Bagh. Five Victoria Crosses were won by the following crew of HMS Shannon: Lieutenant Thomas Young, Lieutenant Nowell Salmon, Leading Seaman John Harrison, Able Seaman Edward Robinson and Able Seaman William Hall, the first Black person and the first Canadian sailor to be awarded a Victoria Cross.[1] Peel was wounded in the leg during the secondand the first Canadian sailor to be awarded a Victoria Cross.[1] Peel was wounded in the leg during the second relief of Lucknow, and was brought to Cawnpore, where he died of smallpox, having commanded Shannon's naval brigade during the campaign.
I grew up in London a short walk from Kings Cross station and most Sunday afternoons my dad would take me to look at the trains at the Cross. In those days the drivers would let you into the cab and show you around it was just magic.
I second the request for a deeper dive into the backstory of the world of Thomas the Tank Engine! Thank you so much for your videos, AND your jaunty, gentle, humorous delivery style.
Yes, the Didcot Railway Centre is absolutely amazing. It only lacks a connecting run of track so that these amazing trains could run a few miles. The trains remind me a bit of old fashioned zoos, where wild beasts were kept in very small cages.
"Technologically Superseded" - sounds about me too. The condition of my firebox affects my likelihood of steaming too.
I find it kind of interesting and amusing to think of the early days of Sodor as kind of the "Island of Misfit Engines", with most of the first six being oddballs and prototypes of varying success. It wasn't until Toby came along as #7 that Awdry settled fully into basing his engines on real examples (fun fact: Toby actually was a real GER/LNER J70 tram engine, the same one that Awdry visited and got a cab ride on during a holiday to Ipswich). One has to wonder what other railways thought of the North Western in those early times; "Oh yes, that's where all the strange engines go."
Lovely video otherwise, Jago. Always a pleasure to see steam out and about, especially the little ones. I do have to ask though: While you were looking at Furness #20, that wasn't snow falling, was it? Snow, in May? Your island's weather is weird.
There was snow, torrential rain and blazing sun all on the same day. Yes, our weather is weird.
Thank you for showing No5. My Uncle fired it at Shildon in 1975. A great little loco. I hope to get it back to Shildon for the 200th anniversary
In the early days of the Didcot Railway Centre when there were not so many operational locos, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was almost vital to the centre, being in regular use for shunting the stock around. As the name is quite long, it was usually just called "BPC" for short.
More of Didcot, please. I've always had a soft spot for the GWR railcars and autocoaches, which I saw shots of in passing.
Little engines can do big things.
Little engines are cute!
Not far from Didcot is the Pendon Museum at Long Wittenham with it's amazing landscape modelling depicting the 1930's and GWR (and other) appropriate trains. If you get a chance, Jago, give it a visit.
I love the pannier tanks. I prefer early electrics over steam though. I’d love a Thomas video, but the fans can be a bit annoying.
Exactly how I feel. Give me a class 85, or a Woodhead electric...but as far as steam engines go, the Pannier tanks are my favourite..
@@BibtheBoulder Im from the Northeast US so Id probably go with a GG1 or a NYC T motor
Really a place worth to visit. I went there twice and it's really one of the best heritage railway places in the UK.
As a side note I'd heard of the atmospheric railway but didn't expect the pipe to be that big.
It had to be big because the pressure wasn't very high.
I didn't expect the pipe to be so SMALL. How did the train fit through?
@@ianrogers8834 Brunell the Younger had some funny ideas, but he wasn't Musk.
@@ianrogers8834 This pipe is small, that pipe is far away.....
