Slough to Windsor & Eton Line

Slough to Windsor & Eton Line
Legend
B416 Great Western Main Line Reading • Paddington 0⅓ Slough Slough Depot (closed 1964) A4 Bath Road B3027 Chalvey Road Chalvey Halt (1929–1930) M4 motorway Jubilee River A332 Windsor Relief Road Cycle Route 461 Brick arches viaduct B3026 Eton Wick road Meadow Lane Windsor Railway Bridge over River Thames National Cycle Route 4 Windsor Goods Yard (lifted 1960s) 2¾ Windsor & Eton Central

The Slough to Windsor & Eton Branch Line is a railway line, approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long, in Berkshire, England. Trains run between the line's only two stations, Slough and Windsor & Eton Central. At its northern end, the branch line joins the Great Western Main Line, but passenger trains from Windsor rarely use the connection, terminating instead at Slough.

Services

A 20-minute service interval in each direction is operated by Great Western Railway using the dedicated bay platform 1 at Slough.

Rolling stock

Neither the Great Western Main Line west of Hayes and Harlington nor its branch lines are electrified and most trains on the Windsor Branch are diesel-powered.

Services are provided by Class 165 and Class 166 2- and 3-car diesel multiple units (DMUs).

In the 1970s and 1980s DMUs such as the Class 117 and Class 121 ('Bubblecars') were used.

Electrification

Electrification of the Slough to Windsor route was approved in 2014.^[1]

It was announced on 8 November 2016 that the electrification of the branch was being delayed, without a revised forecast date.^[2]

History

A former GWR locomotive 6664 photographed near the engine shed at Slough, October 1955.

The "Windsor bay" (Platform 1) at Slough station, with a Class 165 DMU waiting to depart for Windsor

A 2-car Class 165 DMU, on the brick viaduct carrying the GWR line into Windsor (looking east towards Eton College).

The wrought iron railway bridge at Windsor.
(Picture shows downstream side, looking towards Windsor.)

The line opened, despite opposition from Eton College, on 8 October 1849. It was built as a broad gauge line but dual gauge track was laid in 1862.^[3]

For a period from 1863, Metropolitan Railway trains served the line. Between 1 March 1883 and 30 September 1885 the branch was also served by the Metropolitan District Railway.

Slough Junction

Slough Junction^[4] was a triangular junction connecting the branch line to the mainline in both eastbound (towards London) and westbound (towards Reading) directions. It is not known whether it was used for turning complete trains; a turntable was available at Slough shed for turning locomotives. The layout of the junction was complicated, as the east curve ran between sidings of the shed.

Most service trains accessed Slough station by the eastern chord, which remains in use. It is double track, with the "outer" track to the bay platform used by branch-line trains at Slough, and the "inner" track, connected to the mainline, used by empty stock workings and by rare passenger trains.

The western chord, known as the "Royal" or "Queen's" Curve, was little used except by excursion traffic and royal trains (hence its nickname). It was closed through lack of use in 1964 and was used for a time to stable carriages, after which the track was lifted.

All land west of the eastern chord was sold for housing, and there is little evidence of the junction at the site now although aerial photographs show the curving line of the western tracks.

Chalvey Halt

The only intermediate stop on the branch line was Chalvey Halt,^[5][6] 47 chains (945 m) south of Bath Road Junction.^[7] The halt was authorised on 24 February 1929, at an estimated cost of £840, and opened on 6 May 1929. It comprised both "up" and "down" platforms, built from heavy timbers to the standard GWR design for halt platforms. There were also waiting shelters, and steps down to the nearby road.^[8]

After only 14 months of operation, Chalvey Halt closed on 7 July 1930. A note in the GW Engineer's Department minutes of 19 October 1930, records that the materials from Chalvey Halt had been used to build Cashes Green Halt on the Gloucester to Swindon "Golden Valley Line", between Stroud and Stonehouse.^[9]

Windsor Link

The Windsor Link Railway is a proposal to tunnel from Windsor & Eton Central to Windsor & Eton Riverside to create a through railway from Slough to Staines.

References

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic & Smith, Keith (2002). Branch Lines to Henley, Windsor and Marlow. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-77-X. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Slough to Windsor & Eton Line.

• The Railways at Windsor at The Royal Windsor Web Site
• slough loco shed 81B 3Q at Flickr
• Steam Locomotive Shed 81B Slough at Rail UK
• British Railways London Western Region Locomotive Depots 1948–59
• Ordnance Survey Popular and New Popular Editions at Vision of Britain

Railway lines in the South East
Primary	International High Speed 1 (Ashford • Ebbsfleet) National Great Western Main Line (Slough • Maidenhead • Reading • Didcot Parkway) West Coast Main Line (Watford Junction • Milton Keynes Central)
Secondary	Berks/Bucks/Oxon to London Aylesbury Line Chiltern Main Line Waterloo to Reading Line (and in Surrey) Windsor & Eton Riverside Line (and in Surrey) Crossrail (under construction) (and past London to Essex) Kent to London Bexleyheath Line Chatham Main Line Dartford Loop Line Kent Coast Line Maidstone Line Medway Valley Line North Kent Line Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) Line Sheerness Line South Eastern Main Line Tonbridge Line (and in Surrey) Surrey/Sussex/Hants to London Ascot to Guildford Line Alton Line Arun Valley Line Brighton Main Line Caterham Line Fareham Line Hampton Court Branch Line Hastings Line (and in Kent) Chertsey Branch Line Epsom Downs Branch New Guildford Line Oxted Line (and in Kent) Portsmouth Direct Line Shepperton Branch Line South Western Main Line Sutton and Mole Valley Lines Tattenham Corner Line Thameslink (and past London to Beds/Herts) West of England Main Line Others Cherwell Valley Line Cotswold Line Eastleigh to Romsey Line East Coastway Line (inc Marshlink Line) Henley Branch Line Island Line Lymington Branch Line Marlow Branch Line Marston Vale Line North Downs Line Oxford to Bicester Line Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line Reading to Taunton Line West Coastway Line Wessex Main Line Slough to Windsor & Eton Line Reading to Basingstoke Line Seaford Branch Line
Heritage	Bluebell Railway Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway Cholsey & Wallingford Railway East Kent Railway Isle of Wight Steam Railway Kent and East Sussex Railway Lavender Line Spa Valley Railway Watercress Line
Non-passenger/ Defunct	Hundred of Hoo Railway Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway