Railway enthusiast Sir William McAlpine helped put the clock back 130 years for the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway Association when he unveiled the reconstructed Chinnor station.

At a ceremony on Saturday, Sir William, the association's president, praised the volunteers for their work in creating a replica of the station. The original station was built in 1872 by local landowners on a branch line linking Watlington with the Great Western Railway at Princes Risborough.

The station has taken nearly four years to complete at a cost of £58,000. The old station at Watlington is still standing and members used it as a template for Chinnor.

The completion of the station is another key element in the restoration of the railway line, which closed to passengers in 1957. Watlington station was closed soon afterwards. When freight traffic to Chinnor cement works ended in 1989 British Rail planned to remove the track, but enthusiasts formed the association to save the route. Since then most of the track has been restored and trains have resumed running from Chinnor to within half a mile of Princes Risborough station.

Spokesman Eric Samuel said: "We continue to make progress every year. Our next project is to run the final half-mile into Risborough station and we have put £115,000 aside for the work. But first we have to reach a legal agreement with Railtrack. "Our eventual aim is to run trains into Risborough and people can then connect with Chiltern Line services to London and the north. Such a service could also attract more visitors into this area."

After the re-opening ceremony Sir William, Henley MP Boris Johnson and other dignitaries enjoyed a buffet lunch on a three-carriage train hauled by a 1932 Kitson steam locomotive.