Bicester Military Railway

[RogerFarnworth]

Please would moderators move this thread if it is not on the correct forum ..............

It seems as though this railway is all but abandoned. It appears that way when travelling through the site. If anyone knows any better, it would be good to hear from you. I have seen pictures on the internet, with notes about the railway, which say that it was last used in 2014.

I only came across the railway by accident as I explain in my blog:

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com...litary-railway

I have been aware of the Longmoor Military Railway for some time now. I knew nothing of the Bicester Military Railway until my wife and I had part of a weekend in the area. We were travelling along the M40 and using Satnav and we noticed and interesting area off to the East of the motorway which was just visible on the Satnav. Our initial thought was that there might have been some opencast workings in the area.

Much of the site has been sold off. The northern half of Graven Hill Depot is now an estate of plots for self build homes! (https://www.gravenhill.co.uk)

[RogerFarnworth]

Very recently, I have been reading a book about the Bicester Military Railway which was published in 1992. It was published by the Oxford Publishing Company and is widely available to buy second-hand. It is worth a read. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/10/12...ay-book-review

The Bicester Military Railway. ...

This book, written by E.R. Lawton and Major M.W. Sackett in 1992, [1] gives a comprehensive history of the Bicester site which extends from the original concept to the date of publication of the book.

In the 21st century, large areas of the complex have been given over to civilian use.

[Dmart241]

Roger;

Much much reduced but certainly still in use.
The line from Bicester Town to Oxford has a spur just outside Bicester leading directly onto the MOD Bicester site. Bicester Town and the line to Oxford was upgraded a few years ago to cater for the East - west link Oxford to Cambridge line - this was the first part of those improvements and has dualled the line, and set up a direct line from Oxford to London Marylebone.
As part of those improvements Bicester Town was rebuilt and re named Bicester Village to cater for the well known local eyesore of the same name.
The spur into Bicester MOD was also heavily upgraded.
There are railway lines and crossings all around the local area particularly through some of the villages connecting all the sites up.
Some of these lines have been dug up (Arncott area), some of them still exist (Ambrosden area).
I recall seeing a class 50 under storage / restoration at the Arncott sidings many years ago
GBRF currently have the contract to run (When required) MOD trains generally from MOD Kineton (but have seen them from further afield ) into Bicester - generally runs once or twice a week via Oxford and Hinksey sidings.
Its been a long time though since I was kept waiting at Ambrosden level crossing !!
Dave

[RogerFarnworth]

Thank you, Dave.☺️