Notes: Mitcham was one of the two intermediate stations that opened with the line utilising an existing house on the east side of London Road as it's entrance building. This building dates from the late 18th or early 19th century and is said to have been used as office by the Surrey Iron Railway although there is co verification of this.

1. Wimbledon To West Croydon Tram Stops
2. Wimbledon To West Croydon Sussex
3. Wimbledon To West Croydon Line

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The station originally had a single platform on the down side of the line. Although the line was single throughout an additional track was laid between Mitcham Junction and the goods yards west of Mitcham which opened with the line and was the only public goods depot on the line. Originally sidings were provided on the south side of the line but later further sidings were added

on the north side serving a coal yard a civil engineers' depot and the ballast pit.This was initially for freight only and was known as the 'ballast siding' running to a ballast pit near the goods station.

In time it was decided to upgrade this siding to a second passenger line and a second platform was added. New wooden buildings were provided on both platforms and a footbridge was provided at the west end of the station. The main booking office was attached to the adapted house but there was second smaller booking office at an entrance in London Road that led onto the original platform, this was taken out of use when the footbridge was built.

The original 14 lever signalbox was located at the west end of the Croydon platform but this was replaced by a new 24 lever box on the opposite side of the line in 1891. In 1929 further sidings were laid to the east of the station on the south side of the line and extended southward to the St. Helier Estate which was under construction at this time. The siding was lifted on completion of the St' Helier Estate but the southern end remained in use for some years after the estate was completed. The goods depot was closed on 1st May 1967.

The wooden buildings on the down side of the line survived into the early 1970's and were eventually replaced by a modern shelter. In 1971 there was a landslip on the west side of London Road bridge which cut the double section of track back to the station. The up platform was taken out of use and the buildings demolished. The signalbox closed on 23rd May 1982 and was demolished shortly afterwards. In November 1988 the footbridge was dismantled and re-erected at Wandsworth Road where it replaced an unsafe

subway. In 1989 a new brick booking office was erected on the platform accessed from stairs up to a new opening on the bridge parapet. this was only staffed during morning peak hours. The original entrance building was closed at this time and the listed building has since been renovated for residential use and a second similar building erected at the rear of the courtyard. the estate is called Station Court.

After closure in 1997 the track was lifted in c.June 1998 and the platform demolished in August that year. The partly buried and overgrown remains of the former Croydon platform can still be seen. The new Mitch tram stop opened on 30th May 2000.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WIMBLEDON - WEST CROYDON LINE
Before the coming of the railways the River Wandle was very heavily industrialised with 38 water mills and factories along its short length between Wandsworth and Croydon. As the river was not navigable, the mill owners required a means of transport for their goods so the Surrey Iron Railway was built between Wandsworth and Croydon. This was the earliest public railway in the London area and the first railway to receive parliamentary sanction in 1801. The 4' gauge double track horse drawn iron plateway was built by William Jessop and opened on 26th July 1803. The line was later extended south as the Croydon Merstham and Godstone Railway terminating at underground stone quarries at Merstham.

The line was never profitable as much of the traffic from Croydon used the Croydon Canal which opened in 1809 terminating at a basin adjacent to the Surrey Iron Railway at what is now West Croydon station. After 1825, the company paid no dividend. Early in 1844 there was a proposal by the London and Brighton to use the former track bed of the Surrey Iron

Railway and the CM & GR to reach a new terminus at Waterloo Bridge from its existing Brighton line at Purley and in August that year the London & South Western Railway took an option to buy the SIR track bed but neither scheme was proceeded with and the SIR was eventually dissolved on 3rd August 1846 and the track bed reverted to agricultural use.
It wasn't long before there were further proposals promoted by local interests. One of these was the Mitcham & South Western Junction Railway running from Mitcham Green to the LSWR at Earlsfield. This was opposed by the LSWR but eventually an independent scheme to build a line from Wimbledon to Croydon was approved with the LSWR leasing the line between Wimbledon and Mitcham and the LBSCR leasing the remainder to a junction with its own line at West Croydon. The LSWR eventually pulled out of the scheme and the Wimbledon & Croydon Railway received its act in 1853 with a provision for working arrangements with the LSWR.
The line was built by local Mitcham engineer George Parker Bidder and after two postponements to comply with Board of Trade requirements the line opened on 20 October 1855 with two intermediate stations at Mitcham and Beddington. Although sufficient land had been purchased for double track only single track was laid. The line followed the course of the Surrey Iron Railway from a point just west of Mitcham station to the site of the later Waddon Marsh Halt. There were no major engineering works with the line running on the level for much of its length requiring level crossings over seven public roads. A third intermediate station at Morden opened in March 1857

