With no exhibitions able to go ahead during this lockdown we look ahead to better times when hopefully we can visit some more of our Heritage Railways. We have regularly featured some of the Southern Heritage Railways which I have enjoyed such as the Bluebell Railway, Swanage Railway, and Mid Hants Railway to name a few. Now we are going to venture onto the Great Western Railway heading West from my location near Heathrow and have a look at a few locations along the way, some of which are accessible from the National Rail network (or close by at least).
https://www.chinnorrailway.co.uk/
Originally known as the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway Company, the railway was largely promoted by local land owners following the failure of the planned extension of the Wallingford branch through to Watlington. Construction of the branch as a Light Railway, commencing from the Great Western Railway Station at Princes Risborough.
The heritage services are now accessible from the reinstated platform four at Princes Risborough which is also served on the Chiltern Line out of Marylebone towards Aylesbury and Birmingham Snow Hill. Chinnor station is found on Kiln Avenue, a reminder of the Lime/Cement works that continued here long after the passenger services ceased.
https://www.cholsey-wallingford-railway.com/
The original branch platform five at Cholsey station is now used by the CWR, and trains connect there with Great Western Railway stopping services on the Great Western Main Line between Reading and Didcot stations.
Most services on the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway are currently hauled by the resident diesel locomotives with visiting steam locomotives for special events. Trains run on weekends and bank holidays between April and September, and at Halloween and Christmas. The railway's web site has details of operating days.
The original Wallingford railway station and the last segment of the line have long been built on, and the old station site is now crossed by Beeching Way. The line now terminates at a makeshift station which is the railway's headquarters on Hithercroft Road (formerly known as Old Moor Lane). The new station is adjacent to the site of the maltings that kept the line alive into the preservation era. The maltings were demolished early in the new millennium and replaced by housing, releasing some extra land to the railway. The CWR plans to build a permanent station when resources are available.
https://swindon-cricklade-railway.org/
The Swindon and Cricklade Railway Preservation Society was formed by a group of enthusiasts in November 1978 to reconstruct and preserve a section of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway that ran from Andover, Hampshire, to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Unlike the previously mentioned heritage railways this one is just outside Swindon and not directly accessible from the national rail network, but we have regular connections to Swindon and the country park at Mouldon Hill would be a short bus/taxi ride away.
The volunteer-operated railway has reopened three stations: Hayes Knoll, Taw Valley Halt and Blunsdon, the headquarters of the line. Hayes Knoll features a restored signal box that is operational during special events and a running/restoration shed. The length of the restored line is a little under 2.5 miles (4.0 km). The line extends north to South Meadow Lane (a few hundred yards from the site of a proposed Farfield Lane halt) near Cricklade, and south to Taw Valley Halt which is the southern limit of the railway, giving direct access to and from Mouldon Hill Country Park. In the future, this will be superseded by a larger station in the Park itself.
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