Rails around Wycombe and the Chilterns
Compiled by Nick Deacon Images from The Transport Treasury
© Images and design:The Transport Treasury 2021.Text: Nick Deacon ISBN 978-1-913893-09-5 First Published in 2022 by Transport Treasury Publishing Ltd. 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe, HP13 7PJ Totem Publishing, an imprint of Transport Treasury Publishing. The copyright holders hereby give notice that all rights to this work are reserved. Aside from brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this work may be reproduced, copied by electronic or other means, or otherwise stored in any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher. This includes the illustrations herein which shall remain the copyright of the copyright holder.
www.ttpublishing.co.uk Printed in Tarxien, Malta by Gutenberg Press Ltd. ‘Rails around Wycombe and the Chilterns’ is one of a series of books on specialist transport subjects published in strictly limited numbers and produced under the Totem Publishing imprint using material only available at The Transport Treasury.
Front Cover Ref 1. On 7 July 1962, No. 6012 King Edward VI of Stafford Road shed eases a Birkenhead service through the series of reverse curves at High Wycombe which dictated a maximum speed of 35mph. The train is seen to the west of the station having passed under the acutely angled Amersham Hill road bridge and with the huge brick retaining wall serving as an unmistakeable backdrop. 6012, a recent transferee from Old Oak Common, had acquired a double chimney in February 1958, but only had a little over two months left before withdrawal occurred in September after amassing almost two million miles. M20-6 Rear cover Ref 2. Taken from the footbridge at Bourne End station on 17 September 1958, this view looks north-east across the Station Road level crossing towards Wooburn Green. An immaculate 61XX 2-6-2T No. 6115 of Slough shed waits for clearance with a service for High Wycombe whilst beyond the interesting bracket signal and crossing gates another Prairie, Oxford’s 5190, is similarly held with a southbound freight. After closure of the High Wycombe section in May 1970, the route beyond the level crossing was abandoned making the station a terminus with the line finishing at buffer stops just short of the crossing gates where No. 6115 is standing. The route of the line beyond the gates is now part of the Boston Drive housing development. H377 Frontispiece Ref 3. Stanier taper-boiler 2-cylinder 2-6-4T No. 42629 prepares to leave Princes Risborough on 17 August 1960 with the 7.19pm passenger service to Marylebone. At this date, the engine was one of thirty-six of the LMS Fairburn/Stanier 4P mixed traffic types based at Neasden shed for use on the Wycombe/Risborough/Aylesbury suburban traffic as well as similar services over the Met/GCR line. These engines first appeared at the shed from 1954/5 and gradually displaced ex-GCR and LNER types on the services – particularly after the transfer of the shed from Eastern Region to London Midland Region control in February 1958 when the shed code was changed from 34E to 14D. H1727
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Introduction
T
he small towns, villages and hamlets scattered throughout the Chiltern woodlands and their rich agricultural apron of the Vale of Aylesbury were traditionally known as ‘the larder of London’ long before the coming of the railway. The topology of the region is dominated by the band of chalk hills running in a general south-west to north-east direction from the Thames Valley to Hertfordshire and passage through them was determined by the presence of natural gaps through which roads and railways could be funnelled. However, after the GWR and L&NWR had forged their respective trunk routes out from London and with the latter opening their branch from Cheddington to Aylesbury in 1839, a decade or more would pass until the untapped area between the two heavyweights was harnessed into the railway network.
This situation was dramatically solved by a collaboration between the GCR and GWR which resulted in the passage of the August 1899 Bill forming the Great Western & Great Central Joint Committee. The strategic remit of the joint concern was to provide firstly, the GWR a more direct Birmingham – London link and secondly, the GCR an alternative route into their new London terminus at Marylebone. The ambitious project involved the construction of new sections between Northolt and High Wycombe, the purchase and upgrading of the existing High Wycombe – Princes Risborough section and the construction of another new section from Princes Risborough to the GCR main line at Grendon Underwood. The joint venture was opened throughout for goods traffic in November 1905 and for passengers from 2 April 1906. For the GWR, the icing on the cake came with the opening in 1910 of the socalled ‘Bicester Cut-Off’ which created a new link of their ownership from a new junction north of Princes Risborough where the GCR branched off (Ashendon Jct.) onwards to a point just south of Banbury on the Oxford line (Aynho Jct.).
