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I called into the Café at Quainton Road last week (it's open even when the Centre isn't). An information board stated they were hoping to take over part of the old Metropolitan route to Verney Junction as a short running line. This would replace the present set-up where they run up and down beside the NR line to Calvert. I can't see anything on their website however. There was mention of replacing a missing bridge to allow the line to go a bit further eventually.
Presumably the NR line between the platforms will be reinstated when the HS2 and EW Rail projects are further along? Presently it has been lifted from the platform end up toward Claydon Junc.
I called into the Café at Quainton Road last week (it's open even when the Centre isn't). An information board stated they were hoping to take over part of the old Metropolitan route to Verney Junction as a short running line. This would replace the present set-up where they run up and down beside the NR line to Calvert. I can't see anything on their website however. There was mention of replacing a missing bridge to allow the line to go a bit further eventually.
Presumably the NR line between the platforms will be reinstated when the HS2 and EW Rail projects are further along? Presently it has been lifted from the platform end up toward Claydon Junc.
I think their long term aspiration had been to reinstate part of the Brill Tramway - but HS2 will prevent that as that's being built over that area. The Brill Tramway left Quainton and headed west across where HS2 will be running north-south.
I feel for the guys at Quainton Road - they moved there in the late 60s / early 70s fully expecting BR to close the Aylesbury to Calvert line entirely which would have given them a decent opportunity to (re)build a line. Of course BR didn't close it and kept it open for freight, so they found themselves hemmed in by a mainline operating sporadically through the middle of the site. They spend a bunch of time and effort building up what they had and working out what they could do only for HS2 to rock up 100 yards away and killing off one of their options. I do hope they managed to extract some money from HS2 towards the rebuild.
Ideally they also need to relocate everything onto the East side of the site as well - being split down the middle like they are isn't ideal.
I think their long term aspiration had been to reinstate part of the Brill Tramway - but HS2 will prevent that as that's being built over that area. The Brill Tramway left Quainton and headed west across where HS2 will be running north-south.
I feel for the guys at Quainton Road - they moved there in the late 60s / early 70s fully expecting BR to close the Aylesbury to Calvert line entirely which would have given them a decent opportunity to (re)build a line. Of course BR didn't close it and kept it open for freight, so they found themselves hemmed in by a mainline operating sporadically through the middle of the site. They spend a bunch of time and effort building up what they had and working out what they could do only for HS2 to rock up 100 yards away and killing off one of their options. I do hope they managed to extract some money from HS2 towards the rebuild.
Ideally they also need to relocate everything onto the East side of the site as well - being split down the middle like they are isn't ideal.
I’m not sure how viable rebuilding the Brill branch would have proven, even without HS2, due to the need to cross the A41 on the level, though I suppose if this could have been achieved then the route is fairly clear beyond that point.
Must admit the idea of rebuilding the Verney Junction route is quite exciting in its way. Wonder if it might ever become the plan to reach that far, and if so whether it would happen in my lifetime?
I’m not sure how viable rebuilding the Brill branch would have proven, even without HS2, due to the need to cross the A41 on the level, though I suppose if this could have been achieved then the route is fairly clear beyond that point.
Must admit the idea of rebuilding the Verney Junction route is quite exciting in its way. Wonder if it might ever become the plan to reach that far, and if so whether it would happen in my lifetime?
I don't for a minute think they'd have reinstated it all, but down to the A41 would have given them a mile plus whatever they have in the Quainton station area.
There does not seem much chance of the line going too far toward Verney Junc. The next station was Granborough Road which closed in the 1930s and had a line of pylons installed in 1967 along the track bed. The station site is used by a farm.
CarltonA post interesting, thanks “This would replace the present set-up where they run up and down beside the NR line to Calvert.”
However, I’m a bit confused as to my knowledge the Bucks Railway have never run up towards Calvert from Quainton Road but back towards Aylesbury on a non NR long siding.
