Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox museum Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at Quainton Road railway station, about Template:Convert west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two foot-bridges, one of which provides wheelchair access. Each side has a demonstration line with various workshop buildings as well as museum buildings.

History

The curved Brill platform at Quainton Road. The short stretch of rail from this platform is the only surviving part of the Brill Tramway.

In 1962, the London Railway Preservation Society was formed. It bought a series of former London Underground vehicles and collectables, and holds the largest collection of London and North Western Railway memorabilia.Template:Sfn These were held at various sites around London, mainly two government depots at Luton and Bishop's Stortford,Template:Sfn making both access, restoration and preservation difficult.Template:Sfn

While other closed stations on the former MR lines north of Template:Stnlnk were generally demolished or sold,Template:Sfn in 1969 the Quainton Railway Society was formed to operate a working museum at the station.Template:Sfn On 24 April 1971 the society absorbed the London Railway Preservation Society, taking custody of its collection of historic railway equipment.Template:Sfn

Restoration

The station was maintained in working order, used as a bookshop and ticket office.Template:Sfn The extensive sidings were still intact, and although disconnected from the mainline in 1967,<ref name="Silver days">Template:Cite news</ref> were used for locomotive restoration work.Template:Sfn The Society eventually restored the main station building to its 1900 appearance, renaming the site the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.Template:Sfn A smaller building on the former Brill platform, once a shelter for passengers waiting for Brill and down trains, was used first as a store then as a shop for a number of years before its current use to house an exhibit on the history of the Brill Tramway. A former London Transport building from Wembley Park was dismantled and re-erected at Quainton Road to serve as a maintenance shed.Template:Sfn

Mainline services

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Chiltern Railways Class 121 'Bubble Car' diesel unit at Buckinghamshire Railway Centre on a shuttle service from Aylesbury on 3 May 2010

Although the BRC's trains are run on the former station sidings, the station still has a working Network Rail line passing through it. This connects Template:Stnlnk with the Bletchley to Oxford cross-country route at Claydon (LNE) Junction. Regular landfill freight trains and High Speed 2 spoil trains traverse the line from waste transfer depots in Greater London as well as some from the freight terminal at Tytherington and other freight locations in the South-West of England to the former brick pits at Calvert. The High Speed 2 trains also terminate here, but are used for the construction of the new High Speed 2 depot at Calvert.Template:Sfn

From 1984 until 1990, the station briefly came back into passenger use, when special Christmas shopping services between Aylesbury and Template:Stnlnk were operated by British Rail Network SouthEast on Saturdays only, and stopped at Quainton Road.<ref>Quick (2009): "Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain" and Chiltern Lines News</ref> From August Bank Holiday 1971 until the 1987 season, and again from August Bank Holiday 2001 until May 2017 the station has had special passenger trains from Aylesbury in connection with events at the Centre - these shuttles ran regularly each Spring and August Bank Holiday weekend.

Present

With an extensively redeveloped site on both sides of the working mainline, BRC houses around 170 items of locomotives and rolling stock, in buildings dating from 1874 to the 1960s. The adjacent World War II warehouses of the Ministry of Food Buffer Depot in the former downside yard have been taken over to display many items awaiting restoration, whilst the Society have added a members' reference library.

Rewley Road

Large white wooden building with a large glass canopy

The former Oxford Rewley Road station building following its reconstruction at Quainton Road

Rewley Road, the Oxford terminus of Harry Verney's Buckinghamshire Railway and of the Oxford to Cambridge Line, closed to passengers on 1 October 1951 with trains diverted to the former GWR Oxford General, the current Oxford station. In co-operation with the Science Museum, Rewley Road was dismantled in 1999. The main station building and part of the platform canopy were then moved to BRC and re-erected in 2002 at the north-west corner of the site, now providing improved visitor facilities and the main offices of the QRS.<ref>QRS publication "Quainton News", Annual Report of the Quainton Railway Society (various years)</ref>

Media

As one of the best-preserved period railway stations in England, Quainton Road is regularly used as a filming location for programmes such as The Jewel in the Crown, the Doctor Who serial Black Orchid, Midsomer Murders and was a recurring location for the eighth series of Taskmaster.<ref name="Silver days" />

Future developments

High Speed 2's planned route passes immediately to the west of the site, not impacting the centre directly, although it will preclude any restoration of the Brill Tramway.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Collection

The collection includes locomotives, carriages, and assorted rolling stock, plus a large amount of memorabilia and documents.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Locomotives

