Rails around Aylesbury Vale by TransportTreasuryPublishing

RAILS AROUND AYLESBURY VALE COMPILED BY ROBERT FREEMAN

Using photographs from the magnificent Transport Treasury archive, this book takes us on an imaginary circular journey from Aylesbury Town to Aylesbury High Street via the Met/Great Central and West Coast Main lines and the lines in between. The period covered is the 1950s and early 1960s just before massive changes were to take place resulting in contrasting fortunes for the two main lines: total closure for one and complete modernisation of the other. As well as the two Aylesbury stations, places featured are Quainton Road, Calvert, Verney Junction, Linslade Tunnel, Leighton Buzzard, Cheddington, Tring and many scenes in between, including brief forays down the lines to Ashendon Junction and Dunstable. We finish with a trip along what was Britain’s first branch line, that from Cheddington to Aylesbury.

Compiled by Robert Freeman Price:- £17.50

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Rails around Aylesbury Vale

Images from The Transport Treasury archive

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Rails around Aylesbury Vale

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© Images and design: Transport Treasury 2023. Text: Robert Freeman ISBN 978-1-913893-33-0 First published in 2023 by Transport Treasury Publishing Limited. 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe, HP13 7PJ Totem Publishing is an imprint of Transport Treasury Publishing. The copyright holders hereby give notice that all rights to this work are reserved. Aside from brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this work may be reproduced, copied by electronic or other means, or otherwise stored in any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher. This includes the illustrations herein which shall remain the copyright of the copyright holder. www.ttpublishing.co.uk Printed in Tarxien, Malta By Gutenberg Printing Ltd. ‘Rails around Aylesbury Vale’ is one of a series of books on specialist transport subjects produced in strictly limited numbers under the Totem Publishing imprint using material only available at The Transport Treasury. Front cover: ‘The Master Cutler’, introduced on 6 October 1947, was the name given to the 7.40am express from Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone and the 6.15pm return. It is seen here rushing through Aylesbury Town with a healthy head of steam in the spring sunshine of 3 May 1958. The run-down of services on the Great Central was about to begin and just four months later, on 15 September, this flagship train was switched to run from Kings Cross hauled by the new English Electric Type 4 diesels. The locomotive is one of Gresley’s graceful V2 2-6-2s No 60878 of Leicester Central shed. It would also move away from the line that autumn, to York. The three gentlemen on the other platform might be trainspotters but they seem more interested in something in the bay platform! Mike Mitchell MM539 Rear cover: LNWR-built 0-8-0 No 49287 has come off its local goods train to take water by the Dunstable branch in the yard at Leighton Buzzard. The large station car park occupies this area today. Stephen Summerson SUM597 Frontispiece: Clearly displaying its 1E Bletchley shedplate, 7F LNWR G2a 0-8-0 No 49287 with a local pick-up goods (as shown by the headlamp code) is on the up slow at Leighton Buzzard. No date is recorded but going by other photos in the collection it is around the summer of 1960. 49287 had come to Bletchley in August 1949 and stayed there until withdrawal in December 1962. For some reason, possibly to do with the construction of the smokebox door, these locos never received BR smokebox numberplates. Concrete lamp posts and semaphore signals abound and there is a large water tank behind the engine. It was a seemingly timeless scene, but all was about to change dramatically in the years that followed. Stephen Summerson SUM598

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Introduction

s a lifelong enthusiast living in the area, I was delighted to be asked to compile this book as it has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. It is intended as a companion volume to the previously published Rails around Wycombe and the Chilterns. That book dealt with the GWR/GC main line from High Wycombe to Princes Risborough and on from there along the line to Aylesbury. Here we will move to the east and look at the Great Central and West Coast Main Lines in our area, with the associated lines in between.

remains of the station site today and most people using the retail park that is now situated there probably have no idea there was once a railway here.

We will begin our imaginary circular journey starting just to the south of Aylesbury on the Met and GC line and then look at some scenes at Aylesbury Town station. Carrying on northwards we will visit Waddesdon, Quainton Road and Calvert, with a brief foray down the connecting line from Grendon Underwood Junction to Ashendon Junction. This had been built because, when the Great Central opened in 1899, it was soon found that the line into Marylebone via Rickmansworth was a bottleneck and particularly so for goods trains. Relationships with the Metropolitan Railway had also soured. Consequently, the Great Central did a deal with the Great Western Railway and the line into London from Grendon Underwood Junction, via Princes Risborough and High Wycombe was opened in 1906. Ashendon Junction was created in 1910 when the GWR direct main line to Birmingham was built.

In this period there was much for the enthusiast to enjoy at Aylesbury Town, with plenty of LNER and later LMS types of loco to be seen. There were also Great Western locos working in over the line from Princes Risborough and there was a small loco shed right next to the platforms. On the Great Central you could still board an express and go to destinations as far away as Sheffield or Manchester. Local trains on the Metropolitan had ceased north of Aylesbury back in 1936, but still came to Aylesbury until 1961 when electrification was extended from Rickmansworth to Amersham. The tragic run-down and slow death of the Great Central started when it was transferred from the Eastern Region to the London Midland Region in 1958; this has been well documented elsewhere. Suffice to say here that local services on it to the north ceased in 1963, followed by complete closure of what was left of main line services in September 1966 and the line was lifted beyond Calvert. However, Aylesbury is still a very busy station indeed and has thrived under Chiltern Railways, seeing more services than ever, but only as a terminus of DMU commuter services from London. Until recently it looked as if services from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes and Bedford/Cambridge would be included as part of the East-West Rail scheme, but sadly funding for this has so far not been forthcoming.

The photographs in this album were mostly taken in the 1950s and early 1960s and show the railway scene more or less as it had been for years, something which had seemed so permanent. But dramatic changes were about to happen, resulting in complete modernisation for one of our featured main lines and almost complete oblivion for the other.

Next, we have a look at Verney Junction, Winslow and Swanbourne on the Oxford to Bletchley line, part of the so-called ‘Varsity’ route. Such a route travelling by train would only have been possible via Quainton Road before 6 July 1936, the date that Metropolitan Railway services were cut back to Aylesbury. A wartime link was put in from Calvert to Claydon LNE Junction on 7 July 1940, but this was for freight traffic and no passenger services were ever diagrammed over it except for diversions and excursions.

Before the completion of the electrification in 1966, the West Coast Main Line in this area was a very different railway from the one we know today. Steam power and mechanical signalling were the order of the day with long, heavy express trains (many of which were named,) express fitted freight and parcels trains and an endless procession of very long slowmoving goods trains of unfitted wagons, which tended to be neglected by photographers in favour of the more glamorous expresses. Each station still had its goods yard served by a local pick-up goods and there were substantial yards at Tring and especially at Leighton Buzzard to serve local quarry traffic. Local passenger trains on the other hand offered a very sparse service compared to the regular interval service of frequent trains we enjoy today.

