Railway Herald
At the start of the 20th century GWR combined with the Great Central to provide a direct link from High Wycombe to the capital as part of their direct line to Birmingham avoiding the congested Thames Valley route. By the time of this shot on 14th May 1981 there was just one remaining loco-hauled service to Paddington, with a regular DMU service to the GC terminus at Marylebone. Class 47/0 No. 47061 is in charge of the evening return of the commuter semi-fast out of Paddington at Loudwater, having just emerged from the Whitehouse tunnel through a southern spur of the Chiltern chalk hills. Ironically in the 21st century Chiltern Railways started running loco-hauled services again to Marylebone whereas the link to Paddington has disappeared under HS2 developments.
Tonybee
