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East West rail, Bletchley to oxford line


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Didn't know Dalton had closed. I used to deliver stuff there frequently.

 

That is a big area to build houses on and will certainly have massive impact on local road traffic.

 

PS: Always wondered what they did at Didcot. Only went there a few times but security was very stringent by comparison with Dalton.

Late to this but Dalton Bks has not closed yet and Vauxhall Bks has been closing since they started building a power station on the former ordnance depot in 1963!

 

The latest Army re-basing plan is a 10-15 year target so no rush. The Vauxhall site has permission for about 200 homes (flats and low cost intermingled) and is in walking distance to Didcot Parkway... not too far from the Varsity option but we'll sited. The big 5000 home development will fill the gap between Didcot and the A34. I'm fairly sure the A34 doesn't need more traffic but limited north bound services from Parkway will limit the attraction and it is definitely not a walk to the station from the A34!

 

Vauxhall Barracks is the home of 11 EOD Regt RLC and the Joint Service EOD Ops Centre. It runs UK bomb disposal from there, hence the securityIt also homes the Felix Fund Charity to cater for injured bomb disposal and Search personnel. Please donate if you can... it helps some of my friends in times of need.

 

It's believed the Vauxhall Barracks name was coined after miss-hearing Fox Hall. It's on Fox Hall Road near Fox Hall curve and bridge... never keen to admit mistakes, the Army preferred to claim it was to do with a move from London

 

It would be good to finally see the potential of the E-W alternate route realised. It was a short sighted decision to abandon it in a past time. Time now to improve. I remember as a child seeing trains on it and for a long time my aunt lived in Haddenham where the first rebuilds for the Chiltern lines were developed.

Edited by daveyb
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Used to deliver to Vauxhall Barracks yes security very high level vehicle inspection pit and always had to prove identity etc ,house building around Didcot is going mad every time I pass there is a new estate.

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Was at Quainton Road on Sunday, and this passed by.

 

post-29514-0-68216600-1525809644_thumb.jpg

 

A quick search of Zeticarail reveals it to be a fairly fancy bit of kit including ground penetrating radar amongst other features. As the pod is in the deployed position it was probably actually surveying from somewhere around Claydon/Calvert to Aylesbury. No waste trains and as there was going to be an Aylesbury - Quainton Road shuttle on BH Monday, I guess Sunday was the chosen day.

 

Dave

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Took a detour on the way home to see any progress. Steeple Claydon substation is being fitted out with big electrickery bits, and now it looks like water mains are being sunk.

Further east though now looks like this!

 

post-29514-0-79661300-1528232290_thumb.jpg

 

post-29514-0-83358100-1528232229_thumb.jpg

 

Compare the above pics with those in post 414, it is the same location, honest.

This is the trackbed, not a stream. And yes, that water is flowing...

 

post-29514-0-21074500-1528232266_thumb.jpg

 

post-29514-0-31589500-1528232279_thumb.jpg

 

Dave

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Some photos of The Sopwith Camel railtour run by the Branch Line Society last sunday, 10th June.Apparently they raised somewhere in the region of £6000 pounds for the Royal British Legion so congratulations to all concerned. There where three trips on the day. The first ran, Aylesbury-Claydon-Bicester Village and return; the second, Aylesbury to Calvert and into all the sidings at the waste disposal terminal before returning to Aylesbury. The final trip of the day ran Aylesbury-Claydon-Bicester Village,out to the spur at Gavray Junction which will form part of the double track when East-West gets building, returning to Bicester Village and finally back to Aylesbury. The trains also served Quanton Road for visitors to the railway centre.All went to plan, even Launton AOCL and Bicester Eastern Perimeter TMOB crossings behaved themselves and the trains ran to time. Some bemused passengers at Bicester Village wondering what had gone wrong with a train stood in the platform with all its occupants (railtour participants) milling around on the platform. Also a few confused Chinese tourists asking if it was the train to Oxford! The day started overcast but quickly brightened up to a warm and Sunny day. The only downside was that this brought out a mass of Horseflies at Calvert. My arms are still a mass of bumps where I got bitten repeatedly. Personally, I think the train should have been called the Horse Flyer!post-14048-0-61029800-1529143604_thumb.jpg

The first trip of the day picking up the token at Claydon to head back to Aylesbury

post-14048-0-45792300-1529143712_thumb.jpg

and heading away around the wartime spur

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The second trip arriving at Calvert

post-14048-0-01058300-1529143863_thumb.jpg

Entering the sidings at the south end

post-14048-0-65181500-1529143944_thumb.jpg

In the south end neck at Calvert

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On No.2 road at Calvert

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On No.1 road at Calvert

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As far as you can go on what little remains of the north end neck

post-14048-0-03692300-1529144252_thumb.jpg

Stood at the remains of the former platform face at Calvert

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Finally, heading out of the sidings to return to Aylesbury via the north end ground frame

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Looks very different since I last went over it - on an Inspection Special c.1993 and on that occasion we even went down to Akeman Street (Woodham) on the former GC link off the Joint Line to Finmere Jcn as well as doing Bletchley Flyover (the trip was mainly planned by someone who used to plan railtours for one of the well known Welsh railway societies so some of the places we inspected were quite interesting).

