West Croydon to Wimbledon

[frodshamfella]

Unfortunately I never got to ride on this line, particularly during the days of Southern Region slam doors. Has anyone any memories of it ? What were the stations like, passenger usage and service available.

The nearest I got to in the area was Elmers end to Adiscombe and once to Sanderstead before it ended.

 

[steamybrian]

Travelled over the line many, many times when I was living in Croydon.
I first started travelling on it during the 1960s when the service frequency was every 30 minutes worked by two train sets each formed of 2 EPB which passed each other at the midway point of Mitcham Junction.
It had the feel of a country branch line with the exchange of single line tokens at signal boxes and rural stations such as Beddington Lane and Mitcham Junction.
In the last few years the stations became very run down and desolate.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Used it a fair bit in the final years. It was quiet, and most of the stations had an air of benign neglect (but no more - not close to dereliction!) about them. It was a perfectly pleasant line to travel on (unlike some in South London, arguably), but did seem slightly anachronistic - odd, given that it linked two important centres together.

 

[frodshamfella]

Travelled over the line many, many times when I was living in Croydon.
I first started travelling on it during the 1960s when the service frequency was every 30 minutes worked by two train sets each formed of 2 EPB which passed each other at the midway point of Mitcham Junction.
It had the feel of a country branch line with the exchange of single line tokens at signal boxes and rural stations such as Beddington Lane and Mitcham Junction.
In the last few years the stations became very run down and desolate.

Yes to me it felt like a country branch, wish I went on it back then.

 

[steamybrian]

Yes to me it felt like a country branch, wish I went on it back then.

Some more info..
It survived proposed closure in the mid 1970s- Closure notices were published but too many objections so proposal was scrapped.
Passenger useage- Off peak when I used it on average about 20 or 30 passengers per train got on at each end which meant plenty of room for everyone in two coaches. Few passengers used Beddington Lane (rural location) or Morden Road (frequent bus and tube nearby). The stations at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane and possible Mitcham were one of the last locations in the country where you purchased tickets from the signal box.

 

[Busaholic]

Some more info..
It survived proposed closure in the mid 1970s- Closure notices were published but too many objections so proposal was scrapped.
Passenger useage- Off peak when I used it on average about 20 or 30 passengers per train got on at each end which meant plenty of room for everyone in two coaches. Few passengers used Beddington Lane (rural location) or Morden Road (frequent bus and tube nearby). The stations at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane and possible Mitcham were one of the last locations in the country where you purchased tickets from the signal box.

Wasn't it a 45 minute interval service in the years before closure? Have to admit I never used it, the one time I was tempted at Wimbledon I'd just missed a train, so changed my mind.

 

[30907]

Wasn't it a 45 minute interval service in the years before closure? Have to admit I never used it, the one time I was tempted at Wimbledon I'd just missed a train, so changed my mind.

It was - whereas in the 50s/60s the peak service was every 20min, with very tight turnrounds at both ends.

There was a lower quadrant starter at Mitcham towards Wimbledon - I think this went when the road bridge required propping up and the double line was cut back towards Mitcham Jn.

AFAIK the crossing loop at Waddon Marsh wasn't used in anger, as it were - but there was a separate parallel goods line into the 70s.

 

[frodshamfella]

Some more info..
It survived proposed closure in the mid 1970s- Closure notices were published but too many objections so proposal was scrapped.
Passenger useage- Off peak when I used it on average about 20 or 30 passengers per train got on at each end which meant plenty of room for everyone in two coaches. Few passengers used Beddington Lane (rural location) or Morden Road (frequent bus and tube nearby). The stations at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane and possible Mitcham were one of the last locations in the country where you purchased tickets from the signal box.

Wow, from signal box, never heard of that. Did Waddon Marsh, have a Marsh ?

 

[DerekC]

Wow, from signal box, never heard of that. Did Waddon Marsh, have a Marsh ?

It did. And a large gas works and a power station! A bit like Brimsdown in the Lea Valley.

 

[alf]

Wow, from signal box, never heard of that. Did Waddon Marsh, have a Marsh ?

Yes, Waddon Marsh, now a pond in a Croydon park, is one of the three sources of the river Wandle.
The other two sources, also very close to railway stations, are Carshalton & Waddon ponds. All three are fed by springs at the junction of London Clay & North Downs Chalk.
The river Wandle joins the Thames at Wandsworth, probably giving it its name.
The Wandle & parts of the Wimbledon West Croydon line are close to the alignment of what is by far the South East’s earliest railway..The Surrey Iron Railway.

