The railway first came to Quainton in 1868 in the form of the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway. In 1870 construction of the Wotton Tramway began, to link the nearby Wotton estate to the railway. Carrying agricultural produce and construction materials, it was horse-drawn initially but with expansion to Brill the line was re-laid for locomotives and became known as the Brill Tramway using two Aveling & Porter rail locomotives.
The expanding Great Central Railway arrived in 1899 and built the present brick station in a joint venture with the Metropolitan Railway, successors to the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway, and at the same time took over the Brill Tramway.
The London Transport Passenger Board was formed in 1933, encompassing the Metropolitan Railway, and closed the Brill Tramway in 1935. Passenger services ceased in 1963 with full closure in 1966, leaving just a single line between Aylesbury and Calvert Junction on the Oxford-Bletchley line.
The London Railway Preservation Society, formed in 1962, arrived here in 1969 to set up its permanent home. Since those early days both yards have been redeveloped to house around 170 items including locomotives and rolling stock, many based in the former World War II Ministry of Food Buffer Depot.
Alongside there’s a members’ reference library and store rooms maintained to the exacting standards of the accredited museum which the editor thoroughly recommends. The buildings date from 1874 to the 1960s and most major developments in railway history can be viewed here.
So much has happened on this site since those early days and indeed since I was last here in 2007. I