We then move across to the West Coast Main Line at Linslade and travel south as far as just beyond Tring Summit, looking at Leighton Buzzard (with a side trip on the Dunstable branch as far as Stanbridgeford), Cheddington and Tring. We finish by travelling along Britain’s first branch line from Cheddington, ending up back at Aylesbury at the former High Street station. An early scheme for the London and Birmingham Railway had been proposed to go via Aylesbury and Oxford, so when the final route was built this branch was the compromise for the citizens of Aylesbury who had missed out. When the Metropolitan arrived in Aylesbury in 1892 this provided a much quicker route to London and the branch fell into decline, finally closing to passengers on 31 January 1953. Goods traffic lasted for another eleven years before finishing on 2 December 1963. Nothing

Robert Freeman January 2023

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We begin our circular journey around the Vale just to the south of Aylesbury. An unidentified BR Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T is seen on a frosty morning near Stoke Mandeville with a Metropolitan Line train to Baker St on 3 January 1959. The train would switch from steam to haulage by a Metropolitan Bo-Bo electric locomotive at Rickmansworth, in a well-known and swift loco change. This locomotive is in a filthy condition, so is not identifiable but probably one of the batch 80137-80144, which were all allocated new to Neasden when they were built between May and September 1956. In December 1959 they all moved to the Southern Region, joining their classmates there as part of the swap of locos of this class working on the London Midland Region being exchanged for LMS Fairburn-designed 2-6-4Ts built at Brighton that had been working on the Southern. Mike Mitchell MM735

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‘The South Yorkshireman’ headed by Black Five 4-6-0 No 44842 is leaving Aylesbury behind as it heads south to Marylebone on 8 November 1958. This was the year that the former Great Central route was transferred from the Eastern to the London Midland Region of British Railways and the rundown of the line was soon to begin with the withdrawal of long-distance expresses to Sheffield and Manchester in January 1960. So, the sight of an ex-LMS locomotive on a prestigious working such as this was short-lived. This particular locomotive is also a rare capture, as it was only ever allocated to the GC for two months, from September to November 1958. The sidings shown here are still in use today for stabling Chiltern Railways’ Class 165s and 168s. Indeed, additional tracks have been laid for this purpose; there are now three roads to the left and four to the right of the running lines seen here. The background now looks considerably more urban though! Mike Mitchell MM715

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Although the line was now in the hands of the London Midland Region, LNER types continued to appear and here V2 2-6-2 60879 of Leicester Central shed calls at Aylesbury with the 4.10pm Manchester to Marylebone express on 15 July 1959, the last year that such long-distance trains ran. Indeed, 60879 was transferred away to York two months later and was withdrawn from there in December 1962. Mike Mitchell MM925

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Whilst far from being a good depiction of a locomotive, this photograph nonetheless oozes with the atmosphere of the steam era. On the cold morning of 24 January 1959 BR Standard 5MT 4-6-0 No 73156 is taking water at Aylesbury, having called with the 10am Marylebone to Manchester. Steam is escaping from the steam heating connection and condensing in the cold air and the engine is blowing off steam from the safety valves, impatient to be off. Note the luggage trolley, lamppost with unusual lamp and brazier under the water column, all adding to the scene. The rather flimsy footbridge was not rail connected; it served to link the south side of the town to the town centre. It has now been replaced by a far bigger and sturdier modern structure which has both pedestrian and cycle lanes. It is also now much longer, going up as far as the inner ring road. The locomotive is of particular interest: it went new to Neasden in December 1956, and it is still on home metals today, being magnificently preserved on the Great Central Railway at Loughborough. It was a longterm restoration project and not returning to steam until October 2017, almost exactly 50 years after its withdrawal from barely eleven years British Railways service! Mike Mitchell MM747

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The same train arriving a few minutes earlier. Mike Mitchell MM746

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With the shadow of the footbridge (from which the photograph was taken) encroaching on it, Fairburn Class 4 2-6-4 tank No 42070 has called at Aylesbury Town with an evening train for Woodford Halse on a sunny 7 June 1962. By this date these locos had taken over from the ex-LNER and BR Standard tanks which had previously worked such trains. This one, new in 1950, had spent nine years on the Southern Region and then a year based at Willesden before moving to Neasden. Note all the paraphernalia on the up platform: loaded trolleys, bicycles, stepladders and various large parcels. The station footbridge bears the smoky scars of the numerous steam locos that have passed beneath it and there is something lurking in the small engine shed on the right. Stephen Summerson SUM755

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Opposite: A stranger in the camp! GER-designed J15 0-6-0 No 65390 sits on the shed at Aylesbury Town, in the company of a more normal 14xx GWR 0-4-2T on 23 June 1958. Rather bizarrely, in July 1957 two of these locos (the other being 65405) were transferred from East Anglia to Neasden, of which Aylesbury was a sub-shed, to work pick-up goods trains on the former GWR Watlington branch after that line had closed to passengers. However, their stay was short-lived as 65405 was to be withdrawn in August 1958 and 65390 in the following December. Mike Mitchell MM597 Top: A rather dirty L1 2-6-4T No 67767 calls at Aylesbury with the 7.20pm Quainton Road to Marylebone on 23 June 1958. Mike Mitchell MM599 Bottom: A photo of the same loco in a much more presentable condition at Aylesbury a year or two earlier (given away by the 34E Neasden shedplate Neasden was recoded 14D in February 1958). It is moving back up the platforms after being released from the stock of a Met train it has brought in from Baker Street. The class was not that successful; the 5ft 2 in driving wheels would have made them powerful locos for slow moving freight trains, rather than the stopping passenger trains they were intended for. The rapid stops and starts took their toll and parts quickly wore out. Moreover, DMUs were rapidly to assume their passenger duties so, although only built in 1948-50 (apart from the prototype built in 1945), all were out of service by 1960-62. James Harrold H59

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London Transport 0-4-4T No L48 (formerly Metropolitan Railway No.81 of 1901 vintage) calls at Aylesbury for a photo stop with the return leg of ‘The Railway World Special’ of 23 May 1954. The train ran from Moorgate to Quainton Road and back and was sufficiently unusual to warrant coverage in some national newspapers. A service train to Baker Street headed by an L1 2-6-4 tank is in the bay platform behind. Leslie Freeman LRF1174

Auto-Fitted ‘Small Pannier’ 0-6-0PT No 5420 takes water at the north end of the station on 1 December 1960, whilst doing some shunting sandwiched between its auto coach and LMS corridor full brake No M30767M, which dated from 1929. It had been built by the Birmingham Carriage and Wagon company, the last of its batch of fifty vehicles being withdrawn in 1968. 5420, a Banbury allocated engine, would later take its auto coach on a service to Princes Risborough. James Harrold H1904

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A rather rural scene which has changed out of all recognition today! An unidentified 0-6-0 GWR Pannier Tank with autocoach Wren is approaching Aylesbury as the 6.15pm local from Calvert on 4 May 1959. The view is looking south from the overbridge on the A418 to Oxford. On the left in the distance is the goods shed where today there is a multistorey car park and supermarket beyond. On the right is where Chiltern Railways have built a large maintenance depot for their DMU fleet of Class 165s and 168s. Having ceased in 1963, local services do once again pass here but just as far as Aylesbury Vale Parkway Station, opened on 14 December 2008 to serve extensive new housing developments north of the town. Mike Mitchell MM820

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Opposite: Passing hedgerows and meadows in full bloom in the late spring sunshine, the northbound ‘South Yorkshireman’ is in the hands of Leicester Central-based Thompson B1 4-6-0 No 61063 on 30 May 1958. The location is just north of Aylesbury in an area that is now being massively re-developed with new housing as the town expands; Aylesbury Vale Parkway Station has been provided a little to the north of here to serve this. LNER power was still in charge at this time but 61063, having spent its entire BR career on the GC section, would be withdrawn in 1962 as LMS types took over the remaining services. Mike Mitchell MM568 Top: A complete contrast to the previous picture, taken at the same location eight months later. On the freezing cold morning of 24 January 1959, an unidentified BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T puts on a magnificent display as it passes waterlogged fields with the 7.47am Marylebone to Leicester, formed of a rather hotch-potch mixture of five coaches. Mike Mitchell MM743 Bottom: Looking the other way from the same spot on that frosty morning of 24 January 1959, we see V2 2-6-2 No 60879 (seen previously calling at Aylesbury) rushing past with the 7.40am Sheffield to Marylebone. To the north of the town lay an industrial area and in the background we see a part of the extensive International Alloys complex which, among other things, started producing aluminium ingots for aircraft construction during the Second World War. The works closed in 1981 and is now the site of a large Tesco superstore and the Broadfields Retail Park. Mike Mitchell MM742