You can walk from Waddon Station all downhill beside the Wandle to the Thames & then go home from Wandsworth Town station.
An interesting 3 hour walk with lots of railway lines intersecting it & passing the huge Wandle riverside transformer station that feeds the Waterloo line on the country side of Earlsfield station.

You cross the tram route on the old Wimbledon West Croydon line near Morden Road sto using rural foot crossing with trams going at top speed 70kph. The old 2EPB units, including EPBs from Newcastle’s de electrified third rail system reached 55 mph at this crossing in the 1970s. Progress?

 

[Rescars]

It did. And a large gas works and a power station! A bit like Brimsdown in the Lea Valley.

And, quite a while ago, the gas works had a Sentinel shunter.

In my youth I recall chatting to the signalman through the ticket window at Beddington Lane. The box contained some remarkable LBSC era single line electric staff instruments.

The last time I travelled the line before the line was converted was on a non-stop special working between Mitcham Junction and West Croydon! I was on a Sutton-bound train which got held at signals just outside Sutton because the points at the station had failed. After some delay, this was sorted out by running back (quickly) wrong line to Mitcham Junction, then a reversal and away we went to West Croydon. Then a change for the next down train for Sutton via Wallington. Sadly I have no record of exactly when this happened or the units involved.

 

[Lucan]

I knew the line in the 1970s, when it was worked by a pair of 2EPBs. It had its own bay at West Croydon (Plat 2?) and from there I think there was double track as far as sidings near Waddon Marsh for a former gasworks and power station. There was also double track from Mitcham Junction (briefly sharing the main line to Sutton etc through the station), through Mitcham Station, and as far as its goods yard on the Wimbledon side of the station. There was a final double stretch into Wimbledon from Merton Park, where the line from Tooting (by then shortened to the Triang factory for freight) joined in. The two trains in service would pass anywhere between Mitcham Junction and Mitcham. At Wimbledon they usually used Platform 10, then shared with the Tooting-Wimbledon-Sutton down line. Being an ex-LBSC line, Wimbledon was Down despite being north-west of Croydon, closer to London.

Mitcham Junction is more-or less surrounded by Mitcham Common and for me and most people only useful as an interchange with the Sutton Line. There was/is a nearby golf course.

I am not sure where the single line tokens were handled, other than at Mitcham signal box (at the Down end of the Down platform) until the line here was singled back a few hundred yards in the Croydon direction, leaving Mitcham's Up platform disused. This was because a retaining wall just past the station and the road over-bridge, in the Wimbledon direction, had begun to collapse and needed heavy bracing placed in the Up 4ft way - still there today I believe with the tram lines inter-laced past them.

Mitcham was the principal intermediate station with a sizeable goods yard that closed in the 1960s. The passenger station was entered from the road via a tunnel-like passage through the centre of a large Georgian house. I believe it was once a merchant's house and the passage was for carts to access a yard behind. At the time I knew, the railway seemed to own the house but rented it as flats. The station offices and booking window were behind the house in a low building with creaking floorboards, and led out to the upper level of the footbridge with steps down to the two platforms.

The line is in a shallow cutting at Mitcham, passing under London Road. From Croydon to Mitcham the LBSC had mostly built it on the trackbed of the old horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway. The SIR crossed London Road Mitcham with a level crossing but the LBSC seem to have raised the road and lowered the railway here to make the bridge - and the problematic retaining wall. The SIR turned away northwards to Wandsworth about where the retaining wall ends.

Merton Park seemed to attract a fair amount of passengers, being near a school, and in a residential and minor shopping area. Its buildings and a platform were on the once double-track curving line to Tooting, and a triangular platform was between that and the straight single Croydon-Wimbledon line. Passengers for the latter (which was all of them by long before 1970) walked down the platform end-ramps and across the Tooting line on a board crossing. H&S would have a fit these days; I believe the Tooting line only had one freight train per week by then. After the Triang freight ceased, part of the Tooting line between the platforms was filled in with rubble and earth, and a path made over it.

The other stations on the line were virtually or actually halts.

Two pictures showing Mitcham Station around 1970. One is a view from across London Road, showing the entrance passageway through the centre of a Georgian house, and the other is of the ticket office exterior viewed from the footbridge and also showing the rear of the Georgian house.

