 In 1894 Edward Watkin suffered a stroke . Although he nominally remained a director of his railway companies , he resigned all his railway chairmanships and his influence was effectively ended . With the connection at Aylesbury complete , the Metropolitan Railway reached 50 miles ( 80 km ) northwest of London , and his planned route between London and northern England was almost complete . Watkin 's Manchester , Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway continued to build southwards from its southernmost point at Annesley , reaching Quainton Road station on the former A & BR in 1899 and completing the north @-@ south link , the Great Central Railway ( GCR ) , in time for Watkin to see his vision completed before his death in 1901 . 