Sortable table

Class	Number (and name)	Chassis	Status	Notes	Image
Metropolitan Railway E Class	No.1 (London Transport L44)	Template:Whyte	Under overhaul	Built 1898. Withdrawn from service early needing boiler repairs.	File:Bridgnorth - Metropolitan 1 and train.jpg
LSWR 0298 Class	314 (British Railways 30585)	Template:Whyte	Static Display	Built 1874. Boiler ticket expired in 2016.	File:LSWR 0298 Class Beattie Well Tank 2.jpg
Peckett and Sons	No.1159 Annie	Template:Whyte	Under overhaul	Built 1908. Arrived in April 2018 from the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. Part way through a major overhaul.
Peckett and Sons	No.2105 Rokeby	Template:Whyte	Static Display	Built 1951. Mainly used on goods/vintage trains.	File:Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 2105 Rokeby (25231112540).jpg
North British Locomotive Company	Coventry No.1	Template:Whyte	Static Display	Built 1939. Previously acted as Thomas the Tank Engine on "Thomas" days. On static display after her boiler certificate expired.	File:North British 0-6-0T No. 24564 Coventry No. 1 (25135401369).jpg
Hudswell Clarke	No.1742 Millom	Template:Whyte	Operational	Built 1946. Used on goods and vintage trains. Currently running in guise of Percy the Small Engine. Boiler ticket expires in 2027.	File:The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre 28.jpg
Aveling and Porter	No.3587 Sydenham	Template:Whyte	Under overhaul	Built 1895	File:SYDENHAM CHATHAM HISTORIC DOCKYARD (10647674953).jpg
GWR 6959 Class	6984 Owsden Hall	Template:Whyte	Under restoration	Built 1948. Transferred from the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in November 2019. Its tender is currently in use behind 6989.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	File:6984 Owsden Hall GWR 4-6-0 MOdified Hall Class.jpg
GWR 6959 Class	6989 Wightwick Hall	Template:Whyte	Operational	Built 1948. Returned to service for the 2019 May Bank Holiday Gala. Restoration complete as of 11 December 2018. Using 6984 Owsden Hall's tender. Currently on loan to the Bluebell Railway from 2023 to 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	File:GWR 6959 Class 6989 Wightwick Hall.jpg
GWR 7200 Class	7200	Template:Whyte	Under restoration	Built in 1934	File:7200 GWR 2-8-2T.jpg
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST	No.3890 NCB 66	Template:Whyte	Operational	Last Hunslet Austerity built in 1964. Boiler ticket expires in 2024.	File:Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No. 3890 (NCB66) (25499562766).jpg
Peckett and Sons	No.1900	Template:Whyte	Under overhaul	Built 1936. Britain's smallest standard-gauge steam locomotive.	File:Peckett Sons No. 1900.jpg
Andrew Barclay	No.699 Swanscombe	Template:Whyte	Under overhaul	Built 1891. The oldest surviving Barclay. Repainted in July 2013 into pseudo-Metropolitan Railway livery as Brill No. 1.	File:Andrew Barclay 699 Swanscombe 0-4-0 ST (24906755653).jpg
Bagnall	No.2469 Scott	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1932. Boiler ticket expired in 2024. Mainly used on goods trains.	File:Bagnall 0-4-0ST No. 2469 (25503200385).jpg
Andrew Barclay	No.1477	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1916. Fireless
Andrew Barclay	No.2243	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1948. Fireless	File:Fireless locomotive at Quainton, 1986 - geograph.org.uk - 7033493.jpg
Aveling and Porter	No.807 Brill	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1872. Brill Tramway No.1	File:Brill Tramway 807.jpg
GWR 5700 Class	7715 (London Transport L99)	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1930. Bought by London Transport in 1963, their L.99 until 1969. Out of service from December 2011 with a cracked boiler foundation ring.	File:London Transport L99 & City of Truro at Sheringham.jpg
Hawthorn Leslie	No.3717 Swanscombe No.3	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1928
Hawthorn Leslie	No.3718 Swanscombe No.4	Template:Whyte	Operational	Built 1928. Arrived in 2018 near the end of a major overhaul. She entered service in August 2018. Boiler ticket expires 2028. Currently located at the Northampton and Lamport Railway.
Hudswell Clarke	No.1334 Sir Thomas	Template:Whyte	Static display	Built 1918
Hunslet	No.3782 Arthur	Template:Whyte	Operational	Built 1953. Returned to service in 2024. Currently running in guise of Thomas the Tank Engine.	File:Hunslet 3782.jpg
LNWR	3020 Cornwall	Template:Whyte	Static Display	Built 1847. On display inside the Rewley Road visitor centre. On loan from the National Railway Museum.	File:Cornwall (4938264807).jpg
South African Class 25NC	3405	Template:Whyte	Static Display	Built 1953. Template:RailGauge gauge	File:South African Railways 25NC Class No 3405 B.jpg
Sentinel Waggon Works	No.6515 Isebrook	Template:Whyte	Operational	Built 1945. Returned to steam in 2019 after overhaul. Boiler ticket expires in 2029. Currently located at the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.	File:Sentinel 040 No 6515 Isebrook.jpg
Sentinel Waggon Works	No.9366 Cynthia	Template:Whyte	Operational	Built 1945. Returned to steam in late 2017 after a major overhaul. Boiler ticket expires in 2027.	File:Sentinel 0-4-0 No. 9366 (25498971676).jpg
Yorkshire Engine Company	No.2498 Chislet	Template:Whyte	Static Display	Built 1951
British Rail Class 04	D2298	Template:Whyte	Under Restoration	Built 1960. Under restoration after suffering an engine failure at the East Lancashire Railway.	File:D2298 at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre 3.jpg
John Fowler	No.20067 Osram	Template:Whyte	Static Display		File:Fowler Shunter - geograph.org.uk - 389916.jpg
F.C. Hibberd "Planet"	No.3765	Template:Whyte	Operational
F.C. Hibberd	No.2102	Template:Whyte	Static Display		File:Hibberd 040DM 2102.jpg
F.C. Hibberd	No.3271 Walrus	Template:Whyte	Static Display		File:Hibberd 0-4-0DM No. 3271 Walrus (25404501191).jpg
Hunslet	K4428 Redland	Template:Whyte	Static Display		File:The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre 14.jpg
Hunslet	No.2067	Template:Whyte	Operational
Ruston & Hornsby	No.425477	Template:Whyte	Operational
Ruston & Hornsby	No.463153 Hilsea	Template:Whyte	Operational	Ex-British Gas	File:Ruston & Hornsby No 463153 Hilsea.jpg

