Quainton Road | |
|---|---|
| Station on heritage railway | |
 Up (southbound) platform and the main station building | |
| General information | |
| Location | Quainton, Buckinghamshire England |
| Coordinates | 51°51′50″N 0°55′47″W / 51.86381°N 0.92966°W |
| Grid reference | SP738189 |
| Platforms | 3 |
| History | |
| Original company | Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway (1868–1891) |
| Pre-grouping | Metropolitan Railway (1891–1899) |
| Post-grouping | Metropolitan Railway and Great Central Joint Railway (1899–1948) Eastern Region of British Railways (1948–1962) London Midland Region of British Railways (1962–1963) |
| Key dates | |
| 23 September 1868 | Opened |
| 1897 | Re-sited to "London" side of new overbridge. |
| 6 July 1936 | Metropolitan services withdrawn |
| 4 March 1963 | GCR passenger services withdrawn |
| 4 July 1966 | GCR goods services withdrawn |
| 1969 | LRPS/Quainton Railway Society operations commenced |
| 1971 | Special passenger services started |
| 1970s | "Buckinghamshire Railway Centre" title adopted for QRS operations |
Quainton Road railway station was opened in 1868 in under-developed countryside near Quainton, in the English county of Buckinghamshire, 44 miles (71 km) from London. Built by the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, it was the result of pressure from the 3rd Duke of Buckingham to route the railway near his home at Wotton House and to open a railway station at the nearest point to it. Serving a relatively underpopulated area, Quainton Road was a crude railway station, described as "extremely primitive".
It became a junction station in 1871 with the opening of the line to Brill. In 1899, it became a main line station with the opening of the Great Central Railway London extension.
In 1933, the Metropolitan Railway was taken into public ownership to become the Metropolitan line of the London Passenger Transport Board's London Underground, including Quainton Road. The LPTB aimed to move away from freight operations and saw no way in which the rural parts of the MR could be made into viable passenger routes. In 1935, the Brill Tramway was closed. From 1936, underground trains were withdrawn north of Aylesbury, leaving the London and North Eastern Railway (successor to the GCR) as the only operator using the station, although underground services were restored for a short period in the 1940s. In 1963, stopping passenger services were withdrawn, but fast passenger trains continued to pass through. In 1966, the line was closed to passenger traffic and local goods trains ceased using the station. The line through the station was singled and used by occasional freight trains only.
In 1969, the Quainton Road Society was formed with the aim of preserving the station. In 1971, it absorbed the London Railway Preservation Society, taking over its collection of historic railway equipment including many locomotives, and passenger and non-passenger rolling stock. The station was fully restored and reopened as a museum, the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. In addition to the locomotives, stock, and original station buildings, the museum has also acquired the former Oxford Rewley Road railway station and a London Transport building from Wembley Park, both of which have been reassembled on the site. Although no scheduled trains pass through Quainton Road, the station remains connected to the railway network. Freight trains still use this line, and passenger trains still call at the station for special events at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.