In a further Act in 1856 the LBSCR secured a 21-year lease to operate the line with authorisation to raise capital to double the track if required. However in 1857 with the prospect of LB & SCR trains running into Wimbledon the LSWR revived their interest and obtained Parliamentary authority in 1857 for joint operation securing the Wimbledon—Mitcham section

for the remainder of the lease on the understanding that the Brighton could continue to work into Wimbledon. In 1862 a joint committee was set up to manage the line which was later purchased outright from the W & CR by the LB & SCR on 1st January 1866. The LSWR were offered a half share in the venture but declined only retaining an interested in the section shared with their proposed Wimbledon - Tooting route.

On 1st October 1868, the LB & SCR opened their line from Peckham Rye to Sutton, this cut across Mitcham Common turning sharply to join the W & CR where a new shared station at Mitcham Junction was opened, beyond the station the new line diverged to the south and on towards Sutton.
The Tooting Merton and Wimbledon Railway also opened on 1st October 1868 from Streatham Junction to Wimbledon, which was approached from two directions by lines diverging at Tooting Junction, one coming into the town from the north-east, the other from the south-east after forming a junction with the Wimbledon & Croydon at Merton. A station called Lower Merton was opened at the junction but this initially only had platforms on the Tooting line although a third platform was later added on the Croydon line opening on 1st November 1870.
The Croydon line saw few changes before World War I with 12 trains a day in each direction and one railmotor working. The line between Mitcham and Mitcham Junction had been doubled in March 1879, probably to facilitate the working of goods trains to and from the yard at Mitcham which was the only public goods depot on the line. Passenger traffic between Wimbledon and Croydon was very light, Merton Park was the only station that saw even a small increase in residential travel as the area was developed. There was virtually no other housing development along the line before 1914.

Freight traffic gradually assumed more importance between Mitcham and Croydon were a number of sidings were built of which the most noteworthy was the ‘Waddon Marsh New Siding’ serving Waddon Flour Mills on the north bank of the Wandle, a single line of almost a mile running due south from the Croydon end of Beddington Lane. Near this junction, sidings served gravel pits on both sides of the line, those on the south later rearranged for the British Portland Cement Works, the others for a permanent way depot. Another siding, on the north side, a little nearer Croydon entered a brewery and was followed by another into the Croydon Gas, Commercial & Coke Company’s works at Waddon Marsh, west of the line. After 1920, these works expanded to the east side, requiring another set of sidings. Also on that side was Croydon Power Station, rail-served from about 1925 and with its own internal system. In 1948—50 a second and very large power station (Croydon B) was built on the west side of the W & CR north of the gasworks. This too had a large complex of sidings

During WW1 push-and-pull sets of two side-gangway coaches and Stroudley 0-4-2T were introduced as a wartime economy from 1 November 1918. These were manned by conductor guards who issued tickets to those boarding at what were now unstaffed halts at Merton Park (formerly Lower Merton), Morden and Beddington Lane. The booking office at Merton Park

