Wycombe Railway
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The Wycombe Railway was opened for passenger services is 1854, from Maidenhead to High Wycombe, and later extended to Princes Risbrough, and then Oxford. The line was Broad Gauge (as opposed to standard gauge). The Line was closed completely in May 1970.
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[edit] The Route
The Line started at Maidenhead. The line branched off just to the west of Maidenhead's current station. The line veered north towards High Wycombe, and had intermediate stops at Furze Platt (still open) and Cookham (Still Open), and up to Bourne End, which is the current terminus for the line. Another line branches off at Bourne End to Marlow. The original locomotive on this branch was nick-named "The Marlow Donkey". From Bourne End, the line to Wycombe has been closed to passenger and freight traffic, as of May 1970.
Before closure, the line continued through Bourne End station, over the current Station Road and through the current RAC industrial estate. The trackbed approached Cores End and crossed the A4094 road and entered the agricultural areas of Wooburn Green. It then crossed a field, and some of the trackbed is taken up by Stratford Drive. Then it entered Wooburn Green. Here, the railway entered its first station after Bourne End. There was a further station at Loudwater.
[edit] Wooburn Green Station
Wooburn Green railway station had a single platform as the line was single track. From the early 1960s, the station became unstaffed.
[edit] The Route Continued
The line continued towards High Wycombe, and after Wooburn Green, the trackbed followed the bottom of Flackwell Heath Golf Course. At the western end, the line enters Loudwater Station. note: Just before the line entered Loudwater Station, it goes under the current M40 highway to Birmingham. Though the M40 was built after the dismantling of the track, the alignment was preserved in the form of an underbridge, which can be viewed today from the A4094 past The Dreams Store, towards Wycombe Marsh.
[edit] Loudwater Station
At Loudwater railway station, as at Wooburn Green, the original layout was a single platform.
[edit] The Route Continued
The line passed Loudwater level crossing (the Loudwater - Flackwell heath connection) and into a wooded area. note: the alignment can be traced by maybe 100 yards up from the junction, there is a pathway saying: "Railway Line Conservation Area", this marks the beginning of the cutting which will continue to Wycombe Marsh.
Here, the line passed over its first overbridge of the route, Spring Lane. Then, the line passed under the first underbridge of the route, the Abbey Barn Road bridge. The line then advanced towards the rye area, and at the current "Willow court" housing estate, took a sharp turn north-west toward the Oxford Road. Here, the second overbridge of the route passed over Bassetsbury lane, onto an embankment, towards the London Road. It continued north-west until the A40, where a steel girder bridge took the line over the road, onto another embankment, that took the line directly to the current Chiltern Line. Here it joins the Great Western/Great Central joint line from Northolt Junction, where it ran adjacent into High Wycombe Station.
[edit] Competition from the Mainline and Decline
Opened on the 15th March 1899, the Great Central Railway (led by Metropolitan Railway chief, Sir Edward Watkin)with a Great Western Railway partnership, joined at Northolt Junction, (South Ruislip Station) and split at Princes Risborough. The line provided a much more direct route from London, as there were no changing of trains, and consequently, the Wycombe Railway lost some of its passengers.
The line began to decline as a result of improved bus services and cars, as well as the new railway line, and fell victim to the infamous Beeching Axe of the 1960s and closed completely in May 1970. The tracks were immediately lifted.