 

[steamybrian]

Wow, from signal box, never heard of that. Did Waddon Marsh, have a Marsh ?

Unsure how Waddon Marsh got his name.
In answer to Busaholic in later years there was a 45 minute interval service using one unit with short turn round times.
In answer to 30907 the passing loop at Waddon Marsh was used occasionally for special services such as deicing or railhead cleaning trains but was removed around the time the line was resignalled and controlled from Victoria ASC..

To answer Lucan the line was double track from West Croydon to just short of Beddington Lane. One track was electrified and one non-electrified goods line.
There were signal boxes at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane, Mitcham Junction , Mitcham and Merton Park where tokens were exchanged. At West Croydon there must have been a token release on the platform for train crews.

 

[MotCO]

I knew the line in the 1970s, when it was worked by a pair of 2EPBs. It had its own bay at West Croydon (Plat 2?) and from there I think there was double track as far as sidings near Waddon Marsh for a former gasworks and power station. There was also double track from Mitcham Junction (briefly sharing the main line to Sutton etc through the station), through Mitcham Station, and as far as its goods yard on the Wimbledon side of the station. There was a final double stretch into Wimbledon from Merton Park, where the line from Tooting (by then shortened to the Triang factory for freight) joined in. The two trains in service would pass anywhere between Mitcham Junction and Mitcham. At Wimbledon they usually used Platform 10, then shared with the Tooting-Wimbledon-Sutton down line. Being an ex-LBSC line, Wimbledon was Down despite being north-west of Croydon, closer to London.

Mitcham Junction is more-or less surrounded by Mitcham Common and for me and most people only useful as an interchange with the Sutton Line. There was/is a nearby golf course.

I am not sure where the single line tokens were handled, other than at Mitcham signal box (at the Down end of the Down platform) until the line here was singled back a few hundred yards in the Croydon direction, leaving Mitcham's Up platform disused. This was because a retaining wall just past the station and the road over-bridge, in the Wimbledon direction, had begun to collapse and needed heavy bracing placed in the Up 4ft way - still there today I believe with the tram lines inter-laced past them.

Mitcham was the principal intermediate station with a sizeable goods yard that closed in the 1960s. The passenger station was entered from the road via a tunnel-like passage through the centre of a large Georgian house. I believe it was once a merchant's house and the passage was for carts to access a yard behind. At the time I knew, the railway seemed to own the house but rented it as flats. The station offices and booking window were behind the house in a low building with creaking floorboards, and led out to the upper level of the footbridge with steps down to the two platforms.

The line is in a shallow cutting at Mitcham, passing under London Road. From Croydon to Mitcham the LBSC had mostly built it on the trackbed of the old horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway. The SIR crossed London Road Mitcham with a level crossing but the LBSC seem to have raised the road and lowered the railway here to make the bridge - and the problematic retaining wall. The SIR turned away northwards to Wandsworth about where the retaining wall ends.

Merton Park seemed to attract a fair amount of passengers, being near a school, and in a residential and minor shopping area. Its buildings and a platform were on the once double-track curving line to Tooting, and a triangular platform was between that and the straight single Croydon-Wimbledon line. Passengers for the latter (which was all of them by long before 1970) walked down the platform end-ramps and across the Tooting line on a board crossing. H&S would have a fit these days; I believe the Tooting line only had one freight train per week by then. After the Triang freight ceased, part of the Tooting line between the platforms was filled in with rubble and earth, and a path made over it.

The other stations on the line were virtually or actually halts.

Two pictures showing Mitcham Station around 1970. One is a view from across London Road, showing the entrance passageway through the centre of a Georgian house, and the other is of the ticket office exterior viewed from the footbridge and also showing the rear of the Georgian house.

View attachment 146220



View attachment 146219

Fascinating photos. Today it looks like this:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

The entrance to the Mitcham Park tram station is across the road bridge and down Tramway Path.

The old station is now 'Station Court', and looks like flats.

 

[Lucan]

The entrance to the Mitcham Park tram station is across the road bridge and down Tramway Path.

I have a small book on the Surrey Iron Railway. It contains a slightly obscure diagram of that railway's Mitcham goods station (the SIR was goods only of course) which seems to be no more than a loop and a siding on the south side of the line. The interesting thing is that it appears to be in the same place as the present day tram stop.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

And, quite a while ago, the gas works had a Sentinel shunter.

