R.o.B Closed Railways
The Woodside &
South Croydon Railway
Including:
The Mid-Kent Railway
Addiscombe Extension
By
the early 1840's the London to Brighton Railway had been completed by the London,
Brighton & South Coat (LBSCR) successor to the London & Croydon Railway, the South Eastern Railway (SER) having completed their line from
Redhill (on the LBSCR main line to Brighton) to Dover about the same time,
services for both companies originating from the London & Greenwich Railway at London Bridge. It was not long before the SER was looking to extend
its services in to Kent and the South East of England resulting in the
construction of several lines, the two in this article focusing on traffic in
the Woodside area of Croydon. The area of Woodside is situated between South
Norwood and Addiscombe and at one time was home
to a racecourse (1866 to 1890), a brickworks (1815 to 1974) and the junction of
the SER Mid-Kent line extension from New Beckenham to Addiscombe (Croydon) and
the jointly owned Woodside and South Croydon Railway (W&SCR) which ran to
Selsdon. At the time of the Mid Kent Railways extension opening their was very
little in the way of development in that area but with the arrival of the
railway to Addiscombe housing soon sprung up further stimulated by the arrival
of the W&SCR. The areas growth saw the introduction of street Tramways by the Norwood
District Tramways Company which built a street tramway in the Woodside and South
Norwood area to connect to Croydon.
The SER opened
their North Kent line to Woolwich via Lewisham from a junction with
the London & Greenwich Railway (at
North Kent Junction) on 30th
July 1849, the company having been blocked from reaching
Woolwich via Greenwich by the L&GR.
The SER aimed to extend its services further in to South East England and in an
effort to serve more of Kent the company
backed the establishment of the Mid-Kent
Railway. This was a separate
company that would build a 5 mile line from Lewisham from a junction with the
North Kent Line to Beckenham with stations at Ladywell, Catford Bridge and Lower Sydenham (re-sited in
1906), Clock House Station between New Beckenham and Elmers End was opened in
1890 to serve growing housing developments. The line opened on the 1st
January 1857, with the intention of it extending further in to the heart of
Kent the new line worked by the SER from the outset. At the time Beckenham was
a rural village with little development and prime cheap land for the
construction of railways to the South East. With the arrival of the Mid Kent
line some development started but it was not until the junction was formed with
the through services and easy access to London that development
took off. In 1851 there were 1,688 people living in the area and by 1911 there
were 31,692! The landowners had included in their sale of land to the railway
the clause that there was not to be a goods yard in Beckenham to protect the
land price that they foresaw would rise with the railways arrival, the route of
the railway to be landscaped also. Beckenham became a junction when the West End of
London & Crystal Palace Railway (WEL&CPR) opened its circuitous line
from Shortlands to London via Crystal Palace on 3rd May 1858, the eastern or
country end of the line later opening through to Bickley. The WEL&CPR became
part of the London, Chatham &
Dover Railway which opened its Metropolitan Extensions in 1863, these including
a new line from Beckenham to Herne Hill via Penge (the route taken by Eurostars
to International Junction, Battersea until the opening of phase 2 of the Channel Tunnel Rail link). Today's
Beckenham Junction station consists of four platforms, two through (2 & 3)
and two bays (1 & 4 both of which are at the up ends of the two through
platforms. Southern Trains services serve platform 4 from Crystal Palace while a South
Eastern Trains peak only service uses platform 1 the units working this service
(Class 465's). These trains arrive from New Beckenham by way of the original
Mid-Kent line which now
forms a single line spur, having opened as double track. On the alignment of
the original down line is a layover siding, though the trains forming the peak
hours service normally layover in the platform to save shunting the train, the
siding only accessible from platform 1. The Crystal Palace line opened by
the WEL&CPR is connected to the through lines by facing points, though it
appears to be little used. The line to Crystal Palace is anticipated to close
within the next 6 years as plans are being drawn up (June 2007) for the
extension of Croydon Tramlink to Crystal Palace from Harrington Road. At
present the tramway runs as single line with passing loops from Harrington Road to Beckenham
Junction via Love Lane curve the
tramway using for 1 1/2 miles of the former up line of the WEL&CPR route
which was lifted as an economy measure in 1983. Should these plans go ahead and
the line be closed the opportunity would arise for the tramway to be doubled
much improving an already excellent service, though it is subject to delay
should a tram miss its path through the single line sections. On approach to
Beckenham the tramway and the WEL&CPR run parallel to the LCDR line from
Penge Junction for 1/2 mile to Beckenham Junction if one is lucky one can see
Southern class 455, 456 or 377 EMU's running parallel to not only the tram but
South Eastern class 375 Electrostars or if you are really lucky a class 373
Eurostar trains to the continent.