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B1 4-6-0 No 61187 has the 6.06pm from Marylebone to Woodford Halse as it heads through the lonely setting of the closed station of Waddesdon Manor (plain Waddesdon from 1 October 1922) on 4 July 1959. The station closed when Metropolitan Line services to Verney Junction were cut back to Aylesbury on 6 July 1936. That closure date was a Monday, so the last train had actually run on the previous Saturday, the last trains being the 8.42pm from Aylesbury to Verney Junction and the 9.37pm return. 61187 spent its entire BR career based at ex-Great Central line sheds and the evening sun is picking out its 14D Neasden shed plate in this view. It was withdrawn from Woodford Halse in September 1962. Mike Mitchell MM918

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A rather grubby BR Standard 5 4-6-0 No 73069 of Neasden shed approaches Quainton Road with a northbound local on 29 July 1961. The photo gives us a view of the sidings on both sides of the line and the signal box, as well as a magnificent bracket signal on a rather short post on which a father and son are standing to get a better view of the train. Clearly more relaxed times pertained back then for this to be tolerated! 73069 went on to survive in service in the North West right up until the end of BR steam in August 1968. Stephen Summerson SUM637

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A somewhat filthy BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 No 76036 calls at Quainton Road with a southbound local train on 29 July 1961. 76036 had come new to Neasden in June 1954 and spent eight years based there before moving across to Cricklewood in June 1962. It then moved to the Birmingham area two years later and finished its days at Chester in January 1967. Local passenger services here ceased on 4 March 1963 and goods services on 4 July 1966. Semi-fast trains between Marylebone and Nottingham Victoria continued to pass through until the ex-GC main line closed south of Rugby on 3 September 1966. A single line was retained as far as Calvert, latterly for freight services to the landfill site (which ran until 2021) and also on to the link to the former Varsity Line for stock movements to Bletchley. This had been the depot for maintaining some of the Class 115 DMUs which worked the Marylebone suburban services for many years from 1960 until 1992, so a great deal of ECS mileage was accumulated! This scene is of course very recognisable today as the station is now beautifully maintained as part of the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. Shuttle trains from Aylesbury have occasionally run for special events. Stephen Summerson SUM636

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Arguably the most famous of them all, A3 Pacific No 4472 Flying Scotsman calls at Quainton Road for a photo stop during the Railway Preservation Society’s ‘Great Central Special’ from Sheffield Victoria to Marylebone and back on 15 June 1963. On its journey south it had been the last train to use the Great Central’s Chesterfield loop, which had closed to passengers on 5 March that year. 4472 (as No 60103) was no stranger here as it had worked on the GC section, based at Leicester Central between June 1950 and November 1953. Here it was in its first year of preservation and owner Alan Pegler was of course on the footplate. Note the Doncaster allocation painted on the buffer beam. Dick Riley RCR17175

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Black 5 4-6-0 No. 44819 calls at Quainton Road with the 6.12pm from Marylebone to Woodford Halse, formed of compartment stock on 22 June 1959. 44819 was doing a three-year stint on the ex-Great Central section, being based at Neasden at the time of this photo and then Leicester Central a year later. It was finally withdrawn in December 1967 from Wigan Springs Branch. The remaining single line (at the time of writing) ends abruptly at this point at the end of the platform, just in front of where the shunt signal is in this photo and the track was lifted northwards in 2021 to make way for HS2 construction. It was intended to be re-instated and upgraded to become a link into Aylesbury from the EastWest Rail project, but at the time of writing it appears doubtful whether this will ever go ahead. Mike Mitchell MM886

Black Five 4-6-0 No. 44691 of Neasden shed is passing Akeman Street signal box with the 6.18pm Marylebone to Sheffield on 22 June 1959. After serving on the GC section until 1963, 44691 moved to Birmingham and then on to the northwest, to be withdrawn from Workington in April 1967. Akeman Street box was situated about halfway along the spur which connected Ashendon Junction on the former Great Western main line to Birmingham (opened in 1910) to Grendon Underwood Junction on the Great Central (opened in 1906 through to Princes Risborough). When long distance trains were withdrawn in 1958, the remaining passenger trains to Nottingham were all routed via Amersham, so this connection was lightly used in its final years before closure in 1966. After closure of the GC north of Calvert, a single line from Grendon Underwood to Akeman Street remained in place well into the 1980s to serve a UKF fertiliser depot. Mike Mitchell MM887

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A rather dirty A3 Pacific No 60111 Enterprise is sweeping around the curve at Ashendon Junction heading north towards Akeman Street and Grendon Underwood Jct with the 12.15 Marylebone to Manchester on a July day in 1954. 60111 returned to the East Coast main line at Grantham in 1957 for its last five years in service, being withdrawn in December 1962. The train has just left Great Central and Great Western joint metals and is heading under the flyover that takes the up GW main line, which has diverged away from the down line, over the GC. When the line between Bicester and Princes Risborough was singled in 1968 this was the track made redundant and the flyover was removed. In 1998 Chiltern Railways redoubled the line and kept to the old diverging route but with the GC long gone, there was of course no need to rebuild the flyover and this gap was filled in, creating a continuous embankment. Stan Creer

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B1 4-6-0 No 61152 is returning north through Calvert, a typical Great Central station with an island platform, on a Rugby League Cup Final special on 9 May 1959. Wigan had beaten Hull Kingston Rovers 30-13, so the passengers on this particular train might not have been so happy! 61152 was a long-term Sheffield-based loco, but it spent its last year at Immingham before withdrawal in April 1964. The wagons on the right are waiting to be filled with bricks from the adjacent brickworks. When this closed, the site became used for landfill and trains of household waste and spoil from London ran to here until 2021. The station closed to passengers on 4 March 1963 and the buildings were demolished, but the platform remained until recently. However this is now the scene of a massive construction site for HS2 and the East-West Railway. Mike Mitchell MM825

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Whilst awaiting the Cup Final special the photographer recorded some other passing trains. Here is K3 2-6-0 No.61843 returning to its home base on the 5pm local from Marylebone to Woodford Halse, with a couple of passengers waiting. The locomotive had come to the GC shed there in September 1956 and was to spend the rest of its career there. The class was one of many made extinct by the great cull of steam engines around the country at the end of 1962, this one going in November of that year. The station name came from that of the birthname (Calvert) of the local landowner Sir Harry Verney. Just to the north of here the GC Mainline crossed the Varsity Line and a connecting spur was put in between the two in the Second World War, coming into service on 14 September 1940. This was for goods traffic and saw no passenger workings apart from excursions and diversions - particularly during the electrification of the WCML. In later years it became the most northerly point remaining of the GC route out of London and saw regular movements of DMUs going to and from Aylesbury and Bletchley for maintenance. Mike Mitchell MM827 We now move across to the ‘Varsity’ line. A Derby Lightweight single railcar is departing from Verney Junction with a Bletchley to Buckingham service on an unrecorded date and is about to take the Buckingham branch on the right. Only two of these particular vehicles were ever built, so this is either M79900 (now preserved) or M79901. They were specially built for this service and that onwards to Banbury Merton St, though that station closed on 2 January 1961. Buckingham services lingered on until 7 September 1964. This rural station was named after Sir Henry Verney, as there was no real settlement nearby. The station owed its existence to being a junction on the main Bletchley to Oxford line. This was closed to passengers by BR in 1968. It was not a Beeching closure however: his report had recommended keeping the Oxford-Cambridge route but closing all of its small intermediate stations. In the event almost the opposite happened with the stations between Bletchley and Bedford remaining open today! Trains will soon pass through here again on the reconstructed East-West Railway, but there was no reason to re-instate this station, traces of which have now been obliterated. Ken Coursey KC718