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I was on the first train from Aylesbury, as I had never before travelled between Aylesbury and Claydon L&NE Jc. The train was well organised and a great opportunity to ride little used routes, well done to all concerned in their operation.

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Dennis Lovett has kindly sent over some content relating to the forthcoming Winslow station.

 

 

A couple of snaps attached of Winslow station site. Taken on 25 June 2018 by yours truly from the A413 road bridge.

 
This is on a totally different site to the old one!

 

1.JPG

 

DSC_0064.JPG

 

 

I took these back in May 1989 of the old station site at Winslow.
 
Whilst there is still a Station Road and a Station Court, the station building is long gone under new housing development.
 
They might be of interest to someone. Note the poster advertising the Christmas Specials then operated from Aylesbury to Milton Keynes Central.
 
I worked for Network SouthEast at the time, so carried appropriate documentation to allow me to be at the lineside.

 

 

Winslow 12-46.jpg

 

Winslow 12-49.jpg

 

Winslow 12-51.jpg

 

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Dennis moves on to Verney Junction
 

Also from the 25th June 2018.
 
Pictures taken at Verney Junction near Winslow. The station was at one time the terminus of the Metropolitan Line from Baker Street branching off the old Met/GC line at Quainton Road. Some services included a Pullman Car!
 
The shot of the station includes the Station Masters house on the right.  The up platform is on the left and there are rails just about visible in the weeds on the down platform. This was an island platform with trains on the Met line using the line on the far right. The rails are on the Oxford bound platform although the platform itself is lost amongst the weeds!
 
The tracks show signs of road vehicle use and during the visit there were rail workers in the far distance in hi-visability orange attire.
 
Dennis

 
DSC_0053.JPG
 
DSC_0062.JPG

 

Time to look back 40 years!
 

Taken in Summer 1978
 
5.4 – Former booking hall – was linked to platform by a footbridge (removed)
Verney Junction 5-4.jpg
 
5.5 – A Class 25 approaches with a parcels train for Oxford. Taken from the island platform the Met line platform face is on the right. Trains left the station running parallel with the Bletchley line before branching off to the right to reach Quainton Road via Winslow Road and Grandborough Road.
Verney Junction 5-5.jpg
 
5.7 – The track bed of the Met Line is clearly seen on the left of this shot. The junction for the line to Buckingham / Banbury Merton Street branched off to the right just in front of the Class 25.
Verney Junction 5-7.jpg
 
5.19 – The station house is on the left and the extended booking office is on the right, the original shape being defined by the brick work.
Verney Junction 5-19.jpg
 
These pictures were taken for reference purposes as Milton Keynes MRS were building a layout of it at the time.
 
 
Dennis

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Verney has always been a lonely place when one of the few trains went through the noise was deadening ,in the early sixties I walked the line from Quainton to Verney past long lines of cripple wagons.Surprisingly there is still a lot left of this line today looks like a green lane.Verney is a very small hamlet and even had a pub not sure if it still open now.It will be a good place to watch when the line finally opens

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Are you certain the parcels train was for Oxford? It looks like the stock used on workings to and from Aylesbury, carrying magazine traffic from the BPCC works there.

 

It may well have been heading for Aylesbury, unfortunately I never recorded the information only that it was taken around lunch time. There were regular parcels trains operating over the line to and from Northampton, which had a major parcels depot. There were a number of BPCC plants around Bletchley in the early 70s too, Maxwell’s empire being based at Oxford. The BPCC plant in Aylesbury was Hazell, Watson & Viney.

 

My late father was a Bletchley Driver and they used to work parcels and freight trains to Didcot and Oxford as well as Aylesbury and Marylebone. They lost this work when sectorisation took hold, Bletchley becoming purely a Network SouthEast train crew depot. There was also the evening arrivals over the flyover from Aylesbury of DMUs working into Bletchley TMD and back again in the early hours of the following morning ready for commuter traffic, which was worked by Bletchley train crews. Bletchley TMD was certainly very busy overnight. I was later involved in the opening of Aylesbury TMD when I worked for NSE Public Affairs and its opening coincided with the line being mothballed. A number of Bletchley TMD staff moved to Aylesbury if I recall correctly. The new depot was opened for the arrival of the Turbo’s and resulted in the closure of the shed at Marylebone. The Oxford / Aylesbury line was single at the time and the train was on the down line and was not hanging around when it passed me!

 

I too worked on the MKMRS Verney Junction project along with many others. One of our members involved in the project was  J.L.K. Mann. John Mann was the former Station Master who lived with his family in the station house. When the station closed he transferred to Bletchley from where he retired. A picture of the name plate which once adorned his office door at Verney is attached. I believe JLKM was a founding member of the EM Gauge Society and built one of the locomotives for one of the scenes in HO Scale for the LNWR dioramas built by Jack Nelson that are now on display at Conwy Railway Museum. John worked in HO scale at one time before becoming involved in EM. John was a founder member of Milton Keynes MRS on its formation in 1969.

