The Brill Tramway was a six-mile (10 km) rail line in rural Buckinghamshire, England. It was privately built in 1871 by the 3rd Duke of Buckingham as a horse tram line to help transport goods between his lands around Wotton House and the national rail network. Lobbying from the nearby town of Brill led to its extension to Brill railway station and conversion to passenger use in early 1872. Although locomotives were bought, the line had been designed for horses and trains travelled at average speed of only 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h). In the 1880s, the Duke of Buckingham planned to upgrade the route to main line standards and extend the line to Oxford, and in anticipation, the line was named the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad. The extension to Oxford was never built. Instead, the Brill Tramway became part of London's Metropolitan Railway. In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway became the Metropolitan Line of London Transport, and thus the Brill Tramway became part of the London Underground, despite being 40 miles (65 km) from London and not underground. In 1935 the London Transport management closed the Brill Tramway and the infrastructure was dismantled and sold. Little trace remains other than the former junction station at Quainton Road, now the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brill_Tramway

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1700:

Great Northern War: Swedish forces led by King Charles XII defeated the Russian army of Tsar Peter the Great at the Battle of Narva. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Narva_%281700%29

1872:

The first-ever international football match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland_v_England_%281872%29

1936:

The Crystal Palace, built for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, was destroyed by fire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace

1953:

Edward Mutesa II, the kabaka (king) of Buganda, is deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutesa_II_of_Buganda

1993:

U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law, requiring purchasers of handguns to pass a background check. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brady_Handgun_Violence_Prevention_Act

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sartorial (adj): 1. Of or relating to the tailoring of clothing. 2. Of or relating to the quality of dress http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sartorial

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare. --Mark Twain http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mark_Twain