My family and I are from New York. We were in London for the week and just visited the Didcot Railway Centre, because my son and I wanted to see/ride a steam engine under steam and Didcot was very convenient and seemed to have a substantial collection. We were not disappointed. We got to ride the King George and saw many beautifully preserved locomotives and carriages, as well as the switching display and the museum. The staff were cheerful and helpful. The GWR passenger train from Paddington on Sunday was packed, w/some people having to stand due to cancelled trains, but we ended up taking a local back that was mostly empty. Ironically, the slower local train allowed better sightseeing on the way. Both trains were clean. All in all, very reasonable cost for a great experience if you love trains as we do,
I got rather excited (I know, I should get out more) about 2:30 into this video when you mentioned the engine that was used by a company in Barrow, and eventually given to a school, before finally being restored. I remembered my friend, who grew up in Barrow, telling me about an old engine she and her friends used to play on - she used to climb into the funnel! The engine was eventually restored, and she got to ride on the footplate while it was being housed at Durham (I think.) I sent her the link to this video, and she says it is indeed the very same engine - we might have to take a trip to Didcot to see it again 😊
Shannon Place in Potton commemorates the little locos heritage. Her shed building is listed and still survives to this day.
9:16 fun fact that probably didn't know - GWR 3822 aswell as a flatbed wagon was loaned to Queen in 1989 for use in their Break Thru music video. She (as well as the wagon) was painted in a fictious livery and delivered to the Nene Valley Railway for filiming
Yes, please more Didcot coverage, it and the Swindon 'Steam' museum are both brilliant at showing in slightly different ways the Brunel/GWR story.
Didcot has lots of great engines/locomotives and you can see the evolution of GWR's locomotives large and small.
I love small locomotives, 0-4-0 and 0-6-0's, but for me Collet's 57XX Pannier Tanks and it's successors has to be one of the best 0-6-0's so versatile and long lived.
I'd love to see 18000, the 'Kerosene Castle' running again in one form or another. I didn't know they had a Diesel Hydraulic Western, D1023, a great looking locomotive.
YES YES YES do more of this sort of thing too.
Just come across this one showing it was posted 5 days ago. And 5 days ago, I was at the Didcot Railway Centre! So now it's like I have a souvenir video of my trip (even though I realise Jago wasn't actually there on that day).
I can't express enough how much I would enjoy it if you did a video covering Thomas and the engines etc
Loved my day at Didcot, rode in the engine running back and forth with a brilliant crew, awesome lads as us Americanos say! Truly worth the visit whilst in England!
YES I WOULD LIKE A VIDEO DRAWING PARALLELS WITH THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE.
Sorry if I sounded subtle.
Or even parallels with "Sans Pareil".
I love the character of these engines, and it's great seeing them actually steaming. Yes please to more on both Thomas the Tank Engine and Didcot.
From the perspective of a railfan in North America, all British trains look small when you walk up to them. Even an American 4-6-0, like Northern Pacific no. 328 (in preservation by Minnesota Transportation Museum), obsolete when Rogers built her in 1905, weighs over 75 tons, not including the tender. An LNER A-4, state of the art in the 1935, weighs 115 tons without tender. Plus NP 328 is nearly 15 feet tall, compared to just 13 feet for an LNER A4 like Mallard. I like how the crew seems to barely fit inside a British loco compared to the roomy environs of an American railway cab. British trains are fascinating.
A video on the diesel railcars would be extremely interesting - please go for it!🙏
Yes please! More Didcot would be fabulous!
Jago, that was an absolute delight.
Thank you! I have always loved the smaller work type engines.
Don't forget the Avonside trains were used on The Corringham Light Railway from 1917 to its demise and subsequent pick up by Mobil Oil Company in Coryton, Essex before being sold for scrap some years later.
You can never talk enough about thomas
I think a video about the first 6 locos of the RWS if not the main 11 would be great. What about some of the other historical references? Not only covering engines, like the background of the starting companies, and some of the general pre-rail history or why the island has its own bishop.
The beginning of the video shows the view from a train towards Oxford. This line has been closed at Nuneham Viaduct between Culham and Radley stations since 3 April 2023 due to movement of the bridge. It had been known to have problems for a while, and there were unsuccessful attempts to fix it, and immediately before the closure there was a 5 mph speed restriction over the bridge. The line is expected to reopen on 10 June.
I've always had a soft spot for the Cardiff and Alexandra Dock engines. The interesting thing about both railways is that they could both be seen as failures, they tried to emulate the Barry Railway - but could never quite pull it off.
