Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a
railway museum
A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic ...
operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at
Quainton Road railway station
Quainton Road railway station was opened in 1868 in under-developed countryside near Quainton, in the English county of Buckinghamshire, from London. Built by the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, it was the result of pressure from the 3rd D ...
, about west of
Aylesbury in
Buckinghamshire, England. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two foot-bridges, one of which provides wheelchair access. Each side has a demonstration line with various workshop buildings as well as museum buildings.
History
In 1962, the London Railway Preservation Society was formed. It bought a series of former London Underground vehicles and collectables, and holds the largest collection of
London and North Western Railway memorabilia. These were held at various sites around London, mainly two government depots at
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...
and
Bishop's Stortford, making both access, restoration and preservation difficult.
While other closed stations on the former MR lines north of were generally demolished or sold, in 1969 the Quainton Railway Society was formed to operate a working museum at the station. On 24 April 1971 the society absorbed the London Railway Preservation Society, taking custody of its collection of historic railway equipment.
Restoration
The station was maintained in working order, used as a bookshop and ticket office. The extensive sidings were still intact, and although disconnected from the mainline in 1967,
were used for locomotive restoration work. The Society eventually restored the main station building to its 1900 appearance, renaming the site the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. A smaller building on the former Brill platform, once a shelter for passengers waiting for Brill and down trains, was used first as a store then as a shop for a number of years before its current use to house an exhibit on the history of the
Brill Tramway
The Brill Tramway, also known as the Quainton Tramway, Wotton Tramway, Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad and Metropolitan Railway Brill Branch, was a six-mile (10 km) rail line in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England. It was privately b ...
. A former London Transport building from
Wembley Park
Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross.
The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broade ...
was dismantled and re-erected at Quainton Road to serve as a maintenance shed.
Mainline services
Although the BRC's trains are run on the former station sidings, the station still has a working
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
line passing through it. This connects with the
Bletchley to Oxford cross-country route at Claydon (LNE) Junction. Regular
landfill freight trains and
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
spoil trains traverse the line from waste transfer depots in Greater London as well as some from the freight terminal at Tytherington and other freight locations in the South-West of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to the former
brick pits at Calvert. The
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
trains also terminate here, but are used for the construction of the new
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
depot at Calvert.
From 1984 until 1990, the station briefly came back into passenger use, when special Christmas shopping services between Aylesbury and were operated by
British Rail Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the net ...
on Saturdays only, and stopped at Quainton Road. From August Bank Holiday 1971 until the 1987 season, and again from August Bank Holiday 2001 the station has had special passenger trains from Aylesbury in connection with events at the Centre - these shuttles now run regularly each Spring and August Bank Holiday weekend.
Present
With an extensively redeveloped site on both sides of the working mainline, BRC houses around 170 items of locomotives and rolling stock, in buildings dating from 1874 to the 1960s. The adjacent
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
warehouses of the Ministry of Food Buffer Depot in the former downside yard have been taken over to display many items awaiting restoration, whilst the Society have added a members' reference library.
Rewley Road
Rewley Road
Rewley Road is in the west of central Oxford, England. It is located in St Thomas's parish.
History
The name derives from Rewley Abbey. A ''Rewley Lane'' (or ''Ruley Lane'') existed in 1538.
Oxford Rewley Road railway station used to be locat ...
, the Oxford terminus of Harry Verney's Buckinghamshire Railway and of the
Oxford to Cambridge Line
The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
During World War II the line was ...
, closed to passengers on 1 October 1951 with trains diverted to the former GWR
Oxford General, the current Oxford station. In co-operation with the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
, Rewley Road was dismantled in 1999. The main station building and part of the platform canopy were then moved to BRC and re-erected in 2002 at the north-west corner of the site, now providing improved visitor facilities and the main offices of the QRS.
Media
As one of the best-preserved period railway stations in England, Quainton Road is regularly used as a filming location for programmes such as ''
The Jewel in the Crown'', the ''
Doctor Who'' serial ''
Black Orchid'', ''
Midsomer Murders'' and ''
Taskmaster''.
Future developments
High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
's planned route passes immediately to the west of the site, not impacting the centre directly, although it will preclude any restoration of the Brill Tramway.
Collection
The collection includes locomotives, carriages, and assorted rolling stock, plus a large amount of memorabilia and documents.
Locomotives
Diesel multiple units
* BR
Class 115 unit 51886+59761+51889 "Aylesbury College Silver Jubilee 1987"
Electric multiple units
*
Post Office Railway
The Post Office Railway, is a narrow gauge, driverless underground railway in London that was built by the Post Office with assistance from the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, to transport mail between sorting offices. Inspired ...
(London)
1930 Stock No. 803
*
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
CO/CP Stock unit 53028+013063+5423
https://web.archive.org/web/20070705095442/http://www.brc-stockbook.co.uk/COPCar.ht
*
New York City Subway car No. 1144, an
R6, converted into a cafeteria for the museum.
Carriages and vans
* BR
Mk 1 TPO sorting van no. 80394
* London Transport
brake vans nos. B557 and FB578
Carriages
Passenger coaching stock
Non-passenger coaching stock
Wagons
Cranes
References
Bibliography
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External links
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre website.
{{authority control
Heritage railways in Buckinghamshire
Museums in Buckinghamshire
Railway museums in England