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Milton Keynes
I have now spent 4.5 years commuting to the Milton Keynes area. Not my choice, but needs must. Every so often, you see something interesting.
Ken Strachan
![The Newport Pagnell Railway Company succeeded in building a branch to their town from Wolverton, but failed to connect it to Olney on the Bedford to Northampton line. Various earthworks, abandoned in 1871, offer mute testimony to this failed extension scheme. This view looks South-West towards the site of Newport Pagnell station [see image 27539] on Bury Field Common.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/01/2010]](/images/27000/27339.jpg "Newport Pagnell")
![The Milton Keynes Railway Walk isn't as bad as it sounds; it is tarmacked and street lit, and follows the former branch from Wolverton to Newport Pagnell; which was closed while MK was in the planning stages. A shame - they could have had a very neat self-contained light railway operation. Newport Pagnell's former distant signal post stands aloof, some 46 years after closure; the cleared station site is behind the camera.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/01/2010]](/images/27000/27539.jpg "Newport Pagnell")
![This bland and faceless office block includes a station entrance at the centre of its ground floor. At least the bulding now looks no worse then when it was built in the early 1980's. Hope that chap at the bus stop isn't waiting for a W13 to Henlow....<br><br>[Ken Strachan 05/02/2010]](/images/27000/27917.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Both the class 350, and 'Stone and Webster House' (the mirror glass block in the background, above the entrance to Milton Keynes station) are acquired tastes. The 350 is about to set off for London on 23 August.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/08/2010]](/images/30000/30628.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![<I>Stand well back....</I> A down Pendolino runs through Milton Keynes at speed on 23 August 2010.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/08/2010]](/images/31000/31603.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![My satnav is very rude about Wolverton, stating that 'there are no points of interest in this town'. I beg to differ - here is an excellent candidate for the world's shortest standard gauge railway. See also image [[30679]]. A lone EMU axle stands outside Wolverton town hall in August 2010. Parts of the doomed Works can be seen in the background.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2010]](/images/30000/30642.jpg "Wolverton Works")
![Although much of Wolverton Works has been turned into a Tesco, they kindly preserved the original works fire station. It is now a bookshop - an ironic touch for fans of the Ray Bradbury sci-fi novel 'Fahrenheit 451', in which people live in fireproof houses, and 'firemen' are employed to burn books.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2010]](/images/30000/30653.jpg "Wolverton Works")
![<I>Shiver me timbers!</I> A Southbound 350 seen through one of the unusual 'porthole' windows on the footbridge at Milton Keynes on 27 August.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2010]](/images/30000/30669.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Road vs. rail: a down Pendolino forms an orderly queue for platform 6 at Milton Keynes as road traffic (more vehicles, less passengers) passes on the A5. View looks North on 4 February.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 04/02/2011]](/images/32000/32772.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![90041 in old Railfreight livery heads the Virgin loco-hauled set North into Milton Keynes platform 6 on 11 February 2011, at about 3.15pm. By 5.05pm the same set was seen heading South at Rugby - good utilization.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/02/2011]](/images/33000/33480.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![The recently installed South bay at Milton Keynes is platform 2a. It is rarely used, so here's the best shot I could get, with an up London train passing from platform 1<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/02/2011]](/images/33000/33510.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Southern Railway services now run as far North as Milton Keynes. This would never have done in the old SR days, but at that time Milton Keynes was a small village between Bletchley and Wolverton, and well off the main line. This is the 15.13 to East Croydon on 11 February 2011.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/02/2011]](/images/33000/33792.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![90049 shows off the new Freightliner livery to dramatic effect as it heads North through Milton Keynes on 11 February with a container train.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/02/2011]](/images/34000/34040.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![A shy and retiring 66.085 tries to hide behind a pile of ballast as it draws three tank wagons through the stone loading facility by Bletchley station. I am old enough to remember double 37's on this duty.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/06/2011]](/images/34000/34684.jpg "Bletchley")
![A down 350 calls at Bletchley in June 2011. The viaduct in the background was built about 1960 for access to Swanbourne yard - which was never built, due to the rapid decline in wagonload traffic. The viaduct may yet be used for a revived East-West link, if they can afford to attach a platform and lifts to it. In 1985, I saw an empty stock DMU with saloon lights lit crossing from East to West - a rather fetching sight at dusk.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/06/2011]](/images/35000/35021.jpg "Bletchley")
![A perfectly functional station on a distinctly more human scale than its near neighbour at Milton Keynes [see image 27917]. Bletchley, seen here in June 2011, is also a junction, and has some freight activity.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/06/2011]](/images/35000/35105.jpg "Bletchley")
