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Wycombe Railway
The Wycombe Railway was a British railway between and that connected with the Great Western Railway at both ends; there was one branch, to . History The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament, the ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxxxvi). The act authorised the construction of a single line railway from the Great Western Railway's Maidenhead railway station, then located close to the site of the current Taplow railway station. In 1852 construction started; the first section to be built was between Maidenhead and High Wycombe, and opened for passenger services on 1 August 1854. It linked the town of High Wycombe with the Great Western Main Line, and the Great Western Railway operated the services for the Wycombe Railway company. The GWR had been built to Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge of , so the Wycombe Railway was also built to this gauge. In 1862, the Wycombe Railway opened an extension from High Wycombe via Princes Risborough to Thame. In 1863, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838 with the initial route completed between London and Bristol in 1841. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who chose a broad gauge of —later slightly widened to —but, from 1854, a series of Consolidation (business), amalgamations saw it also operate Standard gauge, standard-gauge trains; the last broad-gauge services were operated in 1892. The GWR was the only company to keep its identity through the Railways Act 1921, which amalgamated it with the remaining independent railways within its territory, and it was finally merged at the end of 1947 when it was Nationalization, nationalised and became the Western Region of British Railways. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standard Gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it. All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except High-speed rail in Russia, those in Russia, High-speed rail in Finland, Finland, High-speed rail in Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan, and some line sections in High-speed rail in Spain, Spain. The distance between the inside edges of the heads of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in Imperial and US customary measurement systems, U.S. customary/Imperial units, British Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches", which is equivalent to 1,435.1mm. History As railways developed and expa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cookham Railway Station
Cookham railway station serves the village of Cookham, Berkshire, England. Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railway trains between and serve the station on the Marlow branch line, but through services to and from London Paddington in peak hours Monday to Friday no longer run. It is down the line from Maidenhead and measured from Paddington. Cookham station was opened by the Wycombe Railway in 1854. The station originally had two platforms, acting as a passing loop for trains. The station now has a single platform, but the remains of the second platform is still visible. The former Station House is now let to private occupants. Services All services at Cookham are operated by Great Western Railway (train operating company), Great Western Railway. The typical off-peak service is one train per hour between and . During the peak hours, the service is increased to two trains per hour in each direction and northbound trains runs to and from on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Furze Platt Railway Station
Furze Platt railway station is a railway station in the town of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. It is down the line from station and measured from . History The Wycombe Railway (WR), part of which now forms the greater portion of the Marlow branch line, opened between Maidenhead and High Wycombe in 1854 with the first station out of Maidenhead being . The Great Western Railway absorbed the Wycombe Railway in 1867 and opened "Furze Platt Halt" on 5 July 1937 to serve the area's growing population. British Rail renamed the station "Furze Platt" on 5 May 1969. The single platform station has basic facilities including a waiting shelter, a customer help point, and a ticket office is open weekdays from 6:45 to 11:30. The station is next to a level crossing on Harrow Lane, Maidenhead. Services All services at Furze Platt are operated by Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BMW Mini
Mini (stylised as MINI) is a British automotive brand founded in Oxford in 1969, marketed by German multinational automotive company BMW since 2000, and used by them for a range of small cars assembled in the United Kingdom, Austria, Netherlands (until 16 February 2024) and Germany. The current Mini range includes the Cooper Hardtop/Hatch/Convertible (three and five-door hatchback), Aceman and Countryman (five-door crossovers). The word Mini has been used in car model names since 1959, and in 1969 it became a brand in its own right when the name "Mini" replaced the separate "Austin Mini" and " Morris Mini" car model names.Michael Sedgwick & Mark Gillies, A-Z of Cars 1945–1970, 1986 BMW acquired the brand in 1994 when it bought Rover Group (formerly British Leyland), which owned Mini, among other brands. The original Mini was a line of British small cars manufactured by the British Motor Corporation (BMC), which in 1966 became part of British Motor Holdings. This merge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham (Birmingham Moor Street railway station, Moor Street and Birmingham Snow Hill railway station, Snow Hill) on a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull in England. It is currently one of two main line railway routes between London and Birmingham; the other is the West Coast Main Line between Euston railway station, London Euston and , which is the principal Inter-city rail, inter-city route between the two cities. A third main line, High Speed 2, is currently under construction. The name ''Chiltern Line'' was invented as a marketing name for the line by Network SouthEast