Wooburn Green railway station
This railway station which served Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire, England, on the Wycombe Railway was opened in 1854, with the station located near the bottom of Whitepit lane. The station became a halt in 1968 because of a decreased service on the line.
Located near the station was also a small shunting goods yard where freight and waggons would be delivered almost on a daily basis.
Located near by was a signal box. This was a single line track so the Key Token was in in opeartion on this line, which regulated what train could pass along the line at any given time.
The station and line were closed in 1970, and the station was soon demolished; the site is now a housing estate.
History of the Line
The Wycombe railway was formed in 1845 and was successful in getting it's act in 1846. Construction was slow and the line opened between Maidenhead and High Wycombe in 1854. In 1873 the Marlow branch was added connecting the town to Bourne End.
The original station at Maidenhead was located on Castle hill but was closed when the present Maidenhead station opened in 1871. The line was 9.75 miles in length (excluding the Marlow branch) and, in distance from Maidenhead (original station) stations were opened at Cookham (3 miles), Bourne End (4.5 miles), Wooburn Green (5.75 miles), Loudwater (7.25 miles) and on to Wycombe station.
When the mainline from Wycombe to Marylebone opened in 1899, the company continued to run freight over the line with the main London bound passenger services running over the new line.
A snapshot of the line in 1937 shows there were 12 return trains a day between Maidenhead and Wycombe which were well used by the local population. The line flourished until the 1960's when competition from the road gradually took all the freight and more people began using private cars more and more.
In 1970, British rail asked the Wycombe council for £60,000 to help keep the line open but no money was forthcoming and consequently the line closed to all traffic in the same year. The track and signalling were recovered and the stations left to crumble and a 116 years of local train services came to an end.