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Black Five 4-6-0 No 45091, a long-term resident of Northampton shed, stands at Verney Junction ready to depart for Banbury with the RCTS ‘Grafton Railtour’ of 9 August 1959. At Banbury the train was to use the rare link to gain the main line to continue its journey. Note the relaxed attitude as to what you were allowed to do during photo stops in those days! This tour traversed a great variety of rail routes, almost all of which are now long gone. The train had arrived here from Calvert and the loco had needed to go on to Winslow to find a suitable crossover to run round the train (there being only one available here), taking twenty minutes to do so instead of the booked eight. Space does not permit more details of the tour here, but more can be found on the wonderful ‘Six Bells Junction’ website. James Harrold H947

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BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No 75038 powers away from Verney Junction with steam to spare, heading the 10.34am (Sundays only) Oxford to Bletchley on 15 February 1959. This was a long-serving Bletchley loco, being one of a batch of ten (75030-75039) that went there new in 1953. It moved on to Chester in 1964. In the background can be seen some stored coaches awaiting disposal on the remaining stub of the Metropolitan Railway line, which came in from Quainton Road. This had closed to passengers as long ago as 6 July 1936. Interesting coaches to be stored here were to include redundant 1926-32 LMS electric units of compartment stock which had worked on the DC lines from Watford to Euston and Broad St. They had been introduced to supplement the earlier LNWR Oerlikon stock. Mike Mitchell MM750

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Summer flowers abound as BR Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T No 80081 is approaching Winslow with the 7.56am from Oxford to Bletchley, formed of three compartment coaches on 6 June 1959. This Bletchley allocated loco was another of the class that moved to the Southern Region in December 1959 and ended its days at Bournemouth in June 1965. The location is where the new Winslow station is being constructed for the East-West Railway project, the site of the original station having been redeveloped for housing. It is the only station on the Bicester to Bletchley section that is being re-opened. Mike Mitchell MM871

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Push-pull fitted Ivatt 2-62T No 41222 takes water at Winslow while working the 4.21pm Buckingham to Bletchley motor train on 5 September 1959. The loco spent most of its career based at Bletchley from August 1949 until January 1965, when it moved far away to become a station pilot at Carlisle for its final two years in service. After closure on 1 January 1968, Winslow did still see the occasional excursion and ‘Chiltern Shopper’ trains into the 1980s. The line from Claydon LNE Junction to Bletchley finally closed and was mothballed in May 1993 after the last commercial traffic over the line had ceased: this was stone from the Mendip quarries to the ARC terminal at Wolverton. Leslie Freeman LRF4353

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A view of Winslow station looking back west from the same train. Leslie Freeman LRF4352

BR Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No 75030 pulls away from Swanbourne with the 6.43pm from Oxford to Bletchley on 7 May 1959. This was the first of a batch of ten of the class that went new to Bletchley in 1953. This one spent spells away working on the North Wales coast line before finally ending up at Stoke, withdrawal coming in December 1967. The line remained double track until as late as 1985. Your scribe stood on this spot to witness and photograph the very last passenger train to traverse the remaining single line before closure on 31 May 1993. This was the appropriately named Hertfordshire Railtours’ ‘Mothball’ railtour on 29 May hauled by 56046. After closure the station buildings and platforms remained for many years, but they have now been swept away to make room for the new East-West Railway. Mike Mitchell MM821

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And so we now go to the West Coast Main Line on 14 April 1962, a lovely crisp spring day. Just north of Linslade Tunnel, ex-LNWR G2a 0-8-0 No. 49078 is plodding south on the up slow with a goods train bound for London, as members of this class had been doing for decades. However, their reign here was coming to an end that year and 49078 was to be withdrawn from Bletchley in December 1962. Stephen Summerson SUM713

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01/09/2023 07:25:02

A spectacular view looking north from above the 283-yard long Linslade Tunnel. Rebuilt Patriot 4-6-0 No. 45534 E. Tootal Broadhurst (a former Director of the LNWR and among other things, chairman of one of the largest cotton manufacturers in Manchester) is heading the up ‘Manxman’ on 4 August 1962. This titled train was a service from Liverpool Lime St to Euston which ran from 1927 until the coming of electrification in 1966. The locomotive was allocated to Llandudno Junction at the time and was withdrawn from Crewe North shed in May 1964. The two tracks in the centre pass through the original tunnel: when the line was quadrupled circa 1875, geology dictated that the extra tracks had to be built as two single bores flanking the original. This has brought about the illusion of wrong line running of up fast and down slow, so maintenance gangs always needed to be wary of this when working in the tunnel. Stephen Summerson SUM787

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01/09/2023 07:25:04

In glorious sunshine, Jubilee 4-6-0 No 45740 Munster is emerging from the north end of Linslade Tunnel on the down slow with a fast fitted train of perishables on 4 August 1962. Note the three electrification warning flashes on the engine and the tender is well filled with good quality coal. 45740 was allocated to Aston (Birmingham) and was to be withdrawn from there just over a year later in October 1963. Stephen Summerson SUM786

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01/09/2023 07:25:07

A good view of the northern portals as Black Five 4-6-0 No 44862 bursts out of the single down fast bore of Linslade tunnel on 7 May 1955 with a Euston to Wolverhampton express, using LMS coaches in ‘blood and custard’ livery. 44862 was a long-serving Rugby engine, being based there from 1950 until 1964, apart from a brief spell at Crewe North in 1959. It spent the last year before electrification at Willesden before moving to Carlisle, where it lasted until July 1967. Note the few bushes growing above the tunnel mouth; there are rather more of them here today! Stan Creer

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01/09/2023 07:25:08

We now move to the southern side of Linslade Tunnel to see Princess Royal Pacific No 46206 Princess Marie Louise heading south on the up fast out of the original twin bore on what was originally the down line before the route was quadrupled. The date is 4 August 1962. All twelve of the locomotives in this class were stored at the end of the summer 1961 timetable, but six of them were re-instated for one final summer in 1962, including this one allocated to Camden. Stephen Summerson SUM785

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01/09/2023 07:25:11

4-6-0 No 46100 Royal Scot itself is passing through Leighton Buzzard on the up slow with a special for Wembley on 28 April 1962. The train has probably come up from the Midlands, as Royal Scot was allocated to Nottingham at the time and was in its last year of service, being withdrawn that October. Happily, it is now preserved to main line standards and has occasionally passed through here again in recent times. The football match being played at Wembley that day was a Schoolboy International where England were beaten 1-2 by West Germany. Note that at the bottom of the running-in nameboard it advises of a bus connection to Woburn Abbey, some 7.3 miles distant. Stephen Summerson SUM724

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01/09/2023 07:25:12

Another special for the England v West Germany Schoolboy International at Wembley is pictured on the up slow. This one is headed by the famously singular un-named Britannia Pacific No 70047 which has plenty of steam to spare and some of it leaking at the front. This special probably came from the Birmingham area as 70047 was allocated to Aston shed at the time. Stephen Summerson SUM720

