QUAINTON
ROAD - BRILL
(1872 - 1935)
This and the Verney Junction branch are considered to be part
of the body of lost lines and stations of
London's underground railway system, even though neither of them
are anywhere near London.
Opened as the Wotton Tramway, the Brill line originally
was horse-drawn and its prime function for a time was
the carriage of goods and materials for Waddesdon Manor. The responsibility
of running of the line was assumed
by the Metropolitan in 1899 as a means of extension to Oxford
and beyond, though this never materialised.
The integration of the Metropolitan line into the London
Transport Passenger Board signalled the end of the line
for this railway. The light construction of the line has resulted
in few tangible remains surviving to the present day.
How the north-west corner of the tube might look today
with the line open.
For Anthony Guter's marvellous simulation of a ride along this line, as it would have been in 1899, see these YouTube pages:
Quainton Road to Brill
and the return journey with less commentary:
Brill to Quainton Road
Quainton Road station was a junction station for the
Verney Junction line, the main Great Central line, and the Brill
tramway.
The original Brill tramway waiting room is seen here in its fully
restored glory.
Quainton Road station, Brill branch platform looking south toward the junction with the main line down to Aylesbury.
The line was run with a locomotive and one carriage, hence the
short platform.
The car park sign at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
The tramway was actually on the other side of the road to the
car park.
The trackbed ran parallel to the road disappearing
into the distance (this view is looking back toward Quainton Road).
The two trees in the centre of the photo indicate the site of
Waddesdon Road station.
(Dec 2006)
The station house at Westcott (to the right of the
centrally located front door). The left hand gable was a post-closure
addition
built on the platform and track site. The wood fronted hut to
the left is the original station ticket office and (remarkably)
still survived at the time of this photo (2005).
Westcott station house sign commemorating its original
use.
The station cottages at Wotton. The trackbed and station
lay along the path seen to the left of them.
(Dec 2006)
The route of the trackbed just north of the Wotton
station area.
The Brill line's Wood Siding station was located at the clearing
in the centre of the photo, and to the left of it, there being a level crossing across
the road on the right (Wotton End).
The GWR built a shortening of its London to Birmingham route here in 1910 (in a deep cutting) and Wood Siding station was rebuilt with part of it on the bridge carrying the Brill Line over the GWR line.
The location of the bridge over the GWR line. Wood
Siding station was situated on the bridge itself and also to
the right hand
side, out of shot. The abutments for the bridge can still be seen
in the middle of the photo.
The station cottages at the Brill terminus.
(Dec 2006)
The approach to the Brill station site.
(Dec 2006)
All photos on this page: Nov & Dec 2005 unless
stated.
Reference:
Bill Simpson - "A History of the Metropolitan Railway. Volume
3: From Aylesbury north to Verney Junction and Brill"
Angel (Northern Line)
