Watercolour showing the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway passing Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey (George Buchanan Wollaston 1823)
Overview
Headquarters
Wandsworth
Locale
England
Dates of operation
1802–1846
Successor
Wimbledon-West Croydon line
Technical
Track gauge
4 ft 2 in (1,270 mm)
Length
9 miles (14 km)
The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn narrow-gauge plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened partly in 1802 and partly in 1803.[1] It was a toll railway on which carriers used horse traction. The chief goods transported were coal, building materials, lime, manure, corn and seeds. The first 8.25 miles (13.28 km) to Croydon opened on 26 July 1803, with a branch line off from Mitcham to Hackbridge.[2]
The 8.5 miles (13.7 km) long Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway was built as an extension of the railway but by a separate company.[3][4] It opened in 1805 and closed in 1838.[5]
The Surrey Iron Railway was commercially successful only briefly, until shortly after the opening of the canal between Croydon and London in 1809. It closed in 1846.[6]
^Gerhold 2010, pp. 193, 195.
^"The mirror of fashion". Morning Chronicle. No. 10667. 29 July 1803. p. 4.
^The Journals of the House of Commons August 31, 1802–November 3, 1803: Vol 58. Out-of-copyright. 31 August 1802. p. 90.
^"Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Iron Railway - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
^Lee 1944, pp. 15, 25.
^Lee 1944, p. 26.
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