CarltonA post interesting, thanks “This would replace the present set-up where they run up and down beside the NR line to Calvert.”
However, I’m a bit confused as to my knowledge the Bucks Railway have never run up towards Calvert from Quainton Road but back towards Aylesbury on a non NR long siding.
It seems reasonably practicable to reinstate the Met alignment for half a mile or so from Quainton Rd as far as Shipton bridge (bridge 189). The bridge itself (incidentally the location of the final scene in John Betjeman's Metroland) was a road overbridge and was removed and replaced by an embankment after closure. If the bridge could eventually be replaced, that would give you another half mile or so of usable trackbed but there is a significant length of completely infilled cutting beyond that.
I'm slightly sceptical about the BRC's handwringing about HS2 cutting off access to the Brill branch. The roadside section from Quainton Road to the A41 at Waddesdon Road has seemed a fairly easy and obvious project for them for many decades but they only really started mentioning it *after* HS2 rendered it impossible.
I'm slightly sceptical about the BRC's handwringing about HS2 cutting off access to the Brill branch. The roadside section from Quainton Road to the A41 at Waddesdon Road has seemed a fairly easy and obvious project for them for many decades but they only really started mentioning it *after* HS2 rendered it impossible.
I think that's a bit harsh - if you look at the history, the society long harboured ambitions to take over some (perhaps all) of the line between Claydon and Aylesbury, which at various times has seemed highly likely BR or its successors would abandon - firstly when the GC Mainline closed as a through route in the late 1960s and then again in the late 80s when BR stopped running the Aylesbury DMUs up to Bletchley for maintenance etc. During that time the society seemed to focus on other things like rescuing the Oxford Rewley Road building and projects like that.
By the early 00's it was probably becoming clear the successors to BR had no intention of closing the Aylesbury - Calvert line, indeed there were proposals around that time to reinstate parts of the Great Central under the auspices of Central Railway.
So it was probably since 2000 that the centre started floating the idea of reinstating some of the Brill tramway, otherwise they were going to be locked into what they have today - then HS2 comes along and finishes that idea off.
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There does not seem much chance of the line going too far toward Verney Junc. The next station was Granborough Road which closed in the 1930s and had a line of pylons installed in 1967 along the track bed. The station site is used by a farm.
I agree, I think they'll get under the first bridge, towards the second bridge, but it looks like the Verney Junc line climbed there so possibly crossed the road on the level ? After that it goes through what is now a farm yard, so unless the farm are interested in selling some land, but even then it looks like they'd only get across 2 fields before encountering the next obstruction.
I think that's a bit harsh - if you look at the history, the society long harboured ambitions to take over some (perhaps all) of the line between Claydon and Aylesbury, which at various times has seemed highly likely BR or its successors would abandon - firstly when the GC Mainline closed as a through route in the late 1960s and then again in the late 80s when BR stopped running the Aylesbury DMUs up to Bletchley for maintenance etc. During that time the society seemed to focus on other things like rescuing the Oxford Rewley Road building and projects like that.
By the early 00's it was probably becoming clear the successors to BR had no intention of closing the Aylesbury - Calvert line, indeed there were proposals around that time to reinstate parts of the Great Central under the auspices of Central Railway.
So it was probably since 2000 that the centre started floating the idea of reinstating some of the Brill tramway, otherwise they were going to be locked into what they have today - then HS2 comes along and finishes that idea off.
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I agree, I think they'll get under the first bridge, towards the second bridge, but it looks like the Verney Junc line climbed there so possibly crossed the road on the level ? After that it goes through what is now a farm yard, so unless the farm are interested in selling some land, but even then it looks like they'd only get across 2 fields before encountering the next obstruction.
The next obstruction is a drainage balancing pond and maintenance track (HS2 works) just past that yard you mention, right on the formation. But as far as I can see from the HS2 maps the new diverted Station Road also crosses the Aylesbury to Calvert line without leaving room for a second track. The “Aylesbury Link overbridge” on the map below.
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