![No less than 12 cars of class 325 stock run North through Milton Keynes bright and early on 2nd September.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 02/09/2011]](/images/35000/35686.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![The Pendolino, the 350, and the three young ladies appear to be competing as to who can be most colourful. View South along platform 5 at Milton Keynes Central on 2 September 2011.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 02/09/2011]](/images/35000/35959.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![A class 350 EMU for Birmingham New Street pulls into Wolverton station in bright sunshine on 14 October. The blue fence to the left surrounds a site for a new station building - ironically situated on the bay platform for Newport Pagnell branch trains. This still had track until at least the mid 1980s, being used to store engineering equipment, such as generator wagons, if I recall correctly. An inspection of the train indicator shows the wisdom of catching this train - it's a 56-minute wait until the next one, then a four-minute wait. Not quite an interval service.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/10/2011]](/images/36000/36078.jpg "Wolverton")
![A northbound Voyager about to run non-stop through Wolverton station in October 2011. Notice the curvature of the track - the whole WCML was slewed around Wolverton works when it was built. Note also the rise in the platform level - unconventionally, the highest part is at the end!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/10/2011]](/images/36000/36088.jpg "Wolverton")
![A section of the original 1838 London and Birmingham Railway, looking north through Wolverton works. It was later bypassed by the 1881 LNWR route and is now ignominiously sandwiched between an approach road to Tesco and industrial units housed in former Works buildings. The Railcare facility now served by the line is off to the left.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/10/2011]](/images/36000/36103.jpg "Wolverton")
![Patience is a virtue - a 12-car assembly of 350's forming a commuter service to London Euston awaits the off at Milton Keynes Central.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/11/2011]](/images/36000/36685.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Milton Keynes can look surprisingly old-fashioned early in the morning, with more than a hint of <I>'The Ladykillers'</I> in the staircase on the right. View south from the station footbridge on 18th November 2011.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/11/2011]](/images/37000/37243.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![And they're off! The 07.14 to Euston is ready to leave Milton Keynes Central on 25 November 2011. I had momentarily fallen asleep at my seat - good job I woke up!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/11/2011]](/images/37000/37888.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![The 19.15 Southern Trains Cross-London service to Clapham Junction waits to depart from platform 2a at Milton Keynes Central on 7 March 2012. The train runs via the West London Line and has a journey time of 1 hour 18 minutes. [See image 4945]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 07/03/2012]](/images/38000/38263.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![350.232 seems to have a smile on its face, courtesy of the setting sun, as it arrives at Milton Keynes Central with the 18.32 service to Birmingham New Street. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 29/03/2012]](/images/39000/39119.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![You don't often see freight at MKC in the morning. But withdrawal of my usual bus service has given me more time on the platforms awaiting an alternative. So here is 90044 heading North with boxes (GB) or cans (US) at about 7.30 on 25 May, while Southbound commuters wait for the next up service.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2012]](/images/39000/39273.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![It's not every day that you see blood and custard and mirror glass together. Scene at Milton Keynes Central on 25 May 2012. The railtour is the UK Railtours 'Snowdonian'; the view is South-East from the footbridge.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2012]](/images/42000/42294.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![But for that yellow line, and the label on the coach, it could be 1964. Preserved 86259 <I>Les Ross</I>, in original Electric Blue, takes the Railway Touring Company 'Cumbrian Mountain Express' north and away from London at Milton Keynes on 18 June, at a time when several million commuters are heading the other way.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/06/2012]](/images/39000/39362.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![What comes down must go up. The 350 in platform 2 (left) will form a train to Euston, while its sister unit has just left from platform 1 for the same destination. Southern Trains 377203 is in platform 2a [see image 38263], and will form the 18.13 to Selhurst.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/06/2012]](/images/39000/39705.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![The stock for the 15.13 to Selhurst (377.202 leading) arrives in platform 2a at Milton Keynes Central in this colourful scene captured on 28th June 2012.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/06/2012]](/images/39000/39466.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Major improvements to the Milton Keynes station forecourt seen on 12 July 2012. Buses used to be kept to the far side of the line of flagpoles in the background. The shelters for bus and taxi passengers are also welcome - this area has always been rather windswept.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 12/07/2012]](/images/39000/39642.