Culham station through time
During the early/mid B.R. years, 1948-1965
The station in the early 1950s
These three 35mm negatives date from the latter part of 1950 and each gives a good view of different buildings at Culham. They also feature three very different locomotives.
Taken on 5th August, 1950. Unknown photographer, author's collection
The first photograph which was taken on 5th August 1950 gives a rare view of the original Down Platform building with a Collett designed 0-6-0 number 2222 in charge of what looks like a pick up goods train. Whilst the design dates back to 1930, this particular engine was only 10 years old when photographed, being built at Swindon in the August of 1940. It was eventually withdrawn from service in May 1965. This shot may have been posed as the crew can be seen smiling and leaning out of the cab looking at the photographer.
The next image, taken on the same day is a really good view of the old broad gauge goods shed. The track leading out of the shed was shortened to allow platform 1 to be extended and it now barely emerges with the rail built buffer stop being just the other side of the iron fencing. Seen passing is what has been identified as the Southern N15 or King Arthur class locomotive number 30746 (or 746 in Southern days) Pendragon. This Urie designed 4-6-0 fast express passenger engine was built by the LSWR at Eastleigh in June 1922 and was withdrawn only a few years after this photograph was taken, in October 1955. To the left of the engine as it is facing the viewer is the start of the loop line to which the siding serving RNAS Hornbill was connected. The short spur from the loop to the catttle dock can just be seen on the extreme right of the photograph.
Taken on 1st October, 1950. Unknown photographer, author's collection
This third photograph which dates from 1st October shows the original 1874 signal box which was replaced in 1952, not long after this photograph was taken. Also seen to advantage is the cattle dock and its short siding. The 2-8-0 locomotive in this image was designed by Riddles for the Ministry of Supply and entered service with them in 1943. This particular example, number 90363, was one of a batch bought from them by BR in 1948 and it remained in service until mid 1967.
Lens of Sutton Collection 59497 & 59498, courtesy of S. C.Jenkins
These two photographs are both from the Lens of Sutton Collection. The first photograph is a desolate view looking down the platform towards Didcot taken sometime in the very early 1950s. The covered footbridge appears to have been here for some years as it is in poor repair and blackened by smoke from passing trains. The second looks the other way the goods shed can be seen on the left with a Culham station nameboard in the foreground, and the cattle dock siding which is still in use to the right. The connection to RNAS Hornbill is also just visible and the canopy from the platform waiting shelter can just be seen in the foreground on the extreme right. It is not known when this shelter was erected but it does not appear in the photograph which was taken in 1919 but can be seen on the plan below. There was a small corrugated metal oil store immediately behind this shelter and accessed from the station forecourt.
Drawn by British Railways (Western Region) Chief Civil Engineer's Office, © Science and Society Picture Library, courtesy of the National Railway Museum
This undated drawing must originate from the early to mid 1950s as it shows the connection to RNAS Hornbill and is attributed to British Rail. It shows the changes to track layout and platform extensions when compared to the 1908 plan on the previous page. Close examination of the large scale plan reveals some detail of the internal layout of the Old Ticket Office at that time. Identified are the Ladies' Waiting Room, the Booking Hall, the Booking Office and a room designated as the Station Master's Office. The latter has an internal partition which formed a lobby area connecting it to the Booking Office and the doorway onto the platform. This partition was taken down in 1984 and marks remain to show where it had been. There is a small hatchway in the partition between the Booking Office and the Station Master's Office - too small for most practical purposes but possibly there so he could keep an eye on the office next door. A long flue from a stove can be seen emerging from the roof above this office in the colour slides from 1977 below. During cold weather the Station Master must have been cosy in his small office. This end of the building was originally used as the parcels office, but when the change of use took place is unknown. A separate outbuilding labelled 'Parcels' is shown on the platform between the main station building and the signal box.
Railway Hotel and Café in the 1950s
Courtesy of Pendon Museum
An interesting point is that a building next to the 'Station Master's House' (or Station House) on the approach road is labelled as being the 'Old Café', and a small building attached to the Railway Hotel is labelled as 'Café' with steps leading down to it from the bridge embankment. It is hard to visualise sufficient passing trade to justify a café but one must have existed for a reasonable length of time, possibly relying on trade from the air base and downsizing at some point. This photograph from the Pendon Museum archive shows a range of three buildings, all of which appear on the 6inch OS map published in 1883. To the left, partially hidden by the footbridge, is the Railway Hotel which opened in 1846 in a building believed to pre-date the coming of the railway. On the right is the café, with possibly the proprietor standing at the doorway. The large building between them is a bit of a puzzle with its substantial tall chimney but it is understood to have been stabling and a hayloft, perhaps with a bakery or laundry next to the hotel. All three of these buildings were later joined together to form one enlarged Railway Hotel.
