Historic Railway

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 10, 13 January 1936, Page 10

Historic Railway

ON DUKE’S ESTATE

LONDON, Dec. 7,

•The railway built by tho Duke of Buckingham to run through his estate from Quainton road to Brill, opened in 1872, closed down this week for ever. The passing of the old line did it honour. Crowds came by car to make the last double journey and the dying railway showed uncommon vitality. There was great, competition to buy the last ticket. Undergraduates came from Oxford to fight for it. Others wrote enclosing the money. An unknown passenger succeeded in getting it.

Crackers were fired and fog signals detonated. The crowd cheered and waved, but there were old employees who had tears in their eyes. There was a strange scene near Quainton road just before ■ midnight. For the convenience of the staff the train ran back from Brill to Quainton carrying officials only.

It sped along at its highest average speed of 12 miles per hour through the dark woods of the Duke’s estate and stopped at each little station. The porters-cum-stationmasters were gathered up, all papers were carried into the guard’s van, and oil lamps were blown out and put into the train, which passed on, leaving a dark and deserted line behind.

The train arrived at Quainton road a quarter of an hour' before midnight, and in tho next 15 minutes tho Metropolitan Railway, by its agreement, had to disconnect the lino from the. L.N.E.R. trunk line which runs through Quainton Platelayers and iamps were waiting.

Before the village church clock showed midnight the Brill-Quainton Railway was cut off from the world and lay dead—its lopped head lying in the copplcs, its feet in a country lane at Brill.