reopened in 1923 but Beddington Lane and Morden Road remained unstaffed.
With the opening of the Northern Line extension to Morden on 13th September 1926 passenger revenue form Merton Park, Morden Road (formerly Morden) and Mitcham declined rapidly although through journeys continued to attract a steady patronage. In 1927 there were 14 push-and-pull workings between Wimbledon and West Croydon, one extended to Crystal Palace Low Level, two from Wimbledon to Sutton via Mitcham Junction, and another from Mitcham to Crystal Palace Low Level; a similar service worked down. The line maintained healthy freight traffic, especially around Croydon and Waddon Marsh.In 1930 during the building of the London County Council's 825-acre St. Helier housing estate the contractors, laid an extensive temporary network of flat-bottom rails on cinder ballast to carry materials as required to the building sites, this being connected to the W&CR through a siding at Mitcham goods yard. This rail network which included 30ft bridge over the River Wandle was operated by six locomotives, shedded at a depot about a mile south of Mitcham. It was one of the last examples in southern England of a major public works contract relying on rail-delivered materials which were carried to site over specially-laid lines.

The W&CR also handled the Southern’s own needs for its permanent way depot on the north side of the line near Beddington Lane and for the civil engineer’s depot next to the goods yard at Mitcham.

Electrification of the Southern's suburban railway network was nearing completion by 1928 and approval was given for electrification of the W & CR on 7th July that year. With the increased frequency of trains after electrification of the line the Southern had to consider how this would affect the handling of the important freight traffic.The existing five booked freight workings between West Croydon and Mitcham (two extended to Wimbledon) and one or two daily as far as Waddon Marsh would have to be moved to the night hours to make room for the proposed electric service. As such a change would incur extra costs and inconvenience to customers; it was proposed to construct another track between Beddington Lane and West Croydon to allow daytime freight working to continue. For much of its length this involved joining up already existing sidings to create the new line.

As no corridor electric stock was available for conductor-guard operation, 2-car electric sets were made up from redundant side-gangway first class trailers from the LBSCR’s 1909 overhead stock built for the South London line electrification. After conversion and refurbishment at Peckham Rye works into two car multiple units, they were ready to start work on the newly electrified line on 6 July 1930, operating every 20 minutes at peak times, otherwise half-hourly, seven days a week, and sharing the reconstructed platforms 9 and 10 at Wimbledon with the Wimbledon and Sutton service.

On the opening day of electric service, a new halt was added at Waddon Marsh, attached to the south end of the existing signal box, served by a passing loop. Traversing the whole length in just over 16 minutes, the electric trains passed each other on the double track between Mitcham and Mitcham Junction.

Although there were two or three patches of new housing between Morden Road and Mitcham by the end of the 1930s, the rural atmosphere was preserved when the extensive area of Morden Hall Park came under the care of the National Trust. From Mitcham to the Junction many small houses were built between 1927 and 1939 and the general residential growth of

the Mitcham area required some improvement to the goods yard in 1936. At Beddington Lane there was a small cluster of new housing close to the station.

The mixed land uses and street transport competition stunted the growth of passenger traffic that normally accompanied suburban electrification. The 2-car sets continued to provide ample accommodation for the traffic offering right through to the 1950’s, when they reached the end of their useful life. In 1954 they gave way to BR 2EPB 2-car sets which brought an end to the conductor-guard operation and ticket issuing arrangements were provided at Morden Road while passengers using Waddon Marsh and Beddington Lane were able to buy tickets from the signalmen.

Freight traffic was still quite heavy in the mid-fifties but by the 60's this was in decline. Mitcham yard closed, from 1 May 1967. After the Croydon gasworks closed, there remained until 1973 two or three daily trips bringing coal from Betteshanger Colliery in Kent to Croydon B power station, but in that year a switch was made to Durham coal brought by coastal vessels to Kings-north (Kent) where it was loaded into lorry loads and taken over congested urban roads to Croydon. This left gas oil for the power station’s auxiliary plant as the only regular freight movement.

The W&CR was early on the list for closure, coming up for the first time in 1951 when it was decided that with freight still important, passenger abandonment did not make much sense, as signaling could not be much reduced so withdrawal of the passenger service would make little difference to operating costs. Instead, there followed a series of economy cuts, starting with Sunday

closure of Morden Road from 13 September 1964. From 20 June 1965 Sunday trains were withdrawn over the whole line and from 7 November 1966 Morden Road was also closed on Saturdays. This last date also saw curtailment of evening service with last trains brought back to around 7.45pm departures each end instead of 10.45pm. First trains now started at around 7.15am, but frequency remained half-hourly through the shorter day, still with some extras at peak hours (the last of these were eventually withdrawn in May 1971).