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01/09/2023 07:25:13

On 28 April 1962, 4MT 2-6-4T No. 42106 is going well through Leighton Buzzard with a long northbound goods train on the down slow. This was another of the Fairburn tanks which had come from the Southern Region in the December 1959 loco swap for BR Standard 2-6-4Ts.This one came to Bletchley from Tunbridge Wells West. It moved to Willesden in December 1964, but with the impending electrification there was little more work for it and withdrawal came in May 1965. Stephen Summerson SUM725

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01/09/2023 07:25:13

With a healthy head of steam, one of the more camera-shy of Stanier’s magnificent Princess Coronation Pacific 4-6-2s No 46253 City of St Albans has the down ‘Shamrock’ express passing Leighton Buzzard No.1 Signal Box on 14 April 1962. This named express from Euston to Liverpool Lime St ran from 1954 until 1966 to connect, as the name suggests, with ferry services to Ireland. This was the last year of service for 46253, as it was one of three to be withdrawn in January 1963, following the first three which had gone the previous month. Note the building materials on the platforms: the modernisation of the WCML in this area was about to begin. Stephen Summerson SUM707

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01/09/2023 07:25:14

A scene full of interest as it shows Leighton Buzzard loco shed (a sub-shed of Bletchley) and the busy goods yards. It is 24 May 1962 and ex-LNWR G2a 0-8-0 No. 49093 is arriving with a goods train off the Dunstable branch while classmate 49106 sits on shed. 49093 had been at Bletchley since September 1957, whereas 49106 had only arrived there that January. Both would be withdrawn in the following December as part of the mass culling of steam locos nationally that month. In the yard between the branch and the main line are what appear to be two loads of chalk, presumably from the nearby Totternhoe Quarries just beyond Stanbridgeford on the branch. The carriage in departmental use in front of the shed is worthy of mention. It is a trailer car open saloon from an LNWR Oerlikon EMU set, on magnification apparently M28276M, which used to work on the Watford DC lines to Euston and Broad St and from Broad St to Richmond, until replaced from 1957 onwards by what would become the Class 501 units. Stephen Summerson SUM745

Fourteen months on from the previous shot, on 30 July 1963, things are a lot quieter around the shed, it having closed in November 1962. There is still one wagon parked there, but the Oerlikon coach has gone. However, the goods yard in the distance is as busy as ever for now, handling traffic from the local gravel and sand pits and the products from Totternhoe Quarries. Here we see another load of chalk being shunted by Stanier 8F 2-8-0 No 48306 which was a visitor off Toton shed from where it would be withdrawn a year later. Locomotives from Midlands sheds were a common sight on the southern part of the WCML, bringing mineral trains, especially of coal, to the capital. Stephen Summerson SUM865

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01/09/2023 07:25:15

A busy scene as viewed from Leighton Buzzard No.1 Signal Box. A Derby Sulzer Type 2 (later Class 24) is arriving on a down local from Euston and an unidentified ex-LNWR G2a 0-8-0 is drifting past on the up slow with a ballast train. Of particular interest is the diesel interloper from the Eastern Region which will have reached here from Hatfield via Luton Bute St and Dunstable. It is Brush Type 2 No. D5676 of Finsbury Park Depot. These locos were originally to become Class 30, but after the whole class of 263 examples was re-engined (!) they became Class 31. They were a common sight here on freight and engineering trains in the 1980s and 1990s but at the time of the photo they were uncommon visitors, at least photographically: this is the first view that your compiler has seen of one west of Dunstable. No date is given, but D5676 still looks fairly new. It entered service on 8 December 1960, so this is probably around early summer 1961. Under TOPS renumbering it became No. 31248 and lasted until 1993. Dr H P White HPW302A

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01/09/2023 07:25:16

A photo showing that trains formed of LNER locos and stock worked right through from Hatfield to Leighton Buzzard. On 6 July 1959 N7 0-6-2T No 69692 of 34C Hatfield shed (where it had arrived three months previously from Stratford) is running round its train before making the return journey. Note the mail bags being loaded onto the train. It is now difficult to imagine the six platform station which once existed here. James Harrold H864

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01/09/2023 07:25:17

The photographer was obviously enjoying a ride on this train behind No 69692, as it has now arrived at Stanbridgeford. This was the only intermediate station on the LNWR branch from Leighton Buzzard to Dunstable, which lies at the top of the escarpment of the Chiltern Hills seen ahead. The train faces a stiff climb at 1 in 40 through a deep chalk cutting up Sewell bank. Today this has been turned into a footpath and cycleway known as the Sewell Greenway. The line closed to passengers as from 2 July 1962. Freight facilities here at Stanbridgeford ceased on 1 June 1964, though trains through to the Totternhoe Quarries, situated a little further towards Dunstable, continued to pass through for another year and a half. James Harrold H866

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01/09/2023 07:25:17

BR Standard 2MT 2-6-2T No 84002 calls at Stanbridgeford with a ‘Dunstable Dasher’ it is propelling towards Dunstable North. No date is given, though it could be just before closure to passengers in 1962 as it appears that some enthusiasts are looking out of the windows whilst enjoying a last ride. Note that the lettering of the station name has been replaced by a very small version attached to the nameboard. 84002 was a local engine allocated to Bletchley from July 1956 until it was withdrawn in April 1965. The station building, partly seen behind the train, still survives as a private residence. Stephen Summerson SUM604

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01/09/2023 07:25:18

With a healthy exhaust nicely highlighted against a dark sky full of April showers, BR Standard 2MT 2-6-2T No 84004 climbs up into Leighton Buzzard Station with another ‘Dunstable Dasher’. With local branch lines closing, there was less work for these locos at Bletchley and, after seven years based there, 84004 moved far away to Oswestry in April 1963. You can still buy Potter’s Pastilles! Stephen Summerson SUM709

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01/09/2023 07:25:18

Here we have a legendary rail tour (featuring some prestigious locomotives in their last year of service) seen on the home stretch, passing through Leighton Buzzard on Sunday 3 June 1962. This was the RCTS/SLS ‘Aberdeen Flyer’ which had started out the previous day from Kings Cross hauled by none other than A4 Pacific No 60022 Mallard and it was advertised to be the last non-stop steam run to Edinburgh; in the event this was sadly thwarted by a failed freight train. A4 No 60004 William Whitelaw took the train on to Aberdeen where local goods lines were visited behind preserved No 49 Gordon Highlander and J36 No. 65345. The return to Carlisle was hauled by Pacific No 46201 Princess Elizabeth and from Carlisle to Euston sister engine No 46200 The Princess Royal took over, as seen here. By this time the tour was running some three hours late! Stephen Summerson SUM750

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01/09/2023 07:25:19

It is Sunday 26 April 1959 and the 1.25pm Euston to Northampton is on the down fast, passing engineering work on the slow lines. The ten-coach train, formed of seven LMS coaches, two compartment coaches and a guard’s van, is being hauled by Stanier Black Five 4-6-0 No 45410 of Liverpool (Edge Hill) shed. The location is midway between Cheddington and Leighton Buzzard near Sears Crossing and the signal box can just be made out behind the footbridge in the distance. This was to be the site of the notorious Great Train Robbery in August 1963. Today Ledburn Junction is situated here, an important crossover point between fast and slow lines on the modernised railway. Mike Mitchell MM801

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01/09/2023 07:25:20

The engineering train seen in the previous photo was in the hands of ex-LNWR G2a 7F 0-8-0 No 48898, a local engine from Bletchley shed from 1951-1962. This one was fitted with a tender cab, thus offering protection for the crew during tender-first running, though that probably wouldn’t have mattered so much on this fine spring day, 26 April 1959. On the horizon you can make out Dunstable Downs which provide excellent thermals for the local gliding club. Although it is not seen in this view (being hidden by the trees), a notable landmark on these hills and visible from a passing train, is the carving of a lion on the chalk slope, showing the location of Whipsnade Zoo. Mike Mitchell MM799