Diesel multiple units

• BR Class 115 unit 51886+59761+51889 "Aylesbury College Silver Jubilee 1987"Template:Citation needed

Electric multiple units

File:London Post Office Railway 1930 Stock.jpg

1930 Stock Car No. 803 at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

• Post Office Railway (London) 1930 Stock No. 803 <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• London Underground CO/CP Stock unit 53028+013063+54233 [1][2][3]
• New York City Subway car No. 1144, an R6, converted into a cafeteria for the museum.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Carriages and vans

• BR Mk 1 TPO sorting van no. 80394
• London Transport brake vans nos. B557 and FB578

Carriages

Passenger coaching stock

Original company	Number	Type	Status/Notes	Image
LCDR	9	4-wheel first	Built 1880. Sold to Woolwich Arsenal in 1916. One of only two LCDR carriages to be preserved on their original underframe. Operational.
WCJS	102	6-wheel sleeper, then inspection saloon.	LNWR design, converted to family saloon, later rebuilt as an inspection saloon in 1903. Body only. Stored on a GNoSR underframe.	File:WCML Convertible Sleeper No. 102.jpg
LNWR	112	12-wheel First class sleeper then cinema coach.	Built in 1907. Withdrawn in 1937 then rebuilt in 1952 to cinema coach at Liverpool Central, until 1972. Preserved 1973. Now plays Quainton Railway Society's story on weekends.	File:LNWR 112 Sleeper, then Cinema carriage.jpg
LNWR	182	6-wheel picnic saloon.	Built in 1894. Later grounded, body is now on an ex-LMS underframe of the same length. Now restored and operational, although inside Quainton Road workshop as of 3 March 2019.	File:LNWR Picnic Saloon 182.jpg
LNWR	249	12-wheel first class diner	Built in 1901. Used for staff on royal train from 1905 to 1967, preserved that same year. Restored and operational.	File:LNWR 249 Diner First Class.jpg
GNR	459	6-wheel third	Built in 1900. Now under restoration as of 3 March 2019.	File:GNR 459 6w Third carriage.jpg
Great Central Railway	652	Suburban Brake Third	Built in 1916. Arrived at Quainton in 1997. Restoration started while on display inside museum, doors are inside the carriage with GCR numbering and lettering.	File:GCR 652 brake third.jpg
MSJAR	1076	6-wheel third	Built by MSLR for MSJAR in 1890. Operational, restored as an open saloon.	File:MSLR 3rd No. 1076 (26515835710).jpg
GNR	1470	6-wheel brake third	Built in 1889. Operational in GNR livery.	File:GNR Brake 3rd No. 1470 (26788174515).jpg
GNR	1727	6-Wheel Passenger Brake Van	Built in 1897 at Doncaster. Withdrawn in 1938, became a fitters' van in February 1939, then a Pooley's van in 1960s. Went from Nene Valley Railway to Quainton in April, 2003.
GWR	2242	Hawksworth Brake Corridor Third	Built in 1950 by Metro Cammell. Arrived at Quainton in January 1983 for 9466 Group. Being used for overnight volunteer accommodation.	File:BR(WR) Hawksworth Brake Third No W2242.jpg
BR	5324	Mk2 Tourist Second Open	Built in 1968 at Derby. Preserved as a body only in 1988, grounded as a QRSL office for some time; now 6989 Wightwick Hall sales coach.	File:5324 Mk2 TSO.png
