Marlow branch line
Marlow branch line | |||
---|---|---|---|
7 ft (2,134 mm) | |||
Operating speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) | ||
|
Marlow Branch Line | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Marlow branch line is a
The train that runs on the branch line is known as The Marlow Donkey although the exact derivation of the term is unclear. Karau and Turner say "the trains of pack horses, mules and donkeys carrying goods to the riverside prompted the local people to christen the train on the Great Marlow Railway, the 'Marlow Donkey', a name which survives to this day". However, Anthony Wethered, great-grandson of the first chairman of the company, suggests that it is the name of the line.[2] A third tradition identifies a particular locomotive. A pub in Marlow is named after it.[3][4]
Train services
The off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Maidenhead and Marlow. During morning and evening peak times a two trains per hour service is achieved by using two trains: one shuttling between Marlow and Bourne End, and another between Bourne End and Maidenhead. This is possible because Bourne End station has two platforms that may be used simultaneously.
All trains from Marlow must stop and reverse at Bourne End, as the line to Marlow has a trailing connection, and the driver must change ends for the second part of the route. As a result of the position at which the Marlow branch enters Bourne End station, the length of trains serving Marlow is limited to two coaches of class 165 rolling stock. Most off-peak trains on the line begin at Marlow and terminate at Maidenhead.
The following settlements are served by the branch line:
- Maidenhead
- Furze Platt
- Cookham
- Bourne End
- Marlow
History
Construction
In July 1846, The
The line left the GWR main line at the site of the present Maidenhead station, the first stop of which was Maidenhead (Wycombe Junction), renamed in the 1860s, Boyne Hill. This station was closed on 1 November 1871 upon the opening of the present Maidenhead station. The Wycombe Railway Company was taken over by GWR on 1 February 1867.
In August 1867 the business men of Great Marlow met to discuss a connection with the GWR Wycombe branch line, at the station then called Marlow Road (now Bourne End). The Great Marlow Railway Act was given
The GWR acquired the remainder of the capital and owned the line from 1897, thereby relieving the Marlow owners of the responsibility for ongoing maintenance of the line.
The maximum number of stops on the line were:
- Maidenhead (latterly renamed Maidenhead Boyne Hill and effectively replaced by the current Maidenhead station),
- Cookham,
- Marlow Road (latterly renamed Bourne End),
- Wooburn Green,
- Loudwater,
- High Wycombe.
In 1937 Furze Platt station was added on the outskirts of Maidenhead (before Cookham station).
Partial closure
Part of the original reason for the line, connecting High Wycombe to London, was removed by the opening in 1906 of the
Finally, on 2 May 1970 the stretch of line from Bourne End to High Wycombe was closed to passengers after the Minister of Transport at the time refused to grant the British Railways Board £60,000 to keep the line open from Bourne End to High Wycombe.[5] As a result of this, the intermediate stations at Wooburn Green and Loudwater had no services and closed.
During the 1970s and 1980s, much of the land occupied by the old line was sold off and a number of buildings were built on the path of the old railway. Five of its seven bridges were demolished, namely: Gordon Road; the access to the former E Gomme (G Plan furniture) factory where the track is now a road into a housing estate which replaced the factory; the A40 at Spring Gardens; Bassetsbury Lane; and Spring Lane. The bridge over Bowden Lane (now a footpath at this point) remains, and at the bottom of Abbey Barn Lane the bridge continues to carry the road over the site of the old line. To prevent future incursion, the path of the line through Bourne End, Wooburn Green, Loudwater and the Wycombe Marsh area of Wycombe is listed in the local plan, as set aside as a footpath/cycle route or bus route. Loudwater Station and goods yard, together with Bourne End coal yard siding, are now industrial and office units.
Future
The High Wycombe Society, a local conservation group, has campaigned for the reinstatement of the line as
From 2009, the
Electrification
The remainder of the line was confirmed for
Route description
From splitting with the
See also
- Great Western Main Line
- Great Western Railway
- First Great Western Link
- List of closed railway stations in Britain
- Wycombe Railway
References
- ^ 51°34′17″N 0°45′59″W / 51.5713°N 0.7663°W
- ^ a b c Paul Karau; Chris Turner (c. 1987). The Marlow Branch. Wild Swan Publications, Oxon.
- ^ "The Great Marlow Railway". Retrieved 10 June 2010.
- ^ "The Story of the Marlow Donkey". (from Summer 2003 Newsletter). The Marlow Society. 22 April 2003. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
- ^ "Local History". Marlow–Maidenhead Passengers' Association. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^ Bucks Free Press, "Thank you Elsa for getting Bourne End railway line back on track", 26 September 2008.
- ^ This is local London, "Council support reopening of rail link", 11 September 2008.
- ^ Bucks Free Press, "Railway reopening subject of homes battle", 19 November 2008.
- ^ This is local London, "Developer loses Wooburn Green homes appeal", 26 January 2009.
- ^ Smale, Katherine (7 December 2018). "Windsor to Heathrow rail scheme 'rejected outright'". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Further reading
- Mitchell, Vic & Smith, Keith (2002). Branch Lines to Henley, Windsor and Marlow. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-77-X.
- Leigh, Chris (7–20 May 1997). "The 'Donkey' and the 'Turbo'". OCLC 49953699.