A Eurostar approaches Beckenham Junction
R.o.B collection
The SER took over
the Mid Kent Railway in 1863 with the intention of extending further in to Kent but with
competition for traffic in the county becoming a problem with the opening of
other company's lines, it was decided that the line would be extended
southwards to Addiscombe an orbital village of Croydon, Surrey. This move was a
bid to break the monopoly on the London to Croydon traffic
held by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) which had two main lines to the
town having taken over the London &
Croydon Railway and the London &
Brighton Railway companies. The 3 1/4 mile extension to Croydon
(Addiscombe) opened on 1st April
1863 with an end on junction with the Mid Kent at New Beckenham, a station
provided just south of the junction before the line passed under the former
WEL&CPR and the new LCDR lines to Beckenham Junction. The only intermediate
station was at Elmers End. At the time this was a small village surrounded by
farmland though it soon followed the example of Beckenham with the development
of housing. At first the station was a simple two platform affair with a single
storey building on the Up platform with the station house on the down side, the
single storey building was severely damaged by fire on 16th December
1973 and was replaced by today's glass structure. With the opening of the Hayes
(Kent) extension on 29th May 1882 the station soon grew and by 1913 the
station consisted of 4 platforms, two bay platforms at the southern end (1 and
4), one on each of the two through platforms (2 and 3) and a coal depot with 3
sidings on its western side, the 1882 branch forming a 13 chain curve out of
the station to run south eastwards skirting the Kent/Surrey border. The signal
box was sited for many years in the space between the Hayes and Addiscombe
lines the signals showing Addiscombe as the primary route in the 1950's despite
only a shuttle service from bay platform 1 being in operation to Addiscombe. In
1956 track alterations at the station took place with the Addiscombe through
lines slewed behind the signal box to allow the extension of platforms 1 and 2
in 1957 to accommodate 10 coach trains. At that time the platform canopy on
platforms 3 and 4 still demonstrated bomb damage and was in two sections where
a centre section had had to be removed in 1941 because of bomb damage to the
station the canopy replaced in 1961 with the one on platforms 1 and 2 replaced
in the October of that year. The coal yard remained in use until 6th May 1963 the down bay
platform taken out of use on 27th
Sept 1975 and used solely by engineer's trains, the platform
was very difficult to serve until 1947 when track alterations saw a trailing crossover
on the Hayes Curve turned round to allow trains access to platform 4. Prior to
this trains for platform 4 from Hayes had to pass over the crossover, reverse
on to the down line and then travel wrong road in to platform 4 bay. At the
same time as the down bay was taken out of use the signal box was closed signalling
controlled from Lewisham. By 1992 colour light signalling showed the Hayes line
as the primary route, it had been operated as such since 26th September 1949, Addiscombe,
Selsdon and Sanderstead services operating as shuttles. The Hayes line had also
been electrified before the Addiscombe branch electric services starting from 21st September 1925 the Addiscombe
branch not electrified until 28th
February 1926. In the 1950's electric trains showed several
different route codes for the Addiscombe and Hayes lines which ran to and from
Charring Cross or Cannon Street. There was an H
with 2 dots above to indicate the service ran via the Ladywell Loop, trains via
Lewisham showing an H and a bar above. Services for Cannon Street via Lewisham
showed just an H and via Ladywell loop they showed an H with a single Dot. With
the electrification a large substation was built parallel to Platform 4 the
building containing Rotary converters which are AC motors coupled to DC
generators which provided the traction current. 1992 also saw the rebuilding of
the road bridge over the northern or London end of the
station to allow for further platform extensions the bridge reconstructed with
a wider span in 1993 the crossover from the southern end of the station also
repositioned just under the bridge at the time. From Elmers End the line
climbed a gradual 1 in 120 with a very shallow embankment towards Woodside, the
line running alongside Croydon Corporation sewerage works which was served by a
long siding. The works had opened around 1862 but seems to have had many
problems with drainage due to the London clay prolific in
the area the works finally closing in 1962 it now forms South Norwood Country Park.