The first scheme to be launched was promoted by the Wycombe Railway and given Parliamentary assent in 1846, but it was not until 1854 after a protracted lease and working arrangement was concluded with the GWR that a broad gauge line from Maidenhead via Bourne End (or ‘Marlow Road’ as it was named for the first few years) reached High Wycombe. From then on matters accelerated with a complex flurry of Bills promoting extensions to the Wycombe Railway, these being to Thame via Princes Risborough opened in August 1862, to Aylesbury from Princes Risborough opened in October 1863 and to Oxford from Thame opened in October 1864. All these lines were laid to broad gauge, leased to the GWR and worked by them from the beginning, and so it was no surprise when, in January 1867, the GWR absorbed the Wycombe Railway and took on its considerable outstanding debts.
For High Wycombe in particular the new route (and the new station it brought to the town) transformed its fortunes from being merely a feeder on a local branch line to that of occupying an important location on a major though route. To a lesser extent, Princes Risborough also benefitted alongside its role as a focal point for the three other lines coming in from Aylesbury, Oxford/Thame and Watlington. The purpose of this book is to convey something illustrative of the diverse flavour of the 1950s and ‘60s steam railway which could be found on these lines before the dragnet of ‘modern improvements’ and closures irrevocably changed such scenes. Starting at Gerrards Cross and moving northwards, the photographic journey fans out from High Wycombe to Maidenhead and Marlow, continues northwards along the main line to Princes Risborough, along the Aylesbury and Watlington branches plus the Oxford branch as far as Thame, and a little further along the main line as far as Haddenham.
As early as 1868, plans were drawn up to convert all of these broad gauge lines to standard gauge and a start was made with the Aylesbury branch later that year with the remainder converted by August 1870. The Watlington & Princes Risborough Railway (W&PRR) was the next addition to the railway scene when it opened as a standard gauge branch in August 1872. However, the concern only lasted as a debt- ridden independent company until 1883 when it was liquidated and then purchased by the GWR for a knock-down price of £23,000 in the same year – almost half of what it had cost to build.
Sources consulted: The Oxford to Princes Risborough – A GWR Secondary Route. C.R. Potts. Oakwood Press 2004. The GWR & GCR Joint Railway. Stanley C. Jenkins. Oakwood Press 2006. The Marlow Branch. Paul Karau & Chris Turner. Wild Swan Pubs. Ltd. 1987. Country Branch Line. Vols 1 & 2. Paul Karau & Chris Turner. Wild Swan Pubs. Ltd. 1998. GWR Engine Sheds London Division. Chris Hawkins & George Reeve. Wild Swan Pubs. Ltd. 1987. GWR Journal – various issues. Wild Swan Pubs. Ltd. British Railway Journal – various issues. Wild Swan Pubs. Ltd.
Lastly, hard on the heels of the W&PRR, came The Great Marlow Railway which opened through to Marlow Road (later renamed ‘Bourne End’) on 27 June 1873. This company, although operated with GWR stock and underpinned with a supportive level of their investment, managed to remain an independent concern until amalgamated with the GWR as from 1 July 1897. Although the completion of all these initiatives had brought South Buckinghamshire quite a substantial railway network, access to London from Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Princes Risborough or Thame remained only what could be best described as ‘circuitous’, requiring travel to Maidenhead or Oxford. 3
Ref 12. Although a similar shot is featured on the front cover of this book, it is impossible to resist another visit to the west of High Wycombe and its huge retaining wall with a chance to dwell on the sight of another ‘King’ on a Down Paddington express. This shot was taken on 4 April 1958 and features immaculate No. 6022 King Edward III of Old Oak Common shed with the 11.10am Wolverhampton service. It has to be said that the engine’s appearance is enhanced by the absence of the disfiguring train reporting number and frame usually affixed to the front of the smokebox! No. 6022 benefitted from new front frames and inside cylinders in November 1954 and received a double chimney in May 1956. It moved to Stafford Road shed in June 1959 and remained there until September 1962 when it was condemned. RCR11537
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Ref 13. Tucked away in the Down platform bay at High Wycombe on 3 March 1957 is Collett 0-4-2T No. 1448 and its single autotrailer on the Maidenhead branch duty. The engine was completed in April 1935 and became a long-term resident at Slough shed, becoming a regular performer on the branch until its withdrawal in June 1960. The autotrailer looks to be one of the GWR Diagram L 1906/7 vehicles with American bogies – a type known to have worked on the branch until the late 1950s. LN671 13
