Good morning!
Woodside Trams stop is just behind me there
and over there
is the old Woodside Railway station as the Tram uses the old alignment
of an old railway line here
which is what we're looking at today, in episode one
of London's ... lost railways.
The Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway
opened in 1885, to link two existing railways together in south east London
But it closed in 1916, due to lack of passengers.
The line though was subsequently electrified and re-opened in 1935
it survived for many years, even through the Beeching axe in the 1960's
but eventually closed for good in 1983
with another nearby branch to Addiscombe station, closing in 1997.
Much of the line was re-used by Croydon's Tramlink network
as we'll see, as we explore ... what you can see today.
This is old Woodside railway station building on Spring Lane
and when the Croydon Tram network was built
it used a lot of the alignments of old railways in this area
and Woodside tram stop was built in almost, but not quite
the same place as the old Woodside railway station
At the next tram stop down the line, that's Blackhorse Lane
is the location of where the line used to split
and there was a small branch down to Addiscombe station
that closed as recently as 1997
but the path of the railway now, has been turned into Addiscombe Railway Park
a walk through some lovely parkland area, which has community gardens too
At the point that you cross over at Dalmally Passage
there's even some old railway track and a sign on what may just be some old sleepers
to remind you
that there was once a railway line here
You carry on down the path, through this alley
and you get to the location of where Addiscombe station used to be
now all demolished with housing taking its place, but hang on
there is this loooong wall
which suspiciously looks like a retaining wall of a railway station
out on the main road, no clues exist at all
but this is where the frontage of the station, would have been
next up, we get to Bingham Road
and here the old railway line is very much being reused by the Croydon Trams
Bingham Road station was just to the south of where Addiscombe Tram stop now is
and the only evidence that you can see perhaps
is the remains of this wall that looks like
it would have been part of a staircase, that took you up to the platforms
which were above street level.
Coombe Lane station was next on the line
and until this point Tram's have been using the old alignment
but now it curves sharpyly to the east, and heads towards Lloyd Park
The old station was completely demolised with a whole street
and housing devlopment at Larcombe Close
taking its place where the station used to be
There's two things to see though
the red wall would have been part of the bridge taking the railway over the road
and this short stubby road leading to a brick wall
is the old entrance road, which would have led you up to the station
But the jewel in the crown on this line
is the next stop, or rather ... halt
the location, of Spencer Road Halt.
a place perhaps, that only the locals know is here
Yeah if you are a local, then obviously you know about it
otherwise, tucked away, down this side road, down this side path
the location ... of the old station
and the footbridge still here, and if you look down
you can see, the undergrowth coming up
through the old tracks.
And you might find it surprising
that this footbridge is still maintained by Network Rail
as it's recently been refurbished
which you can see, if you compare to how it looks now ... as to how it looked five years ago
Around the corner from Spencer Road, you get to Croham Road
and here the line goes high above the road on this bridge
and as you can't get up there to see it, an alternative
is to pretend you have a drone, by zooming in on Google Earth and getting a closer view that way.
And now we're getting close to the point where the line mergest with other railways
down at Selsdon.
There's a footbridge off of Daunton Road,
which again, let's you see down
onto the old rusty railway tracks
but for the finale, head up Birchend Close
pass the new build of houses
and you'll find the location, of Selsdon Railway station
So if you come here to this car park and walk right to the end
it's fabulous you can see on this side
that's the track and the platforms that headed up
to Woodside, the branch that we've just walked
and the abandoned Selsdon platforms there
it was in two parts, and on that side
the line is still active, but you've got the abandoned platforms
of that side, of Selsdon station.
The track at the junction is still here because of an old
oil depot, and siding, which is now also abandoned.
but note how the colour shunt signal, remains in place.
And finally, just a quick look at the map again
to reveal just how much
of the railway in this area was used when the Tram network was built
So that's the Southern service heading south, towards East Grinstead
that brings us to the end of Episode 1 of Lost Railways here at Selsdon
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in this series, thanks for watching!