in 1985, with reference to the Chiltern Hills that the route passes through near its southern end. The route was originally part of the Great Western Railway's main line from Paddington railway station, London Paddington to Birmingham Snow Hill railway station, Birmingham Snow Hill, and . Most main line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways (legal name The Chiltern Railway Company Limited) is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Railways was founded as M40 Trains by a group of ex-British Rail managers backed by John Laing Group, John Laing and 3i; in June 1996, it was announced that M40 Trains had been awarded the Chiltern Railways franchise. On 21 July 1996, it took over operations from British Rail. The company promptly commenced the redoubling of the Chiltern Main Line under the ''Evergreen'' initiative and ordered the ''Clubman'' diesel multiple units (DMUs) to supplement its ex-British Rail fleet. Following the awarding of a 20-year franchise to Chiltern Railways in August 2000, Evergreen phase 2 works begun to raise line speeds around , built two new platforms at its terminus. In January 2010, a £250 million upgrade package was agreed for Evergreen phase 3, re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marlow Branch Line
The Marlow branch line is a single track railway line in England, between Maidenhead station in Berkshire and Bourne End and Marlow stations in Buckinghamshire. It is in length. Passenger services are operated by Great Western Railway using Class 165 and Class 166 diesel trains. The line connects to the Great Western Main Line at Maidenhead; it uses a section of the former Wycombe Railway line to High Wycombe together with the former Great Marlow Railway. The train that runs on the branch line is known as ''The Marlow Donkey'' although the exact derivation of the term is unclear. Karau and Turner say "the trains of pack horses, mules and donkeys carrying goods to the riverside prompted the local people to christen the train on the Great Marlow Railway, the 'Marlow Donkey', a name which survives to this day". However, Anthony Wethered, great-grandson of the first chairman of the company, suggests that it is the name of the line. A third tradition identifies a particular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Western Railway (train Operating Company)
First Greater Western, trading name, trading as Great Western Railway (GWR), is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that provides services in the Greater Western franchise, Greater Western franchise area. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city services along the Great Western Main Line to and from the West of England and South Wales, inter-city services from London to the West Country via the Reading–Taunton line, and the ''Night Riviera'' Sleeping car, sleeper service between London and Penzance. It provides outer-suburban services in West London; commuter services from its London terminus at to the Thames Valley region, including parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire; and regional services throughout the West of England and South Wales to the South coast of England. Great Western Railway also operates the Heathrow Express service. The company began operating in February 1996 as Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenix Trail
The Phoenix Trail is a footpath and cycleway which runs between the market towns of Thame in South Oxfordshire and Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire, passing through the villages of Towersey and Bledlow. History The trail largely follows the route of a disused railway line, the Wycombe Railway, which connected Princes Risborough and Thame with the city of Oxford. The line through Thame remained open until 1991 to serve an oil depot based in the town. It was subsequently purchased by Sustrans and converted into a cycle/pedestrian route. The Phoenix Trail forms part of National Cycle Route 57 which also includes the Nicky Line and Ayot Greenway rail trails. As well as cyclists and walkers, the route is suitable for wheelchair and pushchair users, as it is flat and surfaced with seating every 500 metres. The first out of Thame are surfaced with tarmac and the remainder with compacted limestone dust. Red kites can commonly be seen along the route. There is a collectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morris Cowley Railway Station
Morris Cowley was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway which served the small town of Cowley, just outside Oxford, from 1908 to 1915, and again from 1928 to 1963. The station originally opened as part of an attempt by the Great Western Railway to enable to have more passengers access to the line, at a time when competition from bus services was drawing away patronage. The line through Morris Cowley remains open for the purposes of serving the BMW Mini factory, although the possibility of reinstating passenger services has been explored by Chiltern Railways, the franchise holder for the Chiltern Main Line which runs through . History Garsington Bridge Halt On 24 October 1864 the Wycombe Railway opened an extension of its single track line from to Kennington junction, about south of . The line ran past Cowley but it was a further 40 years before a station was opened here. In an attempt to stimulate Oxford suburban traffic, the Great Western Railway opened three ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board. British Railways was formed on 1 January 1948 as a result of the Transport Act 1947, which nationalised the Big Four British railway companies along with some other (but not all) smaller railways. Profitability of the railways became a pressing concern during the 1950s, leading to multiple efforts to bolster performance, including some line closures. The 1955 Modernisation Plan formally directed a process of dieselisation and electrification to take place; accordingly, steam locomotives had been entirely replaced by diesel and electric traction (except for the narrow-gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway tourist lin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