Elmer's End looking north
Picture Courtesy Transport of Delight
The next station on the line was Woodside which
was named Woodside and South Norwood between 1st October 1908 and 2nd October 1944 in a bid to
attract traffic to and from the area. The station building was built on an
additional bridge over the railway and was in a similar style to that at Clock
House on the Hayes line and is still in situ today though it serves no purpose,
having spent some time as a garage. The station had opened in 1871 to serve
Croydon race course which was situated a little way from the railway on the
site of today's Ashburton High school. The fields had
first been dedicated for public horse racing by King James 1 in the 17th
century and held a long tradition for this pursuit. With the arrival of the
railway the opportunity arose for thousands of people to visit the race course
on race days causing floods of complaints from the residents of the area. By
1890 the race track was closed and the race meetings were moved to a small
village called Gatwick to the south of Croydon. Despite this from opening until
1901 there were 10-11 trains per day serving the station and by 1914 there were
21, mostly operated by steam railmotor running a shuttle service between
Woodside and Selsdon Road along the 1885 Woodside and South Croydon line,
though some services did run through to Lewisham, the shuttle services running
from a bay platform on the DOWN side built with the opening of the latter line,
though this was lifted with the 1935 electrification which was partly state
funded. A signal box was located at the southern end of the down platform just
before the stone footbridge and curve towards Addiscombe the box opening in
1877 with a coal yard served by a single siding opened in 1878 to cater for the
growing housing in the area though it was still limited at that time, the
siding accessed only from the up line. The yard was closed on 30th September 1963 to allow the
lengthening of the up platform the signal box remaining in use until 24th June 1984 after the
closure the Woodside & South Croydon Railway closing the previous year, all
movements to Elmers End controlled by the signal boxes at Addiscombe and Elmers
End. From Woodside the Mid Kent extension to Addiscombe curved south west
passing under St John's Road Bridge from where it
started a 1 in 300 climb to the terminus passing over Dalmally Passage a lane
connecting streets half way between Black horse Lane and Addiscombe.
Woodside & South Norwood Junction looking toward Woodside
Courtesy Transport of Delight
The area of
Addiscombe is to the east of Croydon and was named after M.R Addiscombe Thorne
a developer that started to build villas in the grounds of the former East
India Companies military college which had opened in 1809 and closed in 1861
the company having ceased to exist in 1858. Prior to the development of the
1860's the area had been primarily agricultural in nature though it was also
home to a brick works London clay in
abundance in the locality. The station opened as Addiscombe Road but over the
years saw many name changes such as Croydon (Addiscombe road), Croydon
(Addiscombe) or Addiscombe (Croydon) from 1926 finally becoming Addiscombe in
1955. In 1882 Croydon Tramways Company
opened its tramway from central Croydon to Clyde
Road from where it was extended by the Croydon and Norwood Tramways Company in
1883 to South Norwood via
Woodside, the tramway was electrified from Croydon as far as Addiscombe in 1902
but the remainder of the route was closed, the tramway finally closed in 1927. Addiscombe
station was built with a turntable at its southern extremity bordering Addiscombe Road, the station
buildings on the western side at the end of a bay platform on the up side of
the single main platform. Initially services from Lewisham would split at New
Beckenham part of the train continuing on to Addiscombe the remainder propelled
around the connecting curve to Beckenham Junction. In 1899 traffic was
sufficient to warrant the re-building of the station and its approaches with
the provision of an island platform and one side platform creating three
platform faces. Sidings were also provided to serve a coal yard which by 1950
