Old Oak open day

GREAT Western Railway is holding an open day at Old Oak Common on September 2.

The depot marks the contribution the west London depot has made to the Great Western Railway since it opened on March 17 1906, 111 years ago.

The event, OOC111, will display trains and locomotives that have operated on the route, and the operator plans to announce the full line-up soon.

RAIL understands that as well as members of the GWR High Speed Train fleet there will also be new Class 800 Intercity Express Trains on display, various Hydraulics and examples of locomotives, including Class 50s, that have worked past the depot or were based there.

GWR said tickets will go on sale shortly and demand is expected to be high. All profits will go to the depot’s chosen charity Place2Be, which provides mental health support for children in schools and whose patron is HRH The Duchess of Cambridge.

During its 111-year history, Old Oak Common staff have maintained everything from the Kings and Castles from the steam period, to the diesel-powered Westerns and Warships in the hydraulic era.

In 1976, the site was the maintenance hub in the Western region for the newly-introduced HSTs.

The operator will start replacing its HST fleet this year with the new IEP trains that are maintained at nearby North Pole depot.

In May 2016, GWR’s St Philips Marsh depot raised more than £20,000 for charity with a celebration of 40 years of the HST ( RAIL 800).

The last open day at Old Oak Common was held on August 5/6 2000 by EWS in partnership with RAIL. This was held on the site of the now-demolished ‘Factory’ and locomotive depot. This part of the OOC site will reopen next year as the main Bombardier depot for the Crossrail Class 345 Aventra fleet.