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

History

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

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

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

Mainline services

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

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

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

Rewley Road

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

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

Future developments

High Speed 2's planned route passes immediately to the west of the site, not impacting the centre directly, although it will preclude any restoration of the Brill Tramway.

Collection The collection includes locomotives, carriages, and assorted rolling stock, plus a large amount of memorabilia and documents.

Locomotives + Sortable table Class Number (and name) Chassis Status Notes ImageMetropolitan RailwayE ClassNo.1 (London Transport L44)Under overhaulBuilt 1898. Withdrawn from service early needing boiler repairs.LSWR0298 Class314(British Railways 30585)Static DisplayBuilt 1874. Boiler ticket expired in 2016.Peckett and SonsNo.1159AnnieUnder overhaulBuilt 1908. Arrived in April 2018 from the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. Part way through a major overhaul.Peckett and SonsNo.2105RokebyStatic DisplayBuilt 1951. Mainly used on goods/vintage trains.North British Locomotive CompanyCoventryNo.1Static DisplayBuilt 1939. Previously acted as Thomas the Tank Engine on "Thomas" days. On static display after her boiler certificate expired.Hudswell ClarkeNo.1742MillomOperationalBuilt 1946. Used on goods and vintage trains. Currently running in guise of Percy the Small Engine. Boiler ticket expires in 2027.Aveling and PorterNo.3587SydenhamUnder overhaulBuilt 1895GWR 6959 Class6984Owsden HallUnder restoration Built 1948. Transferred from the Swindon and Cricklade Railway in November 2019. Its tender is currently in use behind 6989.GWR 6959 Class6989Wightwick HallOperational Built 1948. Returned to service for the 2019 May Bank Holiday Gala. Restoration complete as of 11 December 2018. Using 6984 Owsden Hall's tender. GWR 7200 Class7200Under restorationBuilt in 1934Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST No.3890NCB 66OperationalLast Hunslet Austerity built in 1964. Boiler ticket expires in 2024.Peckett and SonsNo.1900Under overhaulBuilt 1936. Britain's smallest standard-gauge steam locomotive. Andrew BarclayNo.699SwanscombeUnder overhaulBuilt 1891. The oldest surviving Barclay. Repainted in July 2013 into pseudo-Metropolitan Railway livery as Brill No. 1.BagnallNo.2469ScottStatic displayBuilt 1932. Boiler ticket expired in 2024. Mainly used on goods trains.Andrew BarclayNo.1477Static displayBuilt 1916. FirelessAndrew BarclayNo.2243Static displayBuilt 1948. FirelessAveling and PorterNo.807BrillStatic displayBuilt 1872. Brill Tramway No.1GWR 5700 Class7715(London Transport L99)Static displayBuilt 1930. Bought by London Transport in 1963, their L.99 until 1969. Out of service from December 2011 with a cracked boiler foundation ring.Hawthorn LeslieNo.3717 Swanscombe No.3Static displayBuilt 1928Hawthorn LeslieNo.3718 Swanscombe No.4OperationalBuilt 1928. Arrived in 2018 near the end of a major overhaul. She entered service in August 2018. Boiler ticket expires 2028. Currently located at the Northampton and Lamport Railway.Hudswell ClarkeNo.1334Sir ThomasStatic displayBuilt 1918HunsletNo.3782ArthurOperationalBuilt 1953. Returned to service in 2024. Currently running in guise of Thomas the Tank Engine.LNWR3020CornwallStatic DisplayBuilt 1847. On display inside the Rewley Road visitor centre. On loan from the National Railway Museum.South African Class 25NC3405Static DisplayBuilt 1953. gaugeSentinel Waggon WorksNo.6515IsebrookOperationalBuilt 1945. Returned to steam in 2019 after overhaul. Boiler ticket expires in 2029. Currently located at the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.Yorkshire Engine CompanyNo.2498ChisletStatic DisplayBuilt 1951British Rail Class 04D2298Under Restoration Built 1960. Under restoration after suffering an engine failure at the East Lancashire Railway.John FowlerNo.20067OsramStatic DisplayF.C. Hibberd "Planet"No.3765OperationalF.C. HibberdNo.2102Static DisplayF.C. HibberdNo.3271WalrusStatic DisplayHunsletK4428RedlandStatic DisplayHunsletNo.2067OperationalRuston & HornsbyNo.425477OperationalRuston & HornsbyNo.463153HilseaOperational Ex-British Gas