had lost much of its traffic despite having previously been a very busy place
freight services ceasing on 17th June
1968 though the sidings remained usable until November 1969. The turntable
was sited north of the station throat on the up side a long siding on the
approach to the station again on the up side having been provided in 1903. The
new station building was a single storey red-brick structure facing the road on
the site of the former turntable and was an early design of what was to become
the typical SER station. A 4 road carriage shed was added in 1925 on the down
side the access roads blending in to one just before it joined the main line. The
signal box for the station was located at the London end of the island
platforms though a little way beyond the ramp and in 1986 still controlled 38
levers though 11 were out of use at the height of operation around the station
it had controlled 48 levers. In the 1920's some consideration was given for the
operation of Metropolitan line Underground trains to be extended to the station
with gauge testing taking place on 17th February 1926. With platform
lengthening in 1957 platform 1 road was diverted behind the signal box having
past in front since the stations rebuilding in 1899. At the same time platform
3 (the side platform) was removed in 1957 to make room for an extra stabling
siding. By 1993 the booking office still had wooden floors and many of its SER
features the EPB class 215 stock replaced by class 465 units which could not be
berthed in the shed due to their length, the shuttle service to Elmer's end
operating from platform 2 platform 1 used for train berthing outside of peak
hours, from 1993 drivers no longer signed on at the shed though the berthing of
stock did continue until the station and its shed were closed on 31st
May 1997. In 1996 Addiscombe was the last remaining station to use mechanical signalling
within the London area but a
mysterious fire that year saw the end of signalling operations a pilot riding
with the driver on its run from Elmer's End, an operation that continued until
the lines closure for the construction of Croydon Tramlink in 1997. A
preservation group known as the South
Eastern & Chatham Railway Preservation Society (the South Eastern &
Chatham being the forerunner of the SER) made an attempt to preserve the site
as a museum but sadly failed though the society does have some exhibits from
the station.
Addiscombe Station soon after closure
Courtesy of Nick Catford
The Woodside and South Croydon Railway
(W&SCR) was an independent company formed as a joint venture between
the SER and the LBSCR its act of parliament granted on 6th August
1880 the intention of the SER to be able to reach the joint LBSCR/SER Oxted
line without running over LBSCR metals. The line formed an end on junction with
the Mid Kent line extension at Woodside and South Norwood Jct (Just south of
Woodside Station) running to Selsdon Road, South Croydon. This
latter station near the LBSCR main line where a junction with the joint Oxted line to Tunbridge Wells was
created, that line another joint venture between the SER and the LBSCR having
opened on in 1884, the SER hoping to run through trains to the south as an
alternative to its other routes. It had been intended that the line would open on
1st November 1882 but due to the lack of available land it was
delayed until the above date the Board of Trade inspection of the completed
railway taking place on the 21st October 1884 though the inspector
was not happy with the condition of the layout at Woodside and signalling along
the line seeing the proposed opening delayed to 1st December 1884. On
further inspection the Board were still not happy with the facilities at
Woodside for passengers changing trains for services towards South Croydon or Lewisham. This
was solved by the building of the station building on the road bridge and a
small shelter on the DOWN platform the line finally opening on 10th
August 1885, services initially provided by the SER until 31st December
1886 when the LBSCR took over. The two companies having come to an agreement
over operation each company providing services for one year from the 1st
January each year, the SER using steam railmotors while the LBSCR used Terrier
