Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend
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The Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway (W&SC) was a short, relatively short-lived and unsuccessful railway in the London Borough of Croydon in London, England. Its site is now largely occupied by Tramlink.
Contents |
OS Grid Ref and map link TQ … |
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Woodside station | 347 671 | Junction with the Addiscombe branch of the South Eastern Railway. Now Woodside tram stop. Tramlink follows most of the route of the W&SC from here to Coombe Road. | |
343 669 | Blackhorse Lane tram stop | ||
Bingham Road halt | 342 662 | The railway was on an embankment here and crossed over Lower Addiscombe Road and Bingham Road on bridges. The embankment has been removed and Tramlink crosses both these roads at grade. The halt was just south of Bingham Road; Addiscombe tram stop is between Lower Addiscombe Road and Bingham Road. (Addiscombe railway station was about 500 m to the west - East India Way has been built on its site.) | |
341 657 | About 200 m east of Sandilands tram stop the Tramlink route from central Croydon divides and both branches follow the route of the W&SC. The northern line takes a sharp turn under Addiscombe Road to join the route of the railway to Woodside (and from there to Elmers End and Beckenham Junction). The other line turns southward into the Park Hill tunnels towards Coombe Road (and from there to New Addington). | ||
339 652 | Park Hill tunnels under Radcliffe Road and Deepdene Avenue | ||
Coombe Road station, originally Coombe Lane | 335 646 | Just south of here Tramlink takes a sharp turn east to diverge from the W&SC route, and reaches Lloyd Park tram stop after about 200 m. (Coombe Lane tram stop is about 2 km further east.) | |
Spencer Road Halt | 333 643 | Hidden in an alleyway between Spencer Road and Birdhurst Rise. | |
331 642 | The railway crossed Croham Road on a bridge, still extant. | ||
Selsdon station, originally Selsdon Road | 329 637 | Junction with the Oxted Line, the former Croydon, Oxted and East Grinstead Railway. The W&SC platforms are still intact, as is the spur that leads to the old goods yard and oil storage depot. |
The line opened jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and the South Eastern Railway (SER). Although the intention had been to begin train services in 1882, completion was delayed until August 1885 for various reasons, including bad weather disrupting construction. Success was limited even at the beginning, and following a closure proposal as early as 1895 railmotors were introduced in 1905 in an attempt to improve efficiency and counteract competition from trams and buses. (See a picture of one of the railmotors here.) At this time the two halts were opened: although Spencer Road met with little success, Bingham Road attracted more custom with its main-road location and from passengers interchanging with trams and buses; it was rebuilt as a full station (see below).
The first official closure came in 1917, although services had been suspended for the most part since 1915, to save money and resources for the war effort. It was still possible for diverted trains and excursions or other special services to use the line.
Major changes came in 1935:
The electric service commenced on 30 September 1935, but the decline towards final closure began soon afterwards:
This table shows the up service three years before closure:[1]
Sanderstead | Selsdon | Coombe Road | Bingham Road | Woodside | Elmers End |
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Morning Peak | |||||
06:45 | 06:47 | 06:49 | 06:51 | 06:53 | 06:56 |
07:15 | 07:17 | 07:19 | 07:21 | 07:23 | 07:26 |
07:32 | 07:37 | 07:39 | 07:41 | 07:43 | 07:46 |
07:53 | 07:57 | 07:59 | 08:01 | 08:03 | 08:06 |
08:14 | 08:17 | 08:19 | 08:21 | 08:23 | 08:26 |
08:32 | 08:37 | 08:39 | 08:41 | 08:43 | 08:46 |
— | 08:57 | 08:59 | 09:01 | 09:03 | 09:06 |
09:15 | 09:17 | 09:19 | 09:21 | 09:23 | 09:26 |
09:48 | 09:50 | 09:52 | 09:54 | 09:57 | 10:00 |
Evening Peak | |||||
16:15 | 16:17 | 16:19 | 16:21 | 16:23 | 16:26 |
16:31 | 16:37 | 16:39 | 16:41 | 16:43 | 16:46 |
16:52 | 16:57 | 16:59 | 17:01 | 17:03 | 17:06 |
17:12 | 17:17 | 17:19 | 17:21 | 17:23 | 17:26 |
— | 17:37 | 17:39 | 17:41 | 17:43 | 17:46 |
17:55 | 17:57 | 17:59 | 18:01 | 18:03 | 18:06 |
18:15 | 18:17 | 18:19 | 18:21 | 18:23 | 18:26 |
18:37 | 18:39 | 18:41 | 18:43 | 18:45 | 18:48 |
18:50 | 18:52 | — | — | — | 18:59 |
19:15 | 19:17 | 19:19 | 19:22 | 19:24 | 19:27 |
Two trains per day started from and terminated at Selsdon rather than Sanderstead because of the lack of train paths on the section shared with the Oxted Line.