I would love to find out more about engines that had a part to play in the Thomas stories. For example, I believe that Stepney in the stories was based on Stepney that is now located on the Bluebell Railway.
Thank you. I could spend hours watching steam trains trundling along.
One of the nicknames of the GWR,in the bad old days,was the GREAT WAY ROUND,as before the 1920's,and Mr.Pole,they hadn't built the cutoffs to shorten the distance to Bristol! The major one,was the line through Westbury,if memory serves,and they had several freight cutoffs too,ala the Pennsylvania Railroad! And as aside,Swindon was the Broad Guage side,and Wolverhampton was the Narrow gauge manufacturing side! Gooch,and Armstrong were the two powers in charge,a most interesting history! Jago,have fun,the GWR,as the LNWR had a really interesting set of characters making up their locomotive side! Throw in the North Eastern,and you've got many a video,just to cover the main points! Old locomotives,history,and an occasional side trip to the Tube,you'll be at it for years!! Thank you 😇! 😇! P.S. There is more than passing references to American influences on British engines,and vice versa,as to put it mildly,cross fertilization abounded,but some were more subtle than others! Again thank you 😊 🙏 ☺️!
I'm considering visiting Didcot when I visit the UK next year, and this has just tipped me over to definitely seeing it. Also, a Trains of Thomas video (or series? 😉) would be awesome, yes and please.
Sharp Stewart does sound like a business acquaintance of everybody's favourite transport entrepreneur Charles T Yerkes
A Thomas the Tank Engine video would do really well I'd reckon, most people who aren't steam engine nerds (myself included) can best relate to them via the show and the books. I'm sure there'll be plenty of people outside of this channel's normal viewership who'd like it.
I'd love to see more videos of Didcot! I went with my dad about 4 years ago and, whilst you can see everything and have a little nosey, to actually appreciate the history of each of the locos and exhibits would take you weeks! I'd love to see a video on 18000, too!
Great video!
Very interested in those 1930s GWR railcars - their engineering, the rationale behind them etc.
They were the predecessors to the AEC and BUT railcars, on which BR first generation DMU classes were based.
@@thomasburke2683 AEC built some of them so I don't know what class you were referring to when you mentioned AEC predecessors
It's a lovely place for all ages.❤
Yes please, i'd love to see your take on the nation's favourite railway (the North Western Railway (Isle of Sodor) that is). I'd love to hear your explanation of Henry's origins
Worth noting that fellow TH-cam content creator The Unlucky Tug made his custom OO Scale Percy model with the headcanon that he was not, in fact, Trojan, but Cardiff Railway #5/ GWR 1338's identical twin, #6/#1339, which, considering Percy's origin, is still equally as plausible as Trojan.
If you do get around to that Railway Series characters video, a collaboration with The Unlucky Tug would fit SO WELL, since he's like, the loudest voice in the adult T&F fandom on TH-cam
Whilst I think the GWR is a bit overrated compared to most other railways, I must confess their locos still look great and have a fascinating history. Definitely going to visit didcot one day.
I'd also love to see some content on the Furness Railway at somepoint; I don't hear many rail enthusiasts going into detail about it or anything important on the engines, lines and locations.
Also yes please to the Thomas video.
Sharp Stewart sounds like a Card Sharp in a Penny Dreadful.
While the tracks are short, there is no shortage of content at Didcot. You can practically spend the entire time it’s open there.
I knew a shunter at Crewe once and they used to call him Sharp Steward. Steward and his copper knob got Jane steaming once again, unlikely as that had seemed until it actually happened. Good times.
Ooh err, missus.
Fascinating to see the similarities and differences between British and American steam. Great video.
Thank you for the tour Jago ! And yes please, do keep 'm coming 👍.
Yes please more on Heritage Railways 😊 I’m still glowing from my ride on the Flying Scotman at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway yesterday. It is my nearest sizeable heritage railway to Leeds in West Yorkshire, famous for being the location for filming the Railway Children, amongst other things.
