The branch line to Brill was perhaps the biggest anachronism of all the branch lines which came under London Transport.

The line was built in the 1870s to serve the Duke of Buckingham's estate and was originally built as a horse tramway.  The line eventually reached the village of Brill itself in 1872, a response to the local villagers who felt that their village would benefit from a connection to the main railway network.

The six and a quarter mile line was initially worked by two four wheeled steam steam engines supplied by Aveling & Porter with passengers being carried in an old composite coach borrowed from the Great Western Railway.  Single track throughout, the little line connected with the Metropolitan at Quainton Road and the line was soon a success despite the fact that the journey took over an hour because of the frequent stops at the various crossing places on the line.

Brill branch train with original Aveling & Porter loco

Varied collection of stock on Brill train at Quainton Road

In 1876 the locomotive fleet was augmented by the addition of two Bagnell saddle tank locomotives and in 1894 operations were handed over to the  Oxford and Aylesbury Tramroad Company who re-laid the track and improved the basic stations on the line.

In 1899 the Metropolitan acquired the lease on the line with an option to purchase and operated the line, eventually replacing the locomotives and passenger carriage with redundant equipment from their own stock.

Brill branch train leaving Quainton Road

Train at Wood Sidings in 1935

The decline of the line started in 1906 when the Great Western & Great Central Joint built their new line and a station at Wooton which offered much faster connections to London.  Despite this, the Metropolitan relayed the track and brought a few further improvements to the line.

The line continued its gentle decline until 1935 when the new London Passenger Transport Board (into which the Metropolitan had been absorbed) decided that they could no longer justify  operations north of Aylesbury and ceased all services, including the Brill branch, beyond that point.

Classic Brill branch line photograph of a train near Wotton

The last train ran on 30th November 1935, The Times reporting "For the last time an antiquated little tank engine drew an equally antiquated passenger coach along the line between Quainton Road and Brill.  It stopped at each of the five stations on the line.  Documents, records and all valuables from each station were placed in the guards van and then the station lights were put out and the train steamed along to its destination at Quainton Road."

Photos are from the authors collection of prints and postcards.
Click on the photo for a larger image.