tanks on push pull trains with the occasional steam railmotor. Regular
performers in 1913 were SER No.5 and No.10 with the LBSCR using railmotors 1
& 2. The first six months of traffic on the line saw 48 first class, 259
second class and 8767 third class passenger journeys with a substantial loss in
earnings for the line in all but one year after that date. With the continued
loss in earnings closure of the line was considered in 1895 as at the time it
was losing over 1000 pounds per year. The line ran in a shallow cutting from
Woodside & South Norwood Junction to just before Addiscombe road where the
line ran on embankment to take it on to a bridge over the road along which ran
the tramway to South Norwood with another short
embankment before crossing over Bingham Road again by a
bridge. On this short embankment a station with wooden platforms and oil lamps was
opened on 1st September 1906 named Bingham Road originally to be
named Addiscombe Park only a couple of hundred yards from Addiscombe station. With
the end of passenger traffic as a war time economy in 1917 the station was
closed but with the re-opening of the line to passenger traffic and
electrification on 30th
September 1935. In 1927 the track was re-laid along the route though
the line did not get back its passenger services used instead as a path for
excursions to the south coast. It was not until planned electrification of the
line prior to 1935 that the track was once again re-laid with the provision of 3rd
rail conductor rails that the line once again saw local passenger traffic from 30th
September 1935 at which time improvements were made to Bingham Road station
with two new covered entrance stairways one on either side of the bridge. The
platforms were also provided with SR style canopies which remained in situ
until the lines closure. Access to Woodside & South Norwood Junction
controlled by a signal a short distance beyond the station on the UP side
before the line curved toward the junction.
Bingham Road Station
Continuing south
from Bingham Road the line
continued to run on embankment before passing under the Lower
Addiscombe Road and entering three tunnels
which have a collective length of 445 yards. The three tunnels though often referred
to under one name of Sandilands tunnel actually consist of Radcliffe Road
tunnel (157 yards), Park Hill Tunnel (122 Yards) and Coombe Road tunnel (166
Yards the former and latter of a similar design though the centre tunnel, Park
Hill is clearly different, the other two tunnels being elliptical in shape
while the centre tunnel is semi circular. The design difference is down to the
nature of the land that the tunnels were bored through, which was clay like in
nature and prone to subsidence, the centre section having been built as a deep
cutting, with the construction of the Whitgift Tunnel estate (Radcliffe Road)
in 1884 developers demanded a tunnel due to the instability of the surrounding
land due to landslips. Upon exiting the tunnel in deep cutting the line
approached Coombe Lane station which had opened with the line, the station
consisting of two side platforms approached from the road by separate access
roads, one on each side of the embankment which lifted the railway to a bridge
over Coombe Road, the line running on a high embankment on the opposite side of
the road. A signal Box was located at the station though it seems that it was
little used as it only controlled through traffic. Under the SR electrification
the station received an Odeon style booking office which was a simple single
storey brick building, though this was closed in 1981 due to the station clerk
being convicted of fraud. Once the line had crossed Coombe Road it continued on
High embankment to Spencer Road Halt which was a simple affair with two wooden
side platforms opened at the same time as Bingham Road a footbridge
provided to allow passengers to cross the line which at this point was still on
embankment. This halt had a shorter life than the other stations on the line
closing on 15th March 1915 though it remained in situ until 1931
though it was never re-opened, During the war years shut down of the line the
section near Bingham Road was used for the storage of wagons.
