The Brill Tramway

The Brill or Wotton Tramway was a private single-track railway owned by the Duke of Buckingham. It was constructed to carry staff and goods between Quainton Road station (on the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway) and the Duke's estate at Wotton. The line was 6½ miles long and had intermediate stations at Waddesdon, Westcott, Wotton, Church Siding and Wood Siding. In its early days, the running time, with stops, was 1½ hours.

Constructional work began on 8th September, 1870; the first section, from Quainton Road to Wotton, was brought into use on 1st April, 1871, and the whole line completely to Brill by the summer of 1872. No contractors were employed on the construction of the line, except for a short time for track laying.

The railway, including sidings and two goods sheds, cost rather less than £1,400 a mile, exclusive of the value of the land. The working of the line was conducted at first by Messrs Chaplin and Horne, who estimated that annual working expenses amounted to £650, which included 10% interest on the two engines; earnings were between £1,350 and £1,400. Maintenance work was undertaken by the Duke of Buckingham.

Quainton Publications:

The history of the Brill or Wotton Tramway has been covered in a series of articles published in Quainton News in the 1970s and 1980s:

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall - Prologue and Foreword

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 1 - The Early Years, Quainton is Served by Rail

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 2 - The Early Years, Construction and Opening

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 3 - Steam Comes to Brill

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 4 - Operation In The Seventies

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 5 - The First Ten Years to Brill

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 6 - Plans for the Railway to Oxford

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 9 - The Ten Eventful Years to 1899

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 10 - The Manning, Wardle Saddle Tanks

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 11 - The Metropolitan Railway Arrives

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 12 - Into the Twentieth Century

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 13 - The Metropolitan Railway 2-4-0T's

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 14 - More about the D Class 2-4-0T's

• The Wotton Tramway: Rise and Fall Part 15 - Branches and Sidings

As well as the above series, a number of one off articles on the Brill Tramway have appeared in Quainton News, including:

• The Other End of the Line

• Restoration of the Wotton Tramway Locomotive

• The Wotton Tramway - a Letter from a Passenger

• Change at Quainton Road for Brill, Sir! - Metro

• An Archaeological Find by the Post Office

• The Easy Line - Charles Minns

Other Publications:

A number of books have been published about the Brill Tramway, all are currently out of print, but are often available second hand from abebooks, ebay and indeed our own bookshop:

• The Wotton Tramway (Brill Branch) - Ken Jones - The Oakwood Press - 1974

• From Quainton to Brill: History of the Wotton Tramway - Ian Melton - London Underground Railway Society - 1984

• The Brill Tramway Including the Railway from Aylesbury to Verney Junction - Bill Simpson - Oxford Publishing Company - 1985

• Verney Junction to Baker Street - Bill Simpson - Lamplight Publications - 2013 - page 18-19

Brill Tramway Route Map

Click on a station to view more details (may not work on phones - in which case use table above)

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Text © Quainton Railway Society / Photographs © Quainton Railway Society or referenced photographer
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Page Updated: 14 October 2017