If you do fancy doing a video on The Railway Series, you might already know that the East Lancs Railway do Thomas the Tank Engine days, including a real blue steam train with a face attached to the front.
A few years ago, they lost the Thomas licence and created their own k̶n̶o̶c̶k̶o̶f̶f̶ completely original characters with faces on trains, but know they're back to doing Thomas himself.
I've been to Didcot twice so far, last time I rode on the GWR steam railcar and was very impressed with the work done to it.
I read years ago that Shannon was saved by the GWR to make up for scrapping Fair Rosamund which was the Woodstock branch loco. The locals in Woodstock tried to save their loco but the GWR wasn't having it so scrapped it. It gave them a lot of bad publicity so they saved Shannon to make up for it
Love the sound of a Thomas video. Have done many a visit to Didcot and referred to those trains as "percy trains" with my son
Yes, please do cover things like the diesel railcars. Perhaps you could strike out into new and (in my view) interesting territory such as railway accounting. The diesels were presumably meant to try and cut down on the costs of passenger branch-line services. How did the GWR (which also ran connecting buses and, at one point, a bus which could run on rails) look at the costs vs income of such services? Did they take into account 'contributory revenue' (i.e. the additional ticket sales on the main line which the branch connected people to) which Beeching is widely regarded as having ignored?
Yes please, some more Thomas and friends on here! The Reverend Awdry did a lot to revive interest in the railways, even if he did seem to have a bit of a downer on Diesels! top Vid, Jago!
I'd love a video about Thomas! He is probably the reason I like the railway.
"If we want a video about Thomas the tank engine and friends." Silly Q, and please don't forget Toby the steam tram.
I have spent 45 years trying to forget Toby the Tram.
YES ‼️ I would be very much interested in hearing more about the real engines behind Thomas the Tankengine ❤❤
I have a thing about the 57XX's and the GWR. I think H H Gasson's books (Footplate Days, Signalling days etc) caught me at a vulnerable age. Didcot is a Mecca. I could have a ball there. Bingo! Sorry. That was an awful pun ;)
Yes you could do stuff on Thomas. Whereas much of the planet was brought up on Thomas and Harry Potter, I was Discworld and Ivor the Engine (also Captain Pugwash, Rhubarb and Custard) so mainstream humanity escaped me. But how places and things inspire authors and how reality flows and is bent to fit the public consciousness is just as good a subject.
So if Terry Pratchett can imagine a condom machine in Middle Earth, then the convoluted history of an 0-4-0 should be no sweat for the Rev Audrey and much more family friendly.
(The Kingdom of Sodor and Man. Wow. Now that is a name. And it's cool that it's real. The Northern end was the last place to become part of Scotland after the Battle of Largs was rained off in 1263 and sent King Hakon packing).
Ah the Harold Gasson books are truly fantastic, and of course, Didcot is the yard he was based in. Wouldn't it have been wonderful to have similar books written 100 years earlier by the pioneering enginemen? Of course, many couldn't read or write well, and the thought of one of them writing a book would have most likely have been seen as heretic!
Delightful! Love it. Back in the 70s I used to volunteer at the Bowes Railway, with its gravity incline rope haulage system and a little Andrew Barclay tank.
Would love to see more from Didcot. Another fascinating glimpse. Thanks for sharing.
I for one would love to hear more about the engines here.
I’d also be interested to hear your take on some of the Thomas the tank engine retconning. As I recall, among others, Gordon was meant to be an A1, Henry was a failed prototype rebuilt as a black 5, and Thomas himself was supposedly modeled on…an E2, I think. As a young train nerd, I enjoyed the variety, but now that I’m older and more boringly practical, part of me can’t help but Imagine the logistics of trying to run a railway with motive power comprised entirely of odd little one-offs.
"...whose visual basis had mostly been created by illustrators with a non-technical background."
That would explain why they have faces.
Now I come to think of it, yes it would.
John T. Kenney is my favourite Awdry illustrator. He did the best faces.
I really enjoyed my own visit to DIdcot and it's on my list to re-visit the next time I'm in the UK. Would absolutely like to see more.
Hello 👋 subscriber here! I recognised Trojan as Persie before you mentioned it. Yes, I'd like to see a video based on the Thomas the tank engine stories.
In one of the stories, it says that Gordon is from the same family as The Flying Scotsman. Also there's a unit at the Swanage railway that I recognised as Daisy.
Thank you very much for your fun and funny series of videos. They are very much appreciated.
"...and not just nice people like the government or the police." Jago, your sense of humour should be served on Ryvita.
Very nice, Mr Hazzard - I would certainly like to hear more about the locomotives (and other artefacts) in Didcot!!!
Shannon had been the ship pf Sir Robert Peel's brother who had been instrumental in building the Sandy and Potton railway.
I for one would be absolutely fascinated by a more in-depth video about Thomas the Tank Engine related engines. I’d also be very much interested in a video about the diesels mentioned at the end of this video.
Didcot is really not very far from me, I should make the effort to get there more often.
There’s a rainy theme prevailing through the recent videos, whatever rain is (currently in Scotland, no rain here. Seriously, no rain, slight issue really). Lovely video, thanks. I’m sure they have a slip coach in Didcot, very interesting concept.
Brilliant video, more please.
Knowing what the fandom is like I don't doubt they'll want a more in-depth look at the real-life bases of the characters of Thomas even though it's been done a million times before. Though I'd still be curious to hear your opinions on some of the odd-ball semi-fictitious locomotives like Percy. (If you'd like someone to help with research on that topic I'd be happy for you to reach out to me!)
Talking trains aside, I'd definitely be down to see more from the Didcot railway Centre, or any other heritage collection for that matter. Including stuff about diesels. I feel like not enough love is given to heritage diesels over steam engines, especially by some of the older generation that seem jaded that diesels outright replaced steam engines even if it was before their lifetimes.
I live near Didcot and now it's on my to do list. Thanks
"Smol" 🚂🚂🚂🚂. A neighbor of mine has a few small Steam and Diesel Locomotives in back yard 🤪😋. He owns NUMEROUS Automotive and Industrial Scrapyards.
A lovely video. I remember going to DIdcot for a couple of days. It was worth the time to look all around the place.
If you have enough footage, a video about the gas turbine loco would be interesting 👍.
"Yes please"
More visits to the museum please!
Thanks for this Jago; please do another run through of these lovely old engines; we need to see and understand where the railways came from and the progress through railway history.
It would be interesting to see your take on which real life basis Thomas & friends characters drew inspiration from
Jago, can you and Drach consider making a Collab about the Jellico Specials, coal trains for the Grand Fleet in WW1?
Let’s keep these videos coming, always some interesting nuggets that pop up. Hell I even watch your sponsor videos as you usually get a good gag or two in them.
You are the encyclopaedia to our Brittanica.
Cheers
Great video! - the Didcot Railway Centre is fantastic! Those tiny tank locomotives 1338 and 1340 look very much like the L&Y Pug locomotives but with shorter saddle tanks. Yes please, do also talk about the diesels!!!
Loved all the coverage - well done!
There is plenty of material housed at Didcot for many more videos. I would be quite interested in that GWR railcar, I know that there is another one on display at the National Rail Museum in York.
Very nice. A video on the diesels would be awesome.
As for Thomas, I'm sure you'd get loads more views than normal if you did a miniseries on the locos the RWS/TTTE locos were based on.
Would love to see more from the Didcot Railway Centre, Thanks Jago
Excellent video, jago! I’m very intrigued that the Furness loco was given to a school - what on earth were they meant to do with it? 😆
Any railway tales always gratefully received. Have you thought about tickets and ticket offices? There could be a story or two of interest.
Even Thomas Edmondson and his great invention should be enough for one video. The layout and architecture of booking offices, and how ticket issuing evolved, would be another.
Yes, I enjoyed that. Thank you.