‘PRAIRIE’ REACHES RISBOROUGH

Track has been laid in the former Watlington bay platform at Princes Risborough, as the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway gears up to open its main line interchange. The rails and sleepers were laid on March 11. Although no date has been set for the opening of the bay, CPRR Chairman Danny Woodward wrote in the latest issue of the line’s Watlington Flyer journal that he expects it to take place “within a few months”. He added: “There will then follow more work to complete the run-round loop for 2019, and also to commence the reinstatement of our ‘own’ track over the Chinnor branch alignment.” CPRR trains into Princes Risborough currently utilise half a mile of the adjacent Thame branch under an agreement with the Office of Rail & Road which expires in 2021.

PHIL MARSH With the newly laid track prominent in the bay platform, GWR ‘Small Prairie’ No. 5526 (on loan from the South Devon Railway) stands on the future run round loop at Princes Risborough on April 8.