GWR	9001	12-Wheel Collett Special Saloon	Built in 1940 at Swindon. Used by Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower during WWII. Went to GWR preservation sites (Tyseley and SVR) before arriving at Quainton Road in January 2002.	File:GWR Collett Twelve-wheel special saloon A.jpg
BR	16235	Mk1 Corridor Composite	Built in 1963 at Derby. Preserved August 1992. Now on replacement B1 bogies. Operational.
LNER	22219	Suburban Third	Built in 1926. Only one of specific coach type left. Arrived at Quainton in 1983.	File:LNER 22219 Third.jpg
BR	24993	Mk1 Corridor Second	Built in 1956. Operational, recently repainted from BR Maroon to BR Crimson and Cream.	File:BR Mk1 Corridor Second 24993.jpg
BR	25500	Mk1 Corridor Second	Built at York in 1958. Preserved in 1983. One bogie currently missing and that end of the coach is held up.
BR	35192	Mk1 Brake Corridor Second	Built in 1958. Operational. Painted in BR Crimson and Cream	File:BR Mk1 Corridor Second Brake 35192.jpg
BR	53190	Mk1 Suburban brake second	Built in 1954 at Doncaster. Preserved in 1977, at the Watercress Line till 1985. Operational.	File:BR Mk1 Brake Suburban E43190.jpg

Non-passenger coaching stock

Original company	Number	Type	Status/Notes	Image
LNWR	None, later DM279982	6-wheel full brake.	Built in 1891. Lasted as C&W department stores van, later abandoned at Wolverton, of which its existence was not known by BR when alerted by a QRS member, later preserved (according to Buckinghamshire Railway Centre stockbook of 1990).
SR	1108	4-wheel PMV	Built in 1936 at Ashford Works. Preserved in 1973 by 6024 Preservation Society. Recently underwent a repaint.	File:SR PMV No. 1108.jpg
LSWR	5025	4-Wheel Luggage Van	Built in 1917 at Eastleigh. Withdrawn in 1940. Preserved in 1971, then sold to Quainton in 1983. Now restored and operational.	File:LSWR 5025 Luggage van.jpg
LNWR	11388	6-wheel Covered Carriage Truck	Built in 1911 at Wolverton. 1 of 2 survivors. Later used as a cell truck.	File:LNWR 11388 CCT.jpg
BR	86450	General Utility Van	Built in 1954 by Pressed Steel. Arrived at Quainton in January 1994. Was used as an exhibition and stores vehicle, painted in BR Maroon.	File:General Utility Vehicle 93450.jpg
BR	94578	4-wheel Covered Carriage Trust	Built at Earlestown in 1960. Withdrawn in 1983, was to be scrapped but went to Quainton in October 1984.	File:BR Covered Carriage Truck 94578.jpg
BR	96403	4-wheel Horse Box	Built in 1957 at Earlestown. Used for horses of Household Cavalry at Kensington Olympia and at Prince of Wales' Investiture at Caernarvon June 1969, preserved in 1972. Is an open display in the carriage shed.	File:BR Horse Box 96403.jpg

Wagons

Cranes

Original company	Number	Type	Status/Notes	Image
M&GCJR	1	4-wheel Hand Crane	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> The original match wagon is not usable right nowTemplate:When, so an LMS wagon underframe is in its place.
LMS	No. ADM 27	10-ton hand-operated crane	Built in 1944 by Cowans Sheldon Ltd. Withdrawn in October 1982. New match wagon underframe created from a hopper wagon.

References

Bibliography

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External links

• Buckinghamshire Railway Centre website.
• Buckinghamshire Railway Centre Stockbook