 

DSC_0177.JPG

 

Dennis Lovett

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Verney has always been a lonely place when one of the few trains went through the noise was deadening ,in the early sixties I walked the line from Quainton to Verney past long lines of cripple wagons.

 

Around that time (early sixties) there were several Condemned ex LMS EMU's (Watford to Euston) Stored at Verney Junction. I'm not sure of their final destination, maybe a final trip to Wolverton Works for cutting up?

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Late to this but Dalton Bks has not closed yet and Vauxhall Bks has been closing since they started building a power station on the former ordnance depot in 1963!

 

The latest Army re-basing plan is a 10-15 year target so no rush. The Vauxhall site has permission for about 200 homes (flats and low cost intermingled) and is in walking distance to Didcot Parkway... not too far from the Varsity option but we'll sited. The big 5000 home development will fill the gap between Didcot and the A34. I'm fairly sure the A34 doesn't need more traffic but limited north bound services from Parkway will limit the attraction and it is definitely not a walk to the station from the A34!

 

Vauxhall Barracks is the home of 11 EOD Regt RLC and the Joint Service EOD Ops Centre. It runs UK bomb disposal from there, hence the securityIt also homes the Felix Fund Charity to cater for injured bomb disposal and Search personnel. Please donate if you can... it helps some of my friends in times of need.

 

It's believed the Vauxhall Barracks name was coined after miss-hearing Fox Hall. It's on Fox Hall Road near Fox Hall curve and bridge... never keen to admit mistakes, the Army preferred to claim it was to do with a move from London

 

It would be good to finally see the potential of the E-W alternate route realised. It was a short sighted decision to abandon it in a past time. Time now to improve. I remember as a child seeing trains on it and for a long time my aunt lived in Haddenham where the first rebuilds for the Chiltern lines were developed.

 

Sorry to be somewhat ( :jester: ) late coming back on this but I suspect - as was not at all unusual - it was the GWR which got it wrong.  Vauxhall Farm is shown on old OS maps as being more or less where the station car park and the TLF/EWS/DB/?? single road loco depot is now and the lane which led to it from the old centre of Didcot village was called Vauxhall Lane on the 1886 OS map.  It would not surprise me that the GWR, for whatever reason, corrupted the name from Vauxhall when it named Foxhall Junction because the West Curve at Didcot was opened in February 1886.  The 1913 OS Map shows both Foxhall Jcn and Vauxhall Lane by those names  but alas the 1934 6 inch OS Map doesn't show road names - possibly the title of teh road was changed when it was improved and upgraded sometime around the 1930s.

 

The GWR name for the junction was definitely in use in 1891 as it is shown in the Service Timetable by that name.

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I wonder about a lot of OS local place names, probably first written-down by the OS surveyor c150 years ago, and how many are mishearings or mistranscriptions.

 

The Irish version of OS is a more recently-founded institution, and they have evidently taken excruciating care to preserve local place names from the outset, which has the odd affect of giving small rivers different names along their length, so what is called ‘white river’ in one townland might be called ‘stone river’ in the next, and so on. There are also some have strange piled-up place names, where the original Irish has been anglicised, then re-irishised later, and two or three versions are preserved in the current name.

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I wonder about a lot of OS local place names, probably first written-down by the OS surveyor c150 years ago, and how many are mishearings or mistranscriptions.

 

 

Also, spellings were far more variable back then

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Thanks, Mike.

Misinterpretation goes back long before the Ordnance Survey took on mapping but is also an interesting (off) topic.

A good example is the changes made from the 11th century til 19th century to the spelling and reasons behind Cassiobury Park just south of Watford Junction which stems from the lands and gate lodge of Caiss House, listed in the Doomsday Book. The mistaken monks copied and abbreviated Caiss Ho then later Cass Ho. When the hall burnt down and Caiss House Bury became the mapped building as Cass Ho Bury ergo the later flex to Cassiobury. The last house was demolished in the 1930s, I believe.

Edited by daveyb
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A new missive has arrived from the East West Rail Consortium:

 

https://mailchi.mp/b25587a778e1/bedford-cambridge-route-options-announced?e=ddca3c6ce6

 

This considers the route options for Bedford to Cambridge and it seems that a route via Sandy/Tempsford  is preferred.

 

Not strictly Oxford to Bletchley but I can't locate a thread for the whole route. This project has another good ten years still to run so we either add to the existing eighteen pages or start a new one!

 

David

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A new missive has arrived from the East West Rail Consortium:

 

https://mailchi.mp/b25587a778e1/bedford-cambridge-route-options-announced?e=ddca3c6ce6

 

This considers the route options for Bedford to Cambridge and it seems that a route via Sandy/Tempsford is preferred.

 

Not strictly Oxford to Bletchley but I can't locate a thread for the whole route. This project has another good ten years still to run so we either add to the existing eighteen pages or start a new one!

 

David

If funding doesn't get cut before then....

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