European Railroad Discussion > Seen from the Oxford Canal

Our week on the canal was a great success. We were blessed with pretty good weather, plenty of warm June sun and only the hint of some rain on Thursday morning. The Oxford Canal was authorised in 1769 but only completed in 1790, it stretches 77 miles from the River Thames in Oxford to Hawkesbury Junction where it joins the Coventry Canal. It's principal purpose was transport coal from the coalfields of the English Midlands to the growing towns and cities of Southern England. In seven days cruising from Oxford you can expect, with reasonable effort, to get to Napton Junction and back, a 98 mile round trip which involves negotiating 78 locks. We did about 66 miles (and 48 locks), partly because we weren't in any hurry (4 mph is the maximum speed) and partly because of my appointment in London on Tuesday morning which meant a.) I had to be within reasonable distance of a station and b.) my partner and father-in-law were moored whilst I was away.

North of Oxford the canal and railway follow the valley of the River Cherwell, keeping each other company as far as Fenny Compton, some 40 canal miles from Oxford. It's the former Great Western Railway mainline from Didcot, on the London to Bristol and South Wales route, to Birmingham and the North West. At Aynho Junction the line is joined by the GWR's Bicester cut off, opened in 1910, to reduce the distance from London to Birmingham and allow the GWR to effectively compete with the London & North Western Railway from London Euston. Today this is the Chiltern Railway mainline from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill, which still maintains a modicum of competition with the former LNWR route.

The railway is very busy, especially north of Aynho. There are plenty of intermodal trains carrying containers too and from Southampton to a range of terminals in the Midlands and North of England. Cross Country run services between the South of England, the North and Scotland, all sadly formed of Bombardier Voyagers DEMUs, possibly the worst of the post privatisation trains. Great Western run a local service along the Cherwell Valley as far as Banbury and of course there are the Chiltern trains from London to Birmingham, DMUs and loco hauled sets. All in all a lot to see and relatively easy to watch as you chug slowly up and down the canal. Here are a few.

1: Monday June 11th, the station at Aynho being passed by 66507 on the 4O90 Leeds to Southampton. The canal is about 100m to the left, beyond the Great Western Arms public house. Aynho village is about a mile and a half to the right! The station closed in the mid 1960s and is now a private house. In the background you can see the embankment and flyover of the down Bicester cut off which has recently been realigned to allow Chiltern trains to join the Cherwell Valley line at high speed

2: That evening we moored in the village of Cropredy, site of an annual folk music festival, and I walked through the village to the railway. This is 4M99 from Southampton to Trafford Park

3: Tuesday June 12th, after my morning in London I was back on the boat by 14:30 and we were off, mooring for the night near Claydon. It's a mile and a bit from the canal through farmland up to the railway. The 4M67 Southampton to Hams Hall winds its way through the super elevation of the reverse curves



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 04:16 by 86235.

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4: A trio of Chiltern class 168/3 DMUs on the 16:47 London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street. These are very acceptable units to travel in, the seats are comfortable, the windows are large and clean and they are pretty speedy. It reaches Birmingham in 109 minutes with nine intermediate stops, an average of just over 60 mph.

5: Taken from the field next to the crossing, Chiltern's 17:15 Marylebone to Kidderminster with 68010 up front. Kidderminster is beyond Birmingham and is the southern end of the Severn Valley Railway. This is the same set I rode back to Banbury on the 13:10 ex-Marylebone earlier in the day.

6: Wednesday 13th, another 168 on a Birmingham to Marylebone service passing us near Bourton Lock



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 08:45 by 86235.

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7: Thursday 14th, it's 05:47 in the morning at Aynho. We got up early to fish, although I also wandered up to the railway. Rain was in the air but as you will see it didn't last very long. 70014 is on the 4M95 Southampton to Trafford Park

8: Late morning we moored at Somerton and Robert and I went for a walk, the clouds were breaking, the sun was coming through and the temperature was rising. As we had lunch another intermodal, DBC's 4M71 Southampton to Birch Coppice sped past.

9: Final picture and it's a non-intermodal, this is 6O30 from Castle Bromwich on the outskirts of Birmingham to Southampton carrying a multi million £ load of new Range Rover Sports and Velars, Jaguar F-Paces and various Jaguar X saloons for export. It's passing Heyford, that's the canal to the right.

A few more pictures are here https://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2018/June-the-summer-is-upon-us/i-bRPRLkg



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/18 08:49 by 86235.

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Thanks, Nick. That's a great way to see the countryside. Gerry

GPutz Wrote:
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> Thanks, Nick. That's a great way to see the
> countryside. Gerry

Many thanks Gerry, you see plenty at no more than 4 mph.

Thanks for posting your excellent scenic photos and accompanying narratives.
Especially like to see the Class 66 units.
ALLEN

Always enjoy your posts of the English country side Nick.
Regards,DK

The last photo is great, I like it very much.

Malcolm
New Zealand.

The last shot shows what appears to be a US type searchlight signal on the LH track.

ATSF3751 Wrote:
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> The last shot shows what appears to be a US type
> searchlight signal on the LH track.

Sadly not, it's one of the new generation of LED signals, but with only one aspect it does look like a rotating vane searchlight, which were used in Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Outstanding shots...as usual.

Thanks