Back in the 70's when I became interested in such things, Waddon Marsh (Croydon B Power station) had three standard gauge loco's, a RSH/WB 8367 (Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn/Bagnall) 0-4-0 diesel named 'Hengist' now long gone, whilst the other two loco's there then are listed as still around in the latest Industrial Railway Society volume I have (2019), these being EEV (English Electric) D1122, an 0-4-0 diesel, at Siemens Ardwick depot, Manchester and named 'Lancelot' and a Pecket 0-4-0 ST (2103) listed as being at the Middleton Railway Trust. This was as of four years ago now, so may be out of date?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

On occassion - trains would stop mid section and a pair of plastic buckets - handily stored in the brake van would be used to collect up golf balls - semi/urban foraging.

 

[paul1609]

Some more info..
It survived proposed closure in the mid 1970s- Closure notices were published but too many objections so proposal was scrapped.
Passenger useage- Off peak when I used it on average about 20 or 30 passengers per train got on at each end which meant plenty of room for everyone in two coaches. Few passengers used Beddington Lane (rural location) or Morden Road (frequent bus and tube nearby). The stations at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane and possible Mitcham were one of the last locations in the country where you purchased tickets from the signal box.

Buying tickets from the signalbox was a common thing on the SR at rural stations. I think several Arun Valley Stations survived for a long time after West Croydon to Wimbledon. Some even made it in to privatisation. I think the last one was Littlehaven which closed in 2012 when the crossing transferred to three bridges. https://sremg.org.uk/location/littlehaven-mob.shtml

 

[Rescars]

Back in the 70's when I became interested in such things, Waddon Marsh (Croydon B Power station) had three standard gauge loco's, a RSH/WB 8367 (Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn/Bagnall) 0-4-0 diesel named 'Hengist' now long gone, whilst the other two loco's there then are listed as still around in the latest Industrial Railway Society volume I have (2019), these being EEV (English Electric) D1122, an 0-4-0 diesel, at Siemens Ardwick depot, Manchester and named 'Lancelot' and a Pecket 0-4-0 ST (2103) listed as being at the Middleton Railway Trust. This was as of four years ago now, so may be out of date?

Some locos on the gas works stock list were preserved. The Sentinel "Joyce" went to Bressingham and a Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST "Moss Bay" went to Shugborough. There was also an Aveling and Porter geared compound "Allen Lambert", which was sadly scrapped, but its name and works plates apparently went to Towyn. I wonder what has happened to these survivors.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

I was too young to remember the line, but I always wanted to see it. The trams are great but nothing like the soul of an actual railway. Still I'm sure if I was a Croydon resident in 1996 I'd be glad to see the back of the line to make way for the trams

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I was too young to remember the line, but I always wanted to see it. The trams are great but nothing like the soul of an actual railway. Still I'm sure if I was a Croydon resident in 1996 I'd be glad to see the back of the line to make way for the trams

It was down to a one unit working at one time - giving a rough 45 min frequency.

Saw the last train off - a packed 456 - we had planned to put some traditional detonators down as a valedictory salute - but time was against us ,so the moment was passed. A late start on the very last train would have been not welcomed.

 

[Somewhere]

Unsure how Waddon Marsh got his name.
In answer to Busaholic in later years there was a 45 minute interval service using one unit with short turn round times.
In answer to 30907 the passing loop at Waddon Marsh was used occasionally for special services such as deicing or railhead cleaning trains but was removed around the time the line was resignalled and controlled from Victoria ASC..

To answer Lucan the line was double track from West Croydon to just short of Beddington Lane. One track was electrified and one non-electrified goods line.
There were signal boxes at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane, Mitcham Junction , Mitcham and Merton Park where tokens were exchanged. At West Croydon there must have been a token release on the platform for train crews.

It was all marshland. That's how it got its name

 

[Cricketer8for9]

The railway may have had soul; the trams have passengers. The latter are more valuable. I used the old service a few times 2EPB and later class 456. Never full. Trams often are.

 

[Mike Machin]

I remember a very atmospheric account of a journey on the line sometime before WW2 was published in I think it was the May 1972 edition of Railway World. As a thirteen year-old I remember reading it and the author somehow vividly captured my imagination with his description of a way of life which even in 1972, seemed like another age. I think the article was titled 'The Two Trains' referring to the fact that they were 2-car trains (2-NOLs?) and in the 1930s they carried the headcode 2.

My copy of the Magazine disappeared decades ago, but I seem to remember it had a picture of the electric Brighton Belle on the cover - I think because that train made its last run in May 1972.