In common with others on the Southern Region, the halts lost this description in the timetables operative from 5 May 1969. With the drastic reduction in freight, it became possible to work the separate goods line between West Croydon and Beddington as a siding from West Croydon. In 1971 a land slip on the Wimbledon side of the road bridge at Mitcham station resulted in the double track section being cut back to the station and the up platform was taken out of use. BR once again considered closure that year but despite declining passenger numbers there was strong opposition and the line was reprieved after a public enquiry.

A year later, BR issued a poster encouraging people to 'ride the line, which remains a useful link between two important suburban centres.' After October 1991 the last 'slam door' trains were withdrawn from the line which was then worked by modern air door Class 456 units.

Wimbledon To West Croydon Tram Stops

In 1986 a study was carried out by London Transport and British Rail which covered all of London. From 1990 Croydon Council and London Transport worked to promote a tram network to improve traffic congestion. Public consultations took place during 1991 discussing routes and testing public opinion which resulted in a bill being put before Parliament in November 1991. The Croydon Tramlink Act received Royal Assent on 21st July 1994 giving London Regional Transport the legal power to build and run 'Tramlink'. Three routes were planned, Route 1 running from Elmers End to Wimbledon utilising he entire length of the Wimbledon and West Croydon line.

By this time the line was in a very dilapidated state with little passenger traffic and all the stations covered in graffiti. Closure was announced for 2nd June 1997 with a special service operating on 31st May to cope with the anticipated crowds. This shuttled backwards and forwards all day but even before closure most of the signage had been removed from the stations to

deter collectors and the stations took on an air of desolation despite the crowded platforms. The final train was en enthusiasts 'special' which also travelled over the Elmers End - Addicombe branch which also closed on the same day as part of the Tramlink conversion.
Work on Tramlink had started in January 1997 and was scheduled to be complete for an opening in November 1999. Initially little work was done on the Wimbledon - Croydon line but the track was lifted in the summer of 1998 followed by the demolition of all the stations with the exception of the 'up' platform and original station building at Mitcham and the station building at Merton Park. All the stations were retained as stops on Tramlink with new platforms with the exception of Waddon Marsh where a new site was selected several hundred yards closer to Croydon.

A variety of problems with the contractors and numerous legal contracts delayed the opening of the new line. The first tram was delivered in October 1998 to the new depot at Therapia Lane and testing on sections of the Wimbledon line began shortly afterwards. The first tram ran through streets of Croydon on 16th June 1999.

The official opening finally took place on 10th May 2000 at New Addington when Route 3 opened to the public. Route 2 to Beckenham Junction opened on 23rd May 2000 with the Route 1 from Elmers End to Wimbledon opening a week later on 29th May 2000.

Tickets from Michael Stewart, Brian Halford, Graham Larkbey, & Nick Catford

Sources:

• London's Local Railways by Alan A Jackson - David & Charles 1978 ISBN 0715374796.
• London Railway Record 12 & 13 Connor & Butler
• London's Disused Stations Volume 6 - Connor & Butler 2006 ISBN 978 0 947699 39 2

See other web sites: Transport of Delight for more old pictures of the Wimbledon - West Croydon line and the Unofficial Croydon Tramlink web site

Wimbledon To West Croydon Sussex

Click on station name for other stations on the Wimbledon - West Croydon line: Merton Park, Morden Road, Mitcham Junction, Beddington Lane, Waddon Marsh & West Croydon

Wimbledon To West Croydon Line

See also the Tooting Merton & Wimbledon Railway: Merton Abbey, Tooting Junction and Haydons Road.

See also the St. Helier Estate Railway
(West Croydon, Mitcham Junction and Haydons Road are still open but are included for completeness)