Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 51, 2010

Quainton Road railway station was opened in 1868 in undeveloped countryside near Quainton, Buckinghamshire, 44 mi from London. Built by the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, it was the result of pressure from the 3rd Duke of Buckingham to route the railway near his home at Wotton House and to open a railway station at the nearest point to it. Serving a relatively unpopulated area, Quainton Road was a crude railway station, described as "extremely primitive". All goods to and from the Brill Tramway passed through Quainton Road station, making it relatively heavily used despite its geographical isolation, and traffic increased further when construction began on Ferdinand de Rothschild's mansion of Waddesdon Manor. The Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway and the Brill Tramway were absorbed by London's Metropolitan Railway (MR), who already operated the line from Aylesbury to London. The MR rebuilt Quainton Road station and re-sited it to a more convenient location, allowing direct running of services between the Brill Tramway and the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken into public ownership to become the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground, and despite its distance from London Quainton Road became a part of the London Transport system. From 1936 London Underground services were withdrawn, leaving the GCR as the only operator still using the station, although London Underground services were restored for a short period in the 1940s. In 1958 passenger services on most of the GCR were withdrawn. Trains continued to serve Quainton Road for a short time after that, but in 1963 passenger services were withdrawn and in 1966 goods services were withdrawn and the station was closed. In 1969 the Quainton Road Society was formed, with the aim of preserving the station. In 1971 the Quainton Road Society absorbed the London Railway Preservation Society, taking over its collection of historic railway equipment. The station was fully restored and reopened as a museum, the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. In addition to the original station buildings, the museum has also acquired the former Oxford Rewley Road railway station and a London Transport building from Wembley Park, both of which have been reassembled on the site. Although no scheduled trains pass through Quainton Road, the station remains connected to the railway network. Freight trains still use the line through the station, and passenger trains still call at the station for special events at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.