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![No, I'm sorry, they're still not growing on me. 70019 is now a regular performer on this section of the WCML, as is 70007. 019 hauls containers North through Milton Keynes Central on 19th July, while 350253, being the leading unit of the 17.41 to Euston, looks on.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/07/2012]](/images/39000/39693.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![The latest thing in transport integration is this 2-level bike park outside Milton Keynes station. Well, I hadn't seen one before.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 11/09/2012]](/images/40000/40960.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![The seeds of promise - this notice about Christmas engineering works at Bletchley in December 2012 is notable for its mention of the restoration of the link to Oxford [see image 27801]. Such a shame it wasn't done when MK was first built.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/12/2012]](/images/41000/41662.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Passengers familiar with operations at MKC will know that many Pendolinos and Voyagers pass through platform 6 - plus the occasional mail train [see image 35686]. But now that London Midland have tuned up their 350's for 110mph running, they are mixing it with Virgin trains. This unit got me to Nuneaton in 35 minutes.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 08/02/2013]](/images/42000/42063.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![A down Pendolino rushes through Bletchley on a hot Monday evening in July 2013.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 15/07/2013]](/images/43000/43809.jpg "Bletchley")
![View from the footbridge at Milton Keynes Central on 28 April 2014. The bridge is being refurbished and made slightly narrower internally by wall cladding - hence what appears to be a giant pair of binoculars. [Ref query 6619]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 28/04/2014]](/images/47000/47209.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Great Linford was one of two intermediate stations on the line between Wolverton and Newport Pagnell. This distinctly leafy October 2014 view looks towards the branch terminus [see image 27539].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/10/2014]](/images/49000/49125.jpg "Great Linford")
![A shiny 66753 with white lined buffers thunders North through Bletchley with containers on a Friday afternoon in February 2015. Notice the viaduct in the background, waiting for its new platforms as part of the East-West Rail project.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/02/2015]](/images/50000/50462.jpg "Bletchley")
![92015 looks distinctly Continental in its DBS livery [see image 20123] as it heads South through Bletchley with a long rake of Cargowaggons on 20 February. The Bedford line can be seen diverging from the WCML in the right background.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/02/2015]](/images/50000/50530.jpg "Bletchley")
![66198 heads North through Bletchley on 20 February with a train of enclosed car carrying wagons.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/02/2015]](/images/50000/50600.jpg "Bletchley")
![66.198 hauls an empty car train North at Bletchley on 20th February 2015. Notice the mothballed flyover in the background, and the platform extension in the foreground.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/02/2015]](/images/62000/62111.jpg "Bletchley")
![The 16.57 to Bletchley arrived well ahead of time, and departed on time - which didn't stop someone thinking she'd missed it. [see image 52616]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2015]](/images/52000/52711.jpg "Millbrook (Beds)")
![The station master's house has definitely gone downhill since 1998 [see image 45199], but the post box is still looked after.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/09/2015]](/images/54000/54023.jpg "Millbrook (Beds)")
![The density of housing in this village [see image 42780] makes it a favourite as a stopping point for East-West services, when this line re-opens to Oxford.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 14/09/2016]](/images/56000/56648.jpg "Lidlington")
![The sparse - six trains a week - service from MKC to Adderley Park may make you feel like a Minor Traveller [see image 42528].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/12/2016]](/images/57000/57611.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![A Voyager at MK Central heading for London - there seemed to be such a service every two minutes. Something to do with Christmas, perhaps. [see image 46577]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 23/12/2016]](/images/58000/58270.jpg "Milton Keynes Central")
![Stock is still stabled in the Newport Pagnell [see image 27539] bay platform at Wolverton - but only bicycles. View north in February 2017; notice the latest station building in the background. [Ref query 765]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/02/2017]](/images/58000/58133.jpg "Wolverton")
![There are five arches visible in this view. The first was across the Newport Pagnell branch; the end of that platform can also be seen. The second and third are over the two pairs of tracks on the WCML [see image 36088], while the fifth is over the Grand Union Canal. Hence, I suspect that the fourth was over the original route of the WCML, before it was diverted around the Works.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/02/2017]](/images/58000/58372.jpg "Wolverton")
![We'll know they are serious about East West Rail when the burnt out car on the left is removed - it featured in a photograph in RAIL magazine about a year ago. View looks East, towards Bletchley. Entry to the yard was to the left with the sidings behind the camera.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/12/2019]](/images/71000/71978.jpg "Newton Longville Yard")
