Summary
Thame railway station was a station on the Wycombe Railway serving the town of Thame in Oxfordshire. It was opened in 1862 as the terminus of an extension from High Wycombe via Princes Risborough The cost of construction of the station building was £2,201 1S 5d additional general works were £2,137 8S 8d. In 1864 the line was extended from Thame to Oxford. The station was built with a train shed over its platforms.
Thame | |
|---|---|
 Station in 1959. | |
| General information | |
| Location | Thame, South Oxfordshire England |
| Coordinates | 51°44′28″N 0°58′09″W / 51.7411°N 0.9693°W |
| Grid reference | SP713052 |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Wycombe Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Key dates | |
| 1862 | Station opened |
| 1963 | passenger service withdrawn |
| 1991 | station closed for freight |
Construction edit
As originally built Thame station only had a single platform with an engine shed on the south side on the location where later cattle pens were built, sometime between 1864 and 1893 the engine shed was demolished and a second platform built, the trainshed roof was extended on one side to provide a cover over the new platform.
Thame and the first station at High Wycombe were the same in design and dimensions, although different construction materials were used for each: the train-shed walls at Thame were timber,[1] while Wycombe's were flint and brick.
The station was provided with a 28 lever signal box, with ETB using Tyer's key token machines in operation.[2]
Discontinuation of passenger service edit
In January 1963 British Railways withdrew passenger services between Princes Risborough and Oxford,[3] closed all intermediate stations including Thame, and dismantled the track between Thame and Cowley. A BP depot remained at Thame and the line from Princes Risborough remained open for oil trains to serve it. In 1991 the oil depot was closed. In 1998 all track between Thame and Princes Risborough was lifted, with the exception of a short stub at the Princes Risborough end.[3][4]
Current status edit
Part of the line from Thame to Princes Risborough has been re-opened to cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders under the title of The Phoenix Trail. After closure this part of the line was subsequently purchased by Sustrans and converted into the cycle/pedestrian route and forms part of the UK National Cycle Route 57. The road bridges that crossed the line at either end of Thame Station and its two platforms are still there, although the station building and trainshed roof have gone.
Thame is now served by Haddenham & Thame Parkway, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the town, which opened in 1987 on the Chiltern Main Line.[5]
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiddington Line closed, station closed |
Western Region of British Railways Wycombe Railway |
Towersey Halt Line closed, station closed |
References edit
- ^ Lingard, Richard (1977). Princes Risborough – Thame – Oxford railway. Oxford Publishing Co. p. 47. ISBN 0-902888-47-1.
- ^ Lingard 1977, p. 37
- ^ a b Maggs, Colin (2010). The Branch Lines of Buckinghamshire. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-84868-342-6.
- ^ Lingard 1977, p. 127
- ^ "The Wycombe Railway". Broad Gauge Society. Archived from the original on 23 December 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2009.