Courtesy of Pendon Museum
Sometime in 1957
These two photographs from the Pendon archive are believed to have been taken during 1957, but could be a few years later. The first one shows a side of the station which seems to have been of little interest to visitors. It is therefore a very useful record of the Down building as seen from the approach road outside the Railway Hotel. The small gate close to the building was the only means getting onto the platform from the road.
The second photograph looks to have been taken on the same visit to the station and provides a good view of the signal box which was still relatively new having replaced the original one in 1952. It was not destined to have a long life however as it was closed on 12th January 1961.
Courtesy of Pendon Museum
Sometime in 1958
These two photographs are also shown courtesy of the Pendon Museum archive. It looks as if they were taken one summer afternoon and the first shows the scene being surveyed by a gentlemen in shorts and sandals. The signalman's motorcycle mentioned with the August picture below is parked just under the awning and the pagoda roofed parcels office is seen to advantage.
The second photograph gives us a good view of the waiting room on platform 1. Such a view is fairly rare as the building was seldom the subject of a photograph in its own right.
J.D.Edwards, Courtesy of the Great Western Trust
A damp day in August 1958
This photograph, from the Great Western Trust archive, appears in the book GWR Then and Now by Laurence Waters first published by Ian Allan in 1994, now published by Crécy Publishing Limited. It is an interesting view as the old broad gauge goods shed features prominently. The home signal is just visible above the waiting shelter on platform 1 the roof of which appears to have had its original covering replaced by corrugated sheeting. The station itself looks well kept and tidy, with a porter wheeling a trunk up the platform under the shelter of the awning ready to load onto the approaching train. This is the Oxford to Reading stopping service hauled by 4-6-0 locomotive no 5983 Henley Hall.
An old lady visited during the Heritage Open Days in 2014 and saw this photograph. She explained that her husband had been a signalman at Culham and he used to ride his motorcycle to work each day, parking it on the platform next to the ticket office where it can just be seen in the photograph. He must have been on duty when the photo was taken, which we all thought was nice.
Courtesy of David Bowman
Sometime in 1959
The date is recorded on the back of this photograph as being simply '1959'. The trees are in leaf so it must have been taken during the middle part of the year. The view is similar to that taken a couple of years earlier in 1957 but this one includes platform 2 and its waiting room. A line of telegraph poles can be seen alongside the Up line under the road bridge and this view also helps to position two of the seats on platform 2. The door giving ground level access to the signal box locking room is neatly framed by the running in (or station name) board and its two supports. As with many other photographs of the station, there is not a soul in sight although the station itself appears to be clean and tidy.
Courtesy of Pendon Museum
January 1960
Another photograph courtesy of the Pendon Museum archive and believed to have been taken in January 1960. Having been taken on a dull day, this photo doesn't do the ticket office any favours. An overhead cable is much in evidence and the difference in platform edging shows where the platform had been extended to run across the front of the signal box. The old van (is it an Austin A35?) helps to confirm the date of the photograph as it shows a mixture of Great Western (notice board) and British Rail (fire buckets) details. A large hangar from the old air base can be seen, together with one or two wagons standing on the siding leading to the base. After the closure of RNAS Hornbill, the site was used by the Admiralty as a storage facility until 1960 when it was handed over to the UK Atomic Energy Authority.
Courtesy of Pendon Museum
Early to mid 1960s
It is difficult to precisely date this photograph from the Pendon Museum archive but it must date from when the Goods Shed was still in use, although there is no evidence of activity. The different colour bricks of the lean-to extension on the end of the building shows that it was a later addition, possibly dating from the 1930s. The rail level disc signal visible in the monochrome image at the top of this page has been removed, as has the board covered point rodding in the foreground. This suggests that the photograph was taken sometime after the new signal box was built in 1952, and possibly after it had closed in 1961.