Coombe Road Station
Selsdon Road
station opened in 1885 with the Woodside line was the last station on the W&SCR
before it joined the joint line to Oxted
and was located just north of the junction with that line but was in close
proximity to the South Croydon station on the LBSCR Brighton line and clearly
visible from the northern end of the Oxted line platforms. In 1913 the station
consisted of four through platforms two for the Woodside line and two for the
Oxted line, a goods yard opened in 1884, chalk pit, oil tanks which had been
placed there by the Anglo American oil company in 1894 and cattle pens a subway
allowing access to the Woodside platforms. Traffic to and from the Woodside
line was controlled by Selsdon North signal box the UP and DOWN Woodside
platforms signalled for UP Woodside trains to allow easy reversal of shuttle
services. Selsdon South Junction signal box controlled movements to and from
the Oxted line, and in 1969 was known simply as Selsdon when it operated 22
levers the box closing on 1st April
1984. A curiosity of the station was that the Oxted platforms had LBSCR
signage and fittings while the Woodside platforms were typical SER
demonstrating its joint ownership. North box was closed on 22nd September 1935 with signalling
re-organisation, in an effort to attract more passengers to the station around
the same time the Road suffix was removed on 30th September of that
year most passengers for the area using South Croydon station due to
its higher frequency of traffic. Further signalling modifications took place on
the Oxted side in 1955 when electric colour light signalling was installed. For
many years just south of the Woodside line junction was a trailing southbound
crossover and a private siding on the UP line serving a roofing company in
1934, which received its raw materials by rail. In 1981 the Oxted line was
electrified to allow electric trains to access Sanderstead when engineering
works required diversion from the Brighton line so traffic
did not have to terminate at East Croydon. As part of the
war time economies that affected the Woodside line the station was closed on 1st
January 1917 though the Oxted platforms were re-opened on 1st March
1919 finally closing again on 14th June 1959 only three trains a day
having stopped per day up to that time. The goods yard remained open to general
freight until 17th
October 1968. The loss of the Woodside line in 1983 saw the
closure of the station which had only been served by Woodside trains since the
closure of the Oxted platforms, upon closure the station was the last gas lit
station in the London area. The oil
tanks remained in use until March 1993 a run round loop extending as far as Fairway Path Bridge just north of
the site of Spencer Road Halt. On 4th March 1963 BR announced the
closure of the Woodside line under the Rationalisation report (Beeching Report)
but due to heavy local opposition and influence from the then transport
minister whose constituency the line ran through, the decision was withdrawn, but
as is often the case if all those people that did complain did in fact use the
line then there would have been no threat of closure in the first place. The
last train finally ran over Woodside Junction towards Selsdon on the 13th May 1983 the line
officially closing on 16th May of that year the reason for the final
closure being the long term problem of too little patronage.
Looking down over Selsdon station
picture courtesy Transport of Delight
Today the line
between Elmers End and to Coombe Road is used by
modern trams on the Croydon Tramlink system though there has been quite a lot
of change to the original route to allow for the construction of the tramway,
though much evidence still remains. The former platform 1 at Elmers End is used
by trams as their terminus before journeying back to Croydon over what was once
the double track connection to the Lewisham line before running along the
alignment of the railway as far as Woodside & South Norwood Junction. The route
of the Addiscombe branch can still be followed from Blackhorse Lane tramstop, which
is situated just south of the Junction on the route of the former W&SCR
though whether this is private land I am not sure though there are no fences or
signs stating it is. The branch spur is now buried beneath a lot of spoil taken
from the embankments south of Blackhorse lane, the route of the line at the
Addiscombe end now forming the location of a housing development. Continuing
from Blackhorse Lane tramstop the
tramway continues along the former W&SCR under the railway bridge carrying
Blackhorse lane before descending to road level at Addiscombe tramstop, built
between Addiscombe Road and Bingham Road. To allow easy
access to the tramway it was decided that the embankments and bridges would be
removed creating an incline on either side of the tramstop where once the
railway continued straight across. After the tramway has returned to embankment
on approach to the Lower Addiscombe Road Bridge the tramway
passes under the bridge and swings to the west in a tight curve, where the
original line continued straight across to the tunnels. Today this area is
known as Sandilands Junction as it is where the tramway branches from
Addiscombe and New Addington join. The tramway still uses the three tunnels
before it arrives at the site of Coombe Road station upon which site a small
housing development was built about 1994-95 with the construction of the
tramway in 1997 several of these houses were knocked down under compulsory
purchase order. At this pint the tramway also veers away from the original
trackbed which continued over Coombe Road by a bridge. On
the southern side of Coombe Road the embankment to the site of Spencer Road
Halt before crossing over the still extant high bridge at Croham Road before
entering the locality of the former Selsdon station which has now been
demolished, though the site of the station can still be seen from passing
trains on the main line.