A First Great Western Class 165 DMU running between Bourne End and Marlow in 2006. This service is known locally as "The Marlow Donkey".
Overview
Status
Operational
Owner
Network Rail
Locale
Buckinghamshire, Berkshire South East England
Termini
Maidenhead
Marlow
Stations
5
Service
Type
Heavy rail
System
National Rail
Operator(s)
Great Western Railway
Rolling stock
Class 165 "Turbo" Class 166 "Turbo Express"
History
Opened
1854
Technical
Track length
7 miles 10 chains (11.5 km)
Number of tracks
Single track
Character
Branch line
Track gauge
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Old gauge
7 ft (2,134 mm)
Operating speed
50 mph (80 km/h)
Route map
(Click to expand)
v
t
e
Marlow Branch Line
Legend
Chiltern Main Line
High Wycombe
Loudwater
M40
Wooburn Green
A4094
4½
Bourne End
A404
2⅝
Marlow
Bourne End Railway Bridge
over River Thames
2⅞
Cookham
1¼
Furze Platt
⅞
Maidenhead Boyne Hill
0⅓
Maidenhead
Great Western Main Line
The Marlow branch line is a single track railway line in England, between Maidenhead station in Berkshire and Bourne End and Marlow stations in Buckinghamshire. It is 7 miles 10 chains (11.5 km) in length.[1] Passenger services are operated by Great Western Railway using Class 165 and Class 166 diesel trains. The line connects to the Great Western Main Line at Maidenhead; it uses a section of the former Wycombe Railway line to High Wycombe together with the former Great Marlow Railway.
The train that runs on the branch line is known as The Marlow Donkey although the exact derivation of the term is unclear. Karau and Turner say "the trains of pack horses, mules and donkeys carrying goods to the riverside prompted the local people to christen the train on the Great Marlow Railway, the 'Marlow Donkey', a name which survives to this day". However, Anthony Wethered, great-grandson of the first chairman of the company, suggests that it is the name of the line.[2] A third tradition identifies a particular locomotive.
A pub in Marlow is named after it.[3][4]
^Cite error: The named reference karau was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"The Great Marlow Railway". Retrieved 10 June 2010.
^"The Story of the Marlow Donkey". (from Summer 2003 Newsletter). The Marlow Society. 22 April 2003. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
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