Cholsey and Wallingford Railway - between Didcot Parkway and Reading

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Took advantage of the good weather (and my first Saturday morning off since Christmas) and went along and had a look.

It is a long while since I have been to the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway.  The last time I was there the ABM Maltsters building was still dominating the skyline!

[Image from here is not available to guests]
D9523 waits at Cholsey for passengers on an incoming FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service from Didcot

There's a small museum at the Wallingford end which has some nice artefacts from the line and tells the story of how the line was saved in the 1980s for preservation.

[Image from here is not available to guests]
D9523 prepares to run round its train at Wallingford

Seemed a reasonable attendance without being crowded, and Wallingford town centre - a short walk away - is worth having a look at too.

[autotank]

Glad you had a good time bobm - would you mind if I use your pictures on our social media sites? (Twitter & Facebook). Sadly I'm at work today, but will be going down tomorrow!

[bobm]

No problem.  I have sent you a PM.

[autotank]

Steam returned to the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway today for the first time in over a year in the form of 'Northern Gas Board No. 1' which is on hire for the next 2 years from the Darlington Railway Preservation Society. I had a go on the shovel this afternoon and was very impressed - I look forward to having a few more turns on her over the summer. Ivor was also fired up today at Wallingford ahead of a visit from the boiler inspector during the week. This means that for the first time in many years we could have two operational steam locomotives on the branch this summer. We're hoping to have them both in action on at least one day quite soon. Do come and pay us a visit if you can!

[Cynthia]

Whoopy doooooo!   I'll be there!

[bobm]

Having been with the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway Preservation Society in its early days when it was battling to get a level crossing included in the plans for the bypass or have the line cut in half, I am really pleased to see the progress it has made.

[autotank]

This Sunday and Monday for the first time in nearly 20 years we'll be running 2 steam engines together on the line! Normal timetable in operation but with lots of combinations throughout the day including double heading and banking. The line up is Peckett's 1555 (Ivor) and 2142 (Northern Gas Board No.1).

Free car parking at Wallingford Station or of course you can join us at Cholsey Station where we run out of the original bay platform 5. We swill usually wait for the xx37 up stoppers on Sundays.

[Busboy W1]

As some may have seen GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have yet another through ticketing product to a preserved railway that operates from a GWR station. The text below is from the Wallingford Rover leaflet available from some manned stations in the Thames Valley region:

The heritage that is preserved on this Branch line is entirely down to volunteers and in light of this GWR have worked with The Cholsey & Wallingford Railway to offer this exciting new product for customers. The line operates on various weekends throughout the year. During July 2016 the railway will at weekends operate to a high density timetable. The resident fleet will be in use with visiting locomotives operating at times.
In order to support The Cholsey & Wallingford Railway, Great Western Railway have developed an all-inclusive product that allows visitors to purchase their train ticket and admission elements at the same time.

Pricing
For the price of your ticket you get:
• Unlimited travel on the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.
The cost of your ticket depends on where you start your journey. It will be the normal day return fare to Cholsey plus a supplement for travel to Wallingford.
Some sample fares are listed below:
(Correct at time of print - July 2016)

Banbury
Adult - £18.20
Child - £9.10
Senior - £15.70

Didcot Parkway
Adult - £12.70
Child ¹ - £6.35
Senior ² - £10.20

Henley-on-Thames
Adult - £19.50
Child ¹ - £9.75
Senior ²£17.00

Kingham
Adult - £21.50
Child ¹ - £10.75
Senior ² - £19.00

London Paddington
Adult - £31.20
Child ¹ - £15.60
Senior ² - £28.70

Oxford
Adult - £15.70
Child ¹ - £7.85
Senior ² - £13.20

Reading
Adult - £14.60
Child ¹ - £7.30
Senior ² - £12.10

1. Ages 3-15. Children aged 3 or 4 travel free on mainline services. Only a supplement for the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway part of their journey needs to be purchased.

2. Ages 60+. Customers with Senior Railcards can also obtain a further discount.

Railcard discounts are available on the main line portion of your ticket subject to normal railcard restrictions.

Tickets can only be purchased from station ticket offices or on-board our trains should a ticket office not be available.

While you’re there

At Wallingford station you can visit the museum and souvenir shop. Light refreshments are available from the Trackside Café.

Wallingford town centre is just a short walk away from the railway. From here you can explore Wallingford Castle or relax by the River Thames.

If you like adventures you will love the many trails Wallingford has to offer, including the Agatha Christie and Midsomer Murder trails as well as the Thames Path to Benson Lock.

The Cholsey and Wallingford Railway operate on selected weekends and public holidays throughout the year. Please visit their website for more information.
Great Western Railway operates a regular service to Cholsey. Go to GWR.com to plan your journey or pick up an E2 timetable from your nearest staffed station.

Edit note: Formatting of quoted text amended, for clarity. CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

[Billhere]

Many years ago the Cholsey and Wallingford were involved with Footex's, running special trains on a Sunday to and from Wallingford for a football match with a club from South London.

Travel by Thames (as it was then) and change at Cholsey for a top and tailed Class 08 to Wallingford.

Unfortunately the match finished early due to an outbreak of fighting and the preserved trains got a bit wedged with those wanting to get away from Wallingford and get back up to Cholsey.

We put extra stops in to services to clear them about an hour before the arranged extra stops were due. In fact they weren't needed as everybody had gone by then. I hope they made something out of it, they were hired in privately by the London Club to provide the transport.

[Busboy W1]

The GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website has today launched a page for the new product - https://www.gwr.com/destinations-and-events/heritage-railways/cholsey-and-wallingford-railway

[ChrisB]

'Wally' Line?......sorry, it's known as the 'Bunk'.....

[bobm]

Made a return visit to the Cholsey & Wallingford today.

The railway made great strides in its early days to get the level crossing over the newly constructed Wallingford bypass and reach the bay platform at Cholsey next to the mainline.   However I sense progress has, almost inevitably, slowed in recent years.   The station was much as I remembered it from my last visit however there are plans to bring the old canopy from Maidenhead Station to Wallingford in the next year.  Also some more land has been purchased which may be sufficient to add another siding and relieve some of the congestion in the station area.  So there is renewed hope for the future.

[Image from here is not available to guests]

[Image from here is not available to guests]

(not really quite sure what the tractor is doing there....)

The mainstays on the line are 08 diesel shunters.  Two, Lion and Unicorn from the Guinness brewery at Park Royal and one which came straight from BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) (08123) named George Mason after a benefactor from the Cholsey & Wallingford's earliest days.

[Image from here is not available to guests]

The journey takes 15 minutes mostly past fields plus a view of Cholsey Church where Agatha Christie is buried

[Image from here is not available to guests]

As mentioned on another thread (http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=17280.msg198761#msg198761) through tickets are available from the national network

[Image from here is not available to guests]

If you have a whole day there is the scope to combine a visit to the C&W with the nearby Didcot Railway Centre and the Pendon model museum.

[Bmblbzzz]

[Image from here is not available to guests]

[Image from here is not available to guests]

No tractor there earlier in June (and the gates were locked), but apart from that, pretty similar!

[bobm]

The Railway has announced the appointment of Mark Hopwood CBE as its new President.

He succeeds the late Sir William McAlpine.

[eightonedee]

Driving past this morning on a grocery run I saw the new train shed has been erected over the station - looks quite smart from a distance.