Albert retired in 1947, when his youngest son, Dai, was demobbed from the British Army after World War II.

In 1958 the British Transport Commission reappraised the speed of the programme, and the decision was taken to accelerate the disposal of the steam fleet.

Dai Woodham, as a result of the British Rail decision, negotiated a contract in 1957 to scrap metal mainly from the Western Region, covering like other scrap merchants the easily handled railway line and rolling stock;[5] the more complex steam locomotives were to be handled solely by the railway works.

On 25 March 1959, the first batch of engines was despatched from Swindon to Barry: GWR 2-6-0's numbers 5312/60/92/97 and a single 2-6-2T Prairie tank, 3170 a week later.

Hence it was agreed internally to leave the more difficult locomotives until later, perhaps picking up the work when the volume of rolling stock and railway line abated.

[6] Dai Woodham continued to purchase steam locomotives until the end of steam, bringing total purchases by August 1968 to 297 locomotives, including four Austerity saddle tanks acquired from the Longmoor Military Railway,[7] of which 217 then remained at the Barry scrapyard.

[11] Under the terms of the contract from British Rail, Woodhams could not sell complete locomotives onwards that had been sold to them for scrap, unless payment of a levy was made.

Woodham's set the price for each locomotive at its exact scrap value (each type had an exact metal content breakdown from BR, so this was simply taken and multiplied by that day's scrap rate for each metal component), plus the BR levy; with the sale price completed by the addition of Value Added Tax, initially set at 10% but raised to 15% in 1979.

However, after some minor incidents involving overheated axle boxes due to a lack of lubrication, BR banned movement by rail from 1976, and all locomotives were thereafter transported out by road to the M4 motorway.

[12] The movement of locomotives to the holding sidings for inspection was also an issue, due to the deteriorating condition of the track in Woodham's yard.

With the need to occasionally move locomotives in order to retrieve another which had been purchased for preservation, derailments would sometimes occur due to the poor state of the track.

However, this policy combined with ease of access to the extensive yards resulted in petty pilfering and trophy/memorabilia collection in the early years, to mass criminal activity.

Following a meeting of interested parties on 10 February 1979 the Barry Steam Locomotive Action Group was formed with the aim of putting potential purchasers and Woodham Brothers together, as well as funders and financial contributors.

BSLAG undertook basic surveys of the remaining locomotives, listing types and conditions and acting as a media liaison point.

Rather than lay off staff, Dai Woodham authorized the scrapping of two steam locomotives, BR Standard Class 9F No.

By 1987 he had managed to build up the site to contain 23 industrial units to rent, ranging in size from to 2,488 to 4,145 sq ft (231.1 to 385.1 m2), with access to the docks, the railway and the M4 motorway.

5972 Olton Hall, which was rescued in 1981, restored to working order in 1998, and became a pop culture icon in the 2000s for being a part of the Harry Potter films.