Wycombe Junction (Maidenhead)

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Here the Bourne End & Marlow branch line for Furze Platt, Cookham, Bourne End and Marlow leaves the Great Western. The line used to go to High Wycombe via Loudwater and Wooburn Green (hence the junction's name), but this section was axed in the Beeching era.

History

The original Maidenhead to High Wycombe branch line had stops at:

Maidenhead (latterly renamed Boyne Hill and effectively replaced by the current Maidenhead station),
Cookham,
Marlow Road (latterly renamed Bourne End),
Wooburn Green,
Loudwater and
High Wycombe.
In 1937 Furze Platt station was added on the outskirts of Maidenhead (before Cookham station). In 1873 an extension was added connecting Marlow station to Bourne End station.

Construction
In July 1846, The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an Act of Parliament. The act authorised the construction of a single line from the original Great Western Railway (GWR) station at Maidenhead, to High Wycombe. Construction began in 1852, and the completed line to High Wycombe, was finally opened on 1 August 1854. The line left the GWR main line at the site of the present Maidenhead station, the first stop of which was Maidenhead (Wycombe Junction), renamed in the 1860s, Boyne Hill. This station was closed on 1 November 1871 upon the opening of the present Maidenhead station. The Wycombe Railway Company was taken over by GWR on 1 February 1867. In August 1867 the business men of Great Marlow met to discuss linking Marlow with the GWR Wycombe Branch line, at the then Marlow Road station (now Bourne End). This line opened on 23 June 1873, with no. 522, 0-4-2 saddle tank locomotive (built at Wolverhampton in 1868), it was affectionately known as the Marlow Donkey. No. 522 was rebuilt at Swindon Works in 1884 and remained in service until 1935[citation needed]. The GWR acquired the capital and operated the line from 1897.

Beeching
In the 1960s the branch began to decline. In July 1962 the steam locomotive was replaced with a Diesel multiple unit. The service was gradually cut back through to 1969, by which time Marlow station had been demolished and replaced by a smaller one further down the line. Loudwater and Wooburn Green lost their ticket offices, Loudwater had been reduced to a single track halt and Cookham lost its passing loop. On 2 May 1970 the stretch of track from Bourne End to High Wycombe was closed.