 

[Deepgreen]

A quaint/depressing backwater, depending on taste! I suspect I was one of very few to use it to visit the IKEA at Waddon! Here are a few shots of mine:

Waddon Marsh HR Scan

Ikea's 'chimneys' loom over Waddon as a train departs in around 1994.

flic.kr

Wimbledon Train At West Croydon HR Scan

Explore Deepgreen2009's 19076 photos on Flickr!

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Waddon Marsh Station HR Scan

Explore Deepgreen2009's 19076 photos on Flickr!

flic.kr

456021 At West Croydon HR Scan

1994 - the erstwhile Wimbledon branch, now part of the tram system. This platform has gone now, having been extended outwards to lengthen the through platform.

flic.kr

6254 At Wimbledon HR Scan

The erstwhile Wimbledon to West Croydon route.

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Waddon Marsh Halt HR scan

Explore Deepgreen2009's 19076 photos on Flickr!

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6264 at Waddon Marsh HR scan

Headcode 1 - the southern's premier route(1?). Wimbledon to West Croydon, approaching Waddon Marsh. The power station used to have a large coal traffic flow, but is now reduced to chimneys marking the location of IKEA!

flic.kr

5664 at Wimbledon HR scan

A quiet moment for the driver of the Wimbledon to West Croydon train, as he sits on the running board at Wimbledon's platform 10. This is now the Tramlink platform, with the remaining stub at the London end a four car bay of little real use.

flic.kr

Unsure how Waddon Marsh got his name.
In answer to Busaholic in later years there was a 45 minute interval service using one unit with short turn round times.
In answer to 30907 the passing loop at Waddon Marsh was used occasionally for special services such as deicing or railhead cleaning trains but was removed around the time the line was resignalled and controlled from Victoria ASC..

To answer Lucan the line was double track from West Croydon to just short of Beddington Lane. One track was electrified and one non-electrified goods line.
There were signal boxes at Waddon Marsh, Beddington Lane, Mitcham Junction , Mitcham and Merton Park where tokens were exchanged. At West Croydon there must have been a token release on the platform for train crews.

I think it was owing to the adjacent large area of marsh...

 

[Loppylugs]

There is a superb book on this subject called "Wimbledon to Beckenham before tramlink". It shows before and after pictures along the whole route. It was written by John C. Gillham and published in 2001 by Middleton Press in the London Suburban Railway series. Copies are still available from transport bookshops.
Wimbledon was my hometown, so I have a great interest in the area. Only wish I could afford to live there now!!

 

[contrex]

It did. And a large gas works and a power station! A bit like Brimsdown in the Lea Valley.

I used to lean out of the window and smell the gas works. Lots of sidings. In 1964 I was 12 and used to go from West Norwood to North Dulwich (to school) and back. had a season. In those days with hardly any travelling grippers I could pretty well go anywhere as long as I exited at North Dulwich, Tulse Hill, or West Norwood. My school had Saturday morning school so after that I would roam about all afternoon. Wimbledon-West Croydon was a favourite.

 

[steamybrian]

One oddity (possibly unique on BR) was at Merton Park station.
The main station building (including the ticket office) was situated on a disused platform (even after track was lifted).
It was on the former up Tooting line platform - closed to passengers in 1929. The down platform was disused but had track used by the daily goods train until into the 1970s. Even after its abandonment a walkway was constructed across the trackbed to reach the Mitcham line platform. The ticket office remained in use until line closure in 1997.

I am aware that at Uckfield old station after singling in 1990 that station building was the disused down platform when trains used the up platform. This only lasted a year until closure in 1991 and the new station was opened.

 

[yeti]

In the 1990's I advised a friend to use the service for her commute from Surbiton to Croydon. She gave up on it quite quickly because of cancellations and went back to changing at Clapham Junction.

 

[1Q18]

Some locos on the gas works stock list were preserved. The Sentinel "Joyce" went to Bressingham and a Kerr Stuart 0-4-0ST "Moss Bay" went to Shugborough. There was also an Aveling and Porter geared compound "Allen Lambert", which was sadly scrapped, but its name and works plates apparently went to Towyn. I wonder what has happened to these survivors.

The Sentinel is fully restored and operational at Midsomer Norton station on the former Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, masquerading as the scrapped LMS no. 7109. The Kerr Stuart is on static display at the Foxfield Railway, near it’s Stoke-on-Trent birthplace.