Diesel multiple units BR Class 115 unit 51886+59761+51889 "Aylesbury College Silver Jubilee 1987"

Electric multiple units

Post Office Railway (London) 1930 Stock No. 803 London Underground CO/CP Stock unit 53028+013063+54233 New York City Subway car No. 1144, an R6, converted into a cafeteria for the museum.

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

Carriages

Passenger coaching stock Original company Number Type Status/Notes ImageLCDR9 4-wheel first Built 1880. Sold to Woolwich Arsenal in 1916. One of only two LCDR carriages to be preserved on their original underframe. Operational. WCJS102 6-wheel sleeper, then inspection saloon. LNWR design, converted to family saloon, later rebuilt as an inspection saloon in 1903. Body only. Stored on a GNoSR underframe. LNWR112 12-wheel First class sleeper then cinema coach. Built in 1907. Withdrawn in 1937 then rebuilt in 1952 to cinema coach at Liverpool Central, until 1972. Preserved 1973. Now plays Quainton Railway Society's story on weekends. LNWR182 6-wheel picnic saloon. Built in 1894. Later grounded, body is now on an ex-LMS underframe of the same length. Now restored and operational, although inside Quainton Road workshop as of 3 March 2019. LNWR249 12-wheel first class diner Built in 1901. Used for staff on royal train from 1905 to 1967, preserved that same year. Restored and operational. GNR 459 6-wheel third Built in 1900. Now under restoration as of 3 March 2019. Great Central Railway652 Suburban Brake Third Built in 1916. Arrived at Quainton in 1997. Restoration started while on display inside museum, doors are inside the carriage with GCR numbering and lettering. MSJAR1076 6-wheel third Built by MSLR for MSJAR in 1890. Operational, restored as an open saloon. GNR 1470 6-wheel brake third Built in 1889. Operational in GNR livery. GNR 1727 6-Wheel Passenger Brake Van Built in 1897 at Doncaster. Withdrawn in 1938, became a fitters' van in February 1939, then a Pooley's van in 1960s. Went from Nene Valley Railway to Quainton in April, 2003. GWR2242 Hawksworth Brake Corridor Third Built in 1950 by Metro Cammell. Arrived at Quainton in January 1983 for 9466 Group. Being used for overnight volunteer accommodation. BR5324Mk2 Tourist Second Open Built in 1968 at Derby. Preserved as a body only in 1988, grounded as a QRSL office for some time; now 6989 Wightwick Hall sales coach. GWR9001 12-Wheel Collett Special Saloon Built in 1940 at Swindon. Used by Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower during WWII. Went to GWR preservation sites (Tyseley and SVR) before arriving at Quainton Road in January 2002.BR16235 Mk1 Corridor Composite Built in 1963 at Derby. Preserved August 1992. Now on replacement B1 bogies. Operational. LNER22219 Suburban Third Built in 1926. Only one of specific coach type left. Arrived at Quainton in 1983.BR24993 Mk1 Corridor Second Built in 1956. Operational, recently repainted from BR Maroon to BR Crimson and Cream. BR25500 Mk1 Corridor Second Built at York in 1958. Preserved in 1983. One bogie currently missing and that end of the coach is held up. BR35192 Mk1 Brake Corridor Second Built in 1958. Operational. Painted in BR Crimson and Cream BR53190 Mk1 Suburban brake second Built in 1954 at Doncaster. Preserved in 1977, at the Watercress Line till 1985. Operational.

Non-passenger coaching stock