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01/09/2023 07:25:21

Now looking north from the bridge on that same Sunday, Royal Scot 4-6-0 No 46159 The Royal Air Force of Crewe North shed is proceeding cautiously past 48898 and its engineering train with the 7.45am express from Blackpool to Euston. 46159 was to spend its last year in service based locally at Willesden, being withdrawn from there in December 1962, a very bad month for the class as 22 of its classmates met with the same fate. The town of Leighton Buzzard is a couple of miles from here, obscured by the smoke from the locomotive. Notable are the telegraph pole routes on both sides of this main line route. Mike Mitchell MM800

Under a threatening sky, Princess Coronation 4-6-2 No 46233 Duchess of Sutherland is heading for Euston through Cheddington with what appears to be a summer Bank Holiday weekend Saturday extra on 2 August 1958. Throughout the 1950s the loco was allocated to Crewe North but was spending that summer based at Carlisle Upperby. As currently the only working example of the three locos of this class to be preserved, 46233 has passed through here quite a few times in recent years on specials or on positioning moves, though usually on the slow lines to the right! Donald Robertson DR12-3

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01/09/2023 07:25:22

The aforementioned cloud has now moved in. Bulleid-designed for the Southern Railway in 1946, but not completed until 1950 and under British Railways, 1Co-Co1 diesel-electric No 10201 is in charge of an up express passing over the connection to the Aylesbury High St branch just beyond Cheddington signal box at the north end of the station on 2 August 1958. The three diesels in this pioneering class had come to the WCML permanently from the SR in 1955. With the coming of the English Electric Type 4s (of which they were the ancestors), there was less and less work for them to do and they were taken out of service and stored at Derby Works in late 1962/early 1963. They were officially withdrawn at the end of 1963 but languished at Derby until early 1968 before being sent for scrap. Donald Robertson DR12-4

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01/09/2023 07:25:23

On 20 June 1959 brand-new (it had only entered service on 23 May) English Electric Type 4 No D211 is seen entering Cheddington on the down slow with a local train. The loco is positively gleaming in its green livery with light grey roof and red buffer beam. It also has the ladder on the front, a feature which didn’t last long due to concerns about its use under overhead wires. It was to be named Mauretania in September 1960. The theme of the names carried by this class was that of ships which served Liverpool, one of the principal destinations on the WCML. D211 became 40011 and was withdrawn in October 1980 from Healey Mills and cut up at Swindon Works just a month later. Donald Robertson DR37-2

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01/09/2023 07:25:23

Three young spotters on Platform 1 at Cheddington eagerly get ready to record Fowler Compound 4P 4-4-0 No 41122 working a semi fast from Euston to Northampton on Saturday 28th June 1958. They have every reason to be excited as a few last survivors of this class, based at Rugby shed, were enjoying an Indian summer on such workings, particularly on Saturdays when the 3.05pm Euston to Rugby was also a regular working for them. 41122 was withdrawn at the end of the year. Mike Mitchell MM610

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01/09/2023 07:25:24

Viewed from the station footbridge at Cheddington on a sunny 20 June 1959, Jubilee 4-6-0 No 45647 Sturdee is in charge of an up express. The engine spent most of the 1950s and early 1960s allocated to Bushbury or Aston sheds, so would have been a common sight on expresses from Wolverhampton and Birmingham. It is still sporting the early British Railways totem on the tender. Sturdee would go on to achieve fame as one of the last survivors of its class, working from Leeds Holbeck and lasting in service there until April 1967. Donald Robertson DR36-4

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01/09/2023 07:25:24

Superpower for an up local! On 20 June 1959 Jubilee 4-6-0 45586 Mysore (one of a group of these locos named with an Indian theme) is leaving Cheddington with a train formed of seven LMS built non-corridor coaches, a common formation for the local services of that time, sparse as they then were. A 2-6-4 tank engine would have been more normal. Like others of its classmates, 45586 has a small Fowler tender and these were later swapped with some Stanier ones from 8F 2-8-0s. It is also not carrying a shedplate, as it was in transition that month from Edge Hill to Crewe North. Donald Robertson DR36-3

Cheddington Station is in the middle of around a five-mile-long section of straight track which stretches from the north end of Tring Cutting to just south of Leighton Buzzard. Note the unusual signal post which hosts signals for both the up main and down slow lines. The down signals have upper repeaters (out of view) so as to be visible above the road bridge. Black Five 4-6-0 No. 45292, another local Bletchley engine at the time, is dashing through the station on the down fast with another Bank Holiday express on 2 August 1962. Donald Robertson DR12-2

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01/09/2023 07:25:26

Another early view of an English Electric Type 4 (later Class 40) on the line. This is D210 before it was named Empress of Britain with an up train of empty coaching stock on 14 July 1959. The train is entering the start of the 1½ mile-long Tring Cutting and what appears to be a Royal Scot 4-6-0 is also approaching on the up fast. The track off to the right led to the exchange sidings for Pitstone Cement Works. D210 was the first of the production series of the class, following on from the ten that had been ordered as part of the Pilot Scheme. It had entered service just two months previously. The class was to dominate passenger services on the line leading up to the electrification of 1966. As a young spotter your compiler didn’t like them very much as they were ousting his favourite steam locos. Those that survived into preservation now have a cult following! Mike Mitchell MM923

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01/09/2023 07:25:27

Princess Royal Pacific No 46208 Princess Helena Victoria has the up ‘Merseyside Express’ about halfway along the famous 1½ mile long Tring Cutting on a sunny day in 1952. The train has just passed under the Marshcroft Lane farm occupation bridge. Going by the lining, the immaculate locomotive appears to be in the short-lived BR express blue livery. Locomotives of this class, allocated to Liverpool Edge Hill Shed (8A) such as this one, had a long association with this non-stop working from Liverpool to Euston which took some three hours to make the journey. The train ceased operating in 1962, the same year that this locomotive was withdrawn, having served at 8A continuously since 1951. Neville Stead NS203605

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01/09/2023 07:25:28

This is an unusual view of an up express approaching Tring Station, hauled by Britannia Pacific No 70042 Lord Roberts on 28 July 1962. The locomotive was allocated to Willesden at the time, so this does not supply a clue as to the origin of the train. The front two coaches are of LMS design. 70042 moved on to be amongst many of the class that survived at Carlisle until 1967. The roofs of some of the houses in the settlement of Tring Station can be glimpsed amongst the trees and also that of the Royal Station Hotel which opened with the line in 1838. It survived as a pub until around the year 2000. Ron Smith S1735

Looking north straight down the lengthy Tring Cutting and with Tring North Signal Box on the right, we see Black Five 4-6-0 No 45248 approaching the station on the up fast with what appears to be a special working made up of a motley collection of coaches on Sunday 3 June 1951. The loco was allocated to Liverpool Edge Hill at the time, which may provide a clue as to the train’s origin. The Festival of Britain was on during that summer, so it could be a special train laid on to serve that. The chalky sides of the cutting are quite evident in this view. Jim Flint FH620

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01/09/2023 07:25:30

The second of the Jubilee 4-6-0s, No 45553 Canada, storms through Tring Cutting leaving a trail of smoke and is approaching the station with the up ‘Mancunian’ on 12 April 1952. This was one of the principal expresses on the line, departing from Manchester London Road (later to become Piccadilly), operating from 1927 until electrification in 1966. Note the ‘blood and custard’ livery of the coaches and the small Fowler tender attached to the locomotive which was allocated to Longsight (Manchester) at the time. It moved to Crewe in 1956 and with brief spells elsewhere at Camden, Trafford Park, Carlisle and Llandudno Junction, lasted in service until November 1964. Jim Flint FH661