Ref 27. On 23 March 1957, Hawksworth 94XX 0-6-0PT No. 9424 heads the Down 10.12am Maidenhead to High Wycombe service at Bourne End. When new in August 1950, the engine was sent to Slough shed and a year later was joined by classmate No. 9406. Both engines were regular performers on the branch and as High Wycombe was an outstation of Slough shed, both were also used on pilot engine duties there. No.9424 remained at Slough until reallocated to Ebbw Junction shed in September 1960 where she was withdrawn in November 1962. LRF2688
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Ref 28. A portrait of 14XX No. 1421 with autotrailer No. W229W looking south from the Down platform of Bourne End on 4 March 1961 with a service from High Wycombe to Marlow which is already ‘pegged’ to leave. The engine was based at Reading shed and may be filling in for one of the three regular Slough performers at this date (Nos. 1447/53 & 74) which had been away on a works visit. The engine was moved to Exeter in November 1962 for one year before finishing her days at Gloucester Barnwood shed in December 1963. W229W was a Diagram A38 63ft vehicle built in June 1951 and lasting until late 1960. H2017 27
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Left, Ref 36. Sunday 7 July 1962 was the last day of steam operations on the Marlow branch and in this view Reading shed’s 14XX No. 1421 was once more on hand and ‘bulled up’ for the occasion. The train is approaching Bourne End within the stipulated 10mph limit for the class at this point and, unusually, was photographed from the Bourne End Up branch home bracket signal. The train is passing over Brooksby Crossing (with a small boy somewhat forlornly watching its progress) and, to the rear of the autotrailer, is Marina Crossing which led to the riverside wharf and boatyard. Just visible around the curvature of the line is the beginning of the plate girder bridge which crossed the Abbotsbrook backwater, a tributary of the River Thames. LS724 Right Top, Ref 37. An animated scene at Wooburn Green station (5 miles 63 chains from Maidenhead) on 4 March 1961 as the autotrailer service is about to leave the single platform with an Up service to Bourne End and Maidenhead. Like other stations on the line, there was a substantial brick and flint 2storey station house with a single storey wing plus a platform-mounted signal box. Behind the signal box can be seen a yard crane which was used in the small goods yard which was junctioned off to the south of station. Immediately to the north of the station was a level crossing carrying Whitepit Lane over the line. Also of interest is the token setting down apparatus and catch net seen on the left of the coach. After becoming a pay train halt in 1968, the station closed on 4 May 1970 and the buildings were eventually demolished to make way for a housing development. H2032 Right Bottom, Ref 38. The last station on the line before High Wycombe was the picturesquely sited Loudwater (7 miles 20 chains from Maidenhead) which also served the adjacent village of Flackwell Heath. The Maidenhead autotrailer service with W229W awaits departure on 4 March 1961. The station had two platforms and a spacious goods yard with four sidings located on the north side of the line behind the main buildings. Loudwater suffered the same decline in status as Wooburn Green and was also closed at the same date. The station site is now largely under the route of the M40, and the goods yard site is now a small industrial estate. H2030
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Left, Ref 83. No. 3697 takes on water at Watlington before returning with the auto train for the 8 mile 66 chain run to Princes Risborough. The Slough-based engines returned to their parent shed at the end of the working week for a boiler washout and any other repairs needed. No. 3697 remained at Slough until transferred to Didcot in March 1962 where it was condemned eight weeks later. The GWR pillar water tank was recovered from Taunton and re-erected at Watlington in August 1919 as a replacement for the original wooden structure. JH68 Right, Ref 84. Last rites for the passenger service on Saturday 29 June 1957 as Collett 0-6-0PT No. 4650 from Slough shed officiates. On the very last train from Princes Risborough, the stock was strengthened with an extra carriage to pack in almost 200 passengers bidding farewell to the branch. The line stayed open for residual goods traffic until 2 January 1961 but then cut back to Chinnor for local traffic until October 1966 after which it was used solely for the Chinnor Cement Works. This traffic lasted until December 1989 when the section was closed. Fortunately, this final part of the line survives as the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway Association. LN1232
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Ref 85. On 27 June 1957, two days before closure to passengers, Watlington Station and goods shed slumber in the late afternoon sunshine. Just visible is a pannier tank ready for probably the last departure of the day at around 7.15pm. The GWR ‘Toad’ brake van parked at the end of the loading dock had been used as a replacement mess room since 1951 after its predecessor, a grounded horse-box, was destroyed by fire. Regrettably, the station building was left to deteriorate and what little remains now is heavily overgrown and on private property. AEB2195A 80