On Sat, 16 Apr 2016 09:32:36 +0200, Robin9
wrote:


I'm re-reading G. F. Fiennes autobiography "I Tried To Run
A Railway" and came across his assertion that the Bletchley
fly-over was a monument to those who did not recognise that
the railway should concentrate on a few main routes and
abandon routes which were not self-financing.

It's years since I last travelled on the WCML so I have to ask.
Does the Bletchley flyover still exist or was it dismantled?

Incidentally, a few mile west of Bletchley on the route the
fly-over was to serve lies Verney Junction, now of course
closed for decades. I was there a few weeks ago. To my
surprise the track in still in place and the station platforms
have not been demolished. Nor has the overhead bridge which,
I guess, brought in the line from Aylesbury.

Some background here. Verney Junction was at the heart of a system
of lines designed to serve the disconnected neighboring communities in
the north of the County of Buckingham. The promoters were local land
owners Sir Harry Verney and the Duke of Buckingham.

The first route Completed in May 1850 connected Banbury with
Bletchley. The following year the branch from Verney Junction to
Oxford was also opened. At that time there was no station at Verney
Junction, merely the bifurcation of the two routes. In 1878 these
routes, hitherto operated by the LNWR, were absorbed.

The LNWR showed no interest in constructing the fourth leg of the
system down to Aylesbury, the county seat. So Sir Harry and the Duke
progressed Aylesbury to Verney Junction as an independent route, the
"Aylesbury & Buckingham" (A&B). Had the LNWR agreed to work the A&B,
Exchange Street in Aylesbury would have been a railway.

However, this was not to be, and after conversion of the Maidenhead to
Aylesbury GWR route to Standard gauge, the GWR worked the route
onwards to Verney Junction. A station was constructed at the
junction, were GWR passenger trains terminated, and freight was
interchanged with the LNWR.

After 20 years of this arrangement the Metropolitan Railway reached
Aylesbury, absorbed the A&B, and took over its operation. This
arrangement continued until London Transport reduced the A&B to a long
siding. Eventually the nationalized railway closed all of the routes
in the area.

AFIK the only time the vision of a thru service from the Aylesbury to
Buckingham was realized was the Duke's funeral train.

Would these routes have utility today? Absolutely. Given London's
desperate need for relief to its overflowing population, picture this:
A 25kV Chiltern upgrade from Marylebone taking over the TfL fast pair
north of Harrow-on-the-Hill. Beyond Aylesbury there is upcoming
development at Aylesbury Vale.

Waddesden is certainly capable of having some residential
construction close to the old Manor Station.

Grandborough Road has potential to become a park and ride for the
surrounding area, along with a new hamlet of select residences.

Verney Junction, the crossroads with the new East West route, is
perfectly positioned for a new "Verney Garden Village". Some
sympathetic enlargement of Buckingham would be in order.

Brackley has expended considerably since it lost both stations. There
is surely room some further increase. At Banbury the route re-joins
the extant railway to Birmingham.

Between Granborough Road and Winslow a new curve would allow a thru
service from "old Metro-land" to Milton Keynes. Winslow is also an
excellent sight for a new garden town.

We see here a new, 21st century Metro-Land if you will.
No doubt some will say this cannot be done, it will lose money, etc.
This development would probably give more utility and be much less of
a drain on resource than some Beehcing survivors like the Cambrian
Coast route. It would do as well as any other Home Counties commuter
route. Moreover it brings Buckingham and Brackley back into the
railway fold.