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01/09/2023 07:25:31

‘The Caledonian’ was introduced on 17 June 1957 as an additional named train running between Glasgow Central and London Euston, the other two being the famous ‘Royal Scot’ and ‘Mid-Day Scot’. This one left Glasgow in the morning for an afternoon arrival in Euston and returned in the afternoon for a late evening arrival back in Glasgow. To maintain a fast schedule, all three trains were limited to eight coaches as seen here. English Electric Type 4s took over its working in 1962 and it ran for the last time on 4 September 1964. In this photo taken on 9 August 1957, not long after the service was introduced, the engine in charge of the train is Princess Coronation Pacific No 46229 Duchess of Hamilton, famous for its trip to the USA in 1938 and for being preserved in its restored streamlined condition at the National Railway Museum in York, after many years working main line specials in its preserved rebuilt form. At this time it was in the middle of an eight year stay at Camden shed. The train ran non-stop from Carlisle, so 46229 had probably taken over there from a sister locomotive allocated to Polmadie (Glasgow). Transport Treasury

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01/09/2023 07:25:32

Royal Scot 4-6-0 No 46115 Scots Guardsman comes through Tring Station with a heavy express bound for Euston on 28 July 1962. Presumably the train has come from Manchester, as the locomotive is carrying a 9A (Longsight) shed plate, a depot it was based at for many years. It was to become the last in service of the class, being withdrawn from Carlisle Kingmoor in December 1965. Happily, it entered the world of preservation, has been restored to mainline standards and has occasionally passed through Tring again in recent times. At this date work was starting on the electrification of the route here and the old, covered footbridge is being demolished, being replaced by the temporary structure seen in this photo. Ron Smith S1768

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01/09/2023 07:25:32

Jubilee 4-6-0 No 45726 Vindictive, a long-term resident of Crewe North has an up special on the fast through Tring, also on 28 July 1962. It seems that the photographer spent some time at Tring that day with a group of friends, recording special workings as well as everyday services. A year later 45726 moved to Warrington Dallam from where it was withdrawn in March 1965. All the platform buildings at Tring were to be swept away and today there are only a few ‘bus shelters’ and no toilet facilities, quite extraordinary for a station that is a terminus for many services from Euston. Recent work to install a new footbridge and passenger lift failed to correct this sorry state of affairs. The only main line stations on the southern section of the line that retain their old platform buildings today are Berkhamsted and Harrow & Wealdstone. Ron Smith S1729

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01/09/2023 07:25:33

Being recorded in the notebooks of a group of spotters sitting on a wall by Platform 1, Stanier 2-8-0 No 48085 is heading a Class F express freight of mixed unfitted stock northwards through Platform 3 at Tring, again on 28 July 1962. The photo was taken from the steps of the temporary footbridge. The loco may have been a ‘cop’ for the youngsters as it had only arrived at Willesden from Crewe the month before. It was to end its days at Northwich in August 1967. Ron Smith S1731

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01/09/2023 07:25:33

Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0s, rather unkindly nicknamed ‘Flying Pigs’, were not that common on this stretch of the WCML until June 1962 when three of the class, Nos. 43007, 43018 and 43021 were allocated to Watford and spent three years or so here working pick-up goods trains and local passenger workings. They were often seen shunting in the goods yards of the local stations and here we see No. 43021 pottering about Tring Station on 28 July 1962, just a month after it had arrived in the area. These sorts of duties were soon to be swept away in the aftermath of the Beeching Report. Ron Smith S1761

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01/09/2023 07:25:34

Another of the mighty Princess Coronation Pacifics, No 46225 Duchess of Gloucester of Crewe North shed is charging effortlessly past Tring No.1 signal box and the crossover to the slow lines with a down express on 28 July 1962. As is well-known and often lamented, half of the class remained in service until September 1964 when they were suddenly withdrawn en masse. 46225 was one of these. Ivatt 2-6-0 No. 43021, seen in the previous view, is now ensconced in the goods yard and doing some shunting. Notice also the empty stock stabled behind the signal box. The track layout today is far simpler, where nothing obstructs the frequency of services on the fast lines. Ron Smith S1771

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01/09/2023 07:25:35

The photographer has nicely framed this up express, storming by the tall signals south of the station. It is headed by as yet not rebuilt Royal Scot 4-6-0 No 46140 The King’s Royal Rifle Corps on 3 June 1951. At this date around ten of the class were left to be rebuilt with a taper type 2A boiler, this one being dealt with the following year. The last, 46137 wasn’t done until as late as 1955. In its rebuilt form, 46140 went on to be the penultimate member of the class in service, being withdrawn from Carlisle Kingmoor in October 1965. Jim Flint FH616

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01/09/2023 07:25:36

Black Five 4-6-0 No 44916 is heading south at the head of an up fitted van train on a lovely crisp winter’s morning of 3 January 1959. Such conditions produce lovely steam effects and the exhaust of another, northbound goods train can be seen about to pass through Tring station in the distance. 44916 was a local engine based at Willesden (1A) at the time. It moved north to Chester and then the Manchester area in 1962, lasting in service until December 1967. The location is Tring Summit, exactly 31 miles from Euston and ¾ mile south of Tring Station. The line climbs continuously from the south to here, apart from the short level section at Bushey water troughs, on a ruling grade of 1 in 335. The summit gradient post can just be made out at the foot of the first telegraph pole on the left. Even modern diesel locomotives have to work hard to maintain speed with the heaviest freights over this stretch! Mike Mitchell MM729

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01/09/2023 07:25:37

On a beautiful summer’s evening, Patriot 4-6-0 No 45515 Caernarvon is passing Tring Summit on the up slow with the 5.06pm train from Rugby to Euston on 2 June 1959. In the background there is activity on the approaches to Tring Station and in the sidings. This lovely open view is not possible today thanks to vegetation growth, electrification masts and catenary, although some photographers back then were lucky to obtain lineside passes to avoid those telegraph poles and wires! This class were also known as ‘Baby Scots’ as they looked like a smaller version of the Royal Scot Class in its original form. 45515 was a long-term resident of Liverpool Edge Hill shed, so appears to have been ‘borrowed’ for this local working. It was scrapped at Crewe Works in August 1962. Mike Mitchell MM862

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01/09/2023 07:25:37

An interesting double-header: 2P 4-4-0 No 40452 is piloting Black Five 4-6-0 No 44811 on a special from Kensington Olympia to Corby, catching the low evening sun in this three-quarter rear view on 2 June 1959. Both locomotives were visitors from Leicester Midland shed. In the background a local train is arriving at Tring Station. Note milepost 31 and the gradient post indicating Tring Summit to the left of the telegraph pole, just ahead of the 2P. Contrast the style of fencing seen here with what is installed beside the main lines today. Mike Mitchell MM864

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01/09/2023 07:25:38

On a lovely summer’s evening a double-headed express casts a long shadow as it approaches Tring Summit. No palisade fencing or overgrown vegetation was present to spoil the view back then! The locomotives are Black Five 4-6-0 No 45111 of Longsight (Manchester), piloting the numerically last Jubilee 4-6-0 No 45742 Connaught of Bushbury (Birmingham). The sound of the hard-working locos, together with the rolling stock’s wheels clattering over the jointed rails can only be imagined. 18 July 1958. Mike Mitchell MM632