The short cattle dock spur can be seen in the near foreground with the edge of the loading dock on the right. In the distance, alongside the goods shed loop, is a small brick-built office or hut with what could be some piles of coal just visible beyond. Whilst it is known that various coal merchants operated from the station at Culham for many years, this is the only photograph that we have seen so far with any hint of their presence.
Unknown photographer, author's collection
29th June 1963
This photograph by an unknown photographer is noted on the back as having been taken on 24th June 1963. The image is slightly out of focus, but careful examination reveals that this through train is headed by locomotive number 6976. This was 'Graythwaite Hall' which was a member of the 'Modified Hall' class and allocated to Banbury shed at the time. Built in October 1947 it was to be withdrawn in October 1965, a little over two years after this photograph was taken.
No staff or passegers are evident, but the station looks to be tidy with a luggage trolley parked by the fence next to the GWR seat at the foot of the footbridge steps on platform 2. Neatly stacked on the left are two packing crates and a few other items probably waiting to be loaded onto the next train. The shape of an electric platform light installed under the canopy can just be made out against the lighter background of the footbridge, and a second one can be seen nearer the camera. We wonder how effective the illumination would have been.
T.Owen, courtesy of Colour-Rail
The station on 17th October 1964
These two photographs come from the Colour-Rail catalogue and were both taken by T.Owen when he visited Culham on a bright October day in 1964. The first provides a lot of detail useful to modellers not seen in most other photographs of the station. The wooden platform fencing looks to be in good shape and can be seen to advantage. To the right the rear wall of the 'Pagoda' parcel's office can be seen with a wooden gate between it and the ticket office. Above the station canopy the roof detail may be a bit confusing as the ridge of the signal box and the roof of the goods shed merge together. The view of the lower portion of the footbridge with its roof still intact is a useful detail reference.
The second view is very similar to that from the Lens of Sutton collection taken in the early 1950s, but this being in colour provides more detailed information. Just visible in the larger version of this image is the loading gauge serving the cattle-dock siding. Also visible is what appears to be a telephone or power cable between the footbridge and the building on the down platform. This looks to echo a similar one seen in the 1960 photograph between the footbridge and the ticket office.
The station on 30th January 1965
This set of photographs have been taken from a number kindly made available to us by Mike Roach who took them all when he visited Culham on 30th January 1965. Sadly the weather was none too kind and it must have been a tiring day as he tells us that he left Plymouth at 06.35 that morning, travelled via Bristol to Oxford where he stayed photographing trains for an hour or so before backtracking to Culham after lunch. He eventually got back to Plymouth in the early hours of the next morning.
All photographs © Mike Roach
Taken from the high vantage point of the footbridge, this first photograph shows 34071 '601' Squadron at the front of an express passenger train heading towards Oxford. Built in Brighton in 1948, it saw service on the prestigious 'Golden Arrow' from 1949 and was withdrawn from service in June 1967. This was the first of the 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' class light pacifics to be built with a wider 9’ cab and attached to 9’ wide 5,500 gallon tender. It is clear from this vantage point that the crossovers between the main running lines and the tracks serving the goods shed have all been removed. However a few coal wagons can be seen standing on the siding to the right opposite the goods shed.
The next photograph is looking back from the end of platform 1 and takes in the signal box which had been closed since early 1961, behind it are the white yard gates. The end of the short spur serving the cattle dock and its stop block on the wall can just be seen. There is a single lever in a ground frame on the left, not present in the photograph from 1959, which could be used to operate the adacent point and give access to the remaining siding. All goods services at Culham were to be withdrawn on 19th July 1965, just a few months after this photograph was taken.
The third photograph in this series was obviously taken from a little way further back and from within the disused goods shed. The gate leading into the goods yard is just visible above the large cable drum on the right. All the trackwork has long been removed, but the rail-built buffer stop is still in place. The top of this can still be found after a diligent search in the vegetation at the end of the platform today.
Photograph © Mike Roach
In this fourth photograph 'Modified Hall' class 4-6-0 6967 Willesley Hall is seen hauling an up freight though the station. The locomotive was designed by F.W.Hawksworth and built at Swindon. Eentering service in August 1944, it was withdrawn at the end of 1965. The name of the class implies that the locomotive was based on the previous Collett design, but whilst similar in outward appearance it was essentially a complete re-design.
This image is useful as it provides a good view of both the cattle dock edge and fence, and the short spur which still served it.