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01/09/2023 07:25:38

On a sunny evening in August 1956, SR Prototype 1Co-Co1 diesel No. 10201 is passing with a southbound express formed of LMS coaches in ‘blood and custard’ livery through the short cutting by Cow Roast, to the south of Tring. Cow Roast is the nearby hamlet on the old A41 road, thought to be on an ancient drovers’ route where livestock could be rested on the way to market (‘roast’ being a corruption of ‘rest’). We saw this locomotive previously at Cheddington in green livery, but in this earlier view it is carrying its original handsome black with a silver stripe and wearing a small early British Railways lion and wheel totem. What a colourful sight this train would have been! Transport Treasury

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01/09/2023 07:25:39

Britannia Pacific No 70046 has just passed under the footbridge at Cow Roast with an express for Euston on 3 August 1956. The engine was allocated to Holyhead at the time, so this suggests the train has come from North Wales. Note that at this time 70046 was still unnamed; it would be another three years before it received the name Anzac, in September 1959. Anzac Day on 25 April, the date that allied soldiers landed at Gallipoli in 1915, is a major date on the calendar in Australia and New Zealand to honour those who fell then and in both World Wars. Transport Treasury

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01/09/2023 07:25:40

The second of only two Jubilee 4-6-0s to be rebuilt as a 7P with a type 2A boiler and double chimney, No 45736 Phoenix is heading south with a special working on 11 June 1962. The location is bridge no. 108, situated south of Tring between the settlements of Cow Roast and Dudswell, exactly a year before it was reconstructed and heightened for the coming electrification. 45736 was allocated to Crewe North at the time and after subsequent short spells at Holyhead, Camden and Willesden, it ended up at Carlisle Kingmoor from where it was withdrawn in September 1964. Brian Wadey

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For the final stage of our circular tour, we return to Cheddington. ‘Change for Marston Gate and Aylesbury’ states the sign, but passengers would not be able to do this for much longer as this is January 1953 and the last passenger train ran on the 31st of that month. Local Ivatt 2MT 2-6-2T No 41275 has an Aylesbury High St train in the branch platform. The engine spent the 1950s swapping between Bletchley and Willesden sheds until it went on permanent holiday to the West Country in October 1961. This location enjoyed a final moment in the limelight during August 1963, as it was here that diesel loco D326 and two of its mail coaches were parked up in the aftermath of the ‘Great Train Robbery’ for forensic examination by the police. Arthur Mace 10051CD

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After closure to passengers, the line remained open for goods traffic for almost eleven more years and here we see BR Standard 4MT 2-6-4T No 80043, which had come new to Bletchley in August 1952, arriving from Cheddington with a pick-up goods at the only intermediate station on the line, Marston Gate, on 13 June 1959. Railwayman Jack Rogers, who has just operated the crossing gates and signals using the ground frame to the left of the line, looks on. Six months later this locomotive would move away to the Southern Region and would later end its life as one of the last locomotives to work over the famous Somerset and Dorset line. Mike Mitchell MM879

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On 21 March 1959, the South Bedfordshire Locomotive Club ran ‘The Skimpot Flyer’, a circular tour that started and ended at Luton Bute Street, taking in local lines that are now long gone. The route from Luton was to Leighton Buzzard, then Cheddington to Aylesbury High St and return, Watford Jct, St Albans Abbey, Hatfield and return to Bute St, via Wheathampstead. The tour train, formed of five ex-LMS corridor coaches, was headed throughout by Stanier 4MT 2-6-4T No 42467 which had only arrived at Bletchley shed from Carlisle a month before. It is seen here passing through Marston Gate on its way to Aylesbury High St, as a classic Vauxhall Victor waits at the crossing. Mike Mitchell MM765

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The train is later seen departing from Cheddington on its way to Watford. Mike Mitchell MM766

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On 24 January 1959, Stanier Black Five No. 45388 is arriving with a healthy load (much of it being coal) on the local pick-up goods approaching Aylesbury High St. The photo was taken from the footbridge which was next to a level crossing here and we are looking east alongside the Stocklake road. The track bed remained here until it was more recently swallowed up by a road improvement scheme. An artistic representation of a bracket signal (though unrealistic to a railwayman!) has been placed on this road as an acknowledgement to the past. 45388 was a local Bletchley engine at the time but would go on to be one of the very last BR steam locos in service, surviving until the bitter end in August 1968. Mike Mitchell MM744

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A wonderful period piece taken on 3 January 1959. Motorists are having to wait at the level crossing (just out of sight on the left) while Super D 0-8-0 No 48953 carries out shunting manoeuvres with the local goods. We can see part of the footbridge (and an advert for Nescafé) that was provided for pedestrians for just such occasions, with the photographer’s motorbike propped up next to it. There must have been frequent delays for motorists when an engine was performing such duties, as the points giving access to the sidings in the yard were immediately adjacent to the crossing. This is the junction of Park St and Stocklake and there is a big roundabout here today. The corner shop building (minus the chimney) is still there, complete with the street nameplate. Note the advert for Craven A cigarettes above the shop door which optimistically states ‘will not affect your throat’! It seems incredible that cigarette manufacturers once claimed that smoking was actually beneficial to people’s health. As for 48953, it spent its last ten years (1951-61) allocated to Bletchley shed. Mike Mitchell MM732

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BR Standard 2MT 2-6-2T No 84002, which we saw earlier at Stanbridgeford, is shunting the yard on a crisp morning on 8 November 1958. Goods services still had five years to go here at this time - they were to finish on 2 December 1963. The site was completely cleared after closure; no trace of a railway remains today and many Aylesbury residents probably don’t even know one existed on this side of the town. There is now a busy retail park here. Mike Mitchell MM714

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The ‘Buckinghamshire Rail Tour’ which ran on 10 October 1954 was unusual in two respects. Firstly, it brought a very rare visitor to the West Coast Main Line in the form of Drummond T9 4-4-0 No 30729 of Fratton (Portsmouth) shed and secondly, it was actually two tours in one. The RCTS tour had originated at Blackfriars, but doubled up as a Ramblers Special whose participants could alight at Berkhamsted or Tring for their walk. The train then continued to Cheddington, where RCTS members changed onto a two-coach train hauled by LNWR 0-6-2 Coal Tank No 58887 to take them to Aylesbury High St, where we see this train during its run-round. 30729 in the meantime had gone on with its stock for servicing at Bletchley. 58887 went from here to Wolverton (for a works visit) and Newport Pagnell before returning to Bletchley, where the passengers transferred back to the original train for the return to London Blackfriars, picking up the ramblers on the way. Leslie Freeman LRF1348

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30729 at Cheddington before proceeding with its train for servicing at Bletchley. Leslie Freeman LRF1344

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On 28 June 1958, the Locomotive Club of Great Britain ran a ‘North Western Branch Lines’ (perhaps the word ‘London’ should have been included to avoid ambiguity?) tour which started from St Pancras and ended up at Euston. It took in the branches to Rickmansworth Church Street, Aylesbury High Street and Newport Pagnell, including a visit to Wolverton Works. Here we see tour participants wandering around, as was accepted as quite normal back then, while the locomotive, Kentish Town-allocated 2P 4-4-0 No 40421 performs the run round at Aylesbury. It had arrived tenderfirst from Cheddington and reached the buffer stops under the canopy of the closed station (below). It has propelled the train back into the yard to do the run round and is about to set back into the platform. Tony Bennett AEB3672A

This view at the buffer stops of Aylesbury High Street appropriately brings our tour around the area to an end. Brian Fletcher

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RAILS AROUND AYLESBURY VALE COMPILED BY ROBERT FREEMAN

Compiled by Robert Freeman Price:- £17.50

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Rails around Aylesbury Vale

Images from The Transport Treasury archive

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