Notes: Although the South Croydon - Oxted line opened on 10th March 1884 there was no station at Selsdon until the Woodside & South Croydon line opened on 10th August 1885 when a substantial junction station was provided with two platforms on both lines with wooden buildings in typical South Eastern Railway style. The Oxted line platforms has a footbridge with a subway on the Elmers End line platforms which were at a slightly higher level with a short flight of steps linking the Oxted down platform with the Elmers End up platform. For the first month the station appeared in public timetables as Selsdon Road Junction, then it was renamed Selsdon Road. There were two signalboxes, the north box controlled the goods yard and the south box controlled the junction with the Oxted line and was the largest box on that line.
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The local Railmotor service over the Elmers End line was withdrawn on 14th March 1915 as an economy measure during WW1 but Selsdon Road Station remained open with one southbound service only Monday - Friday with an extra train on Wednesday, this was further reduced to a Wednesday only train which last ran in February 1916. After that date the |
station and the line were closed to passengers and Selsdon Road closed completely on 1st January 1917 apart from the occasional 'special'; Selsdon Road goods yard remained open. The Oxted line platforms reopened on 1st May 1919 but the Elmers End Line remain closed although summer excursions and 'hop pickers' specials ran through the closed station until electrification in 1935 when the Elmers End line platforms were reopened. The station was renamed Selsdon on 30.9.1935 although the station was two miles from Selsdon.
At this time, the north signal box at the north end of the up Elmers End platform was demolished and the south box was renamed Selsdon Junction, the down platform was lengthened and the two road goods yard was enlarged to five roads. The Oxted line platforms were closed on 14th June 1959. The wooden buildings on all platforms were demolished in c.1963 with new short |
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wooden canopies being provided over the central sections of the Elmers End line platforms above the access steps to the subway; a small wooden booking hut was provided on the down platform. The goods yard closed on 7.10.1968 when it was reduced to two roads becoming a Shell oil tanker depot. In c.1976 the canopies were demolished leaving only the booking hut. At this time the green Southern Railway signs were finally removed and replaced with British Rail white and black signs.
Throughout its life the station was lit by gas and this lighting remained in use until the station closed in 1983 and Selsdon was one of the last stations to be lit entirely by gas.
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After closure to passengers, the Shell oil siding remained in use and because the junction faced north the track on the Elmers End line was retained almost up to Croham Road bridge. Selsdon Junction signal box was closed on 1st April 1984 and subsequently demolished and the oil siding finally closed in March 1993 and the junction with the Oxted line was severed |
but in 2008 most of the track to Croham Road is still in place.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ELMERS END TO SELSDON LINE
The Woodside & South Croydon Railway was authorised in 1880 to build a 2 mile 28 chain link from the South Eastern Railway's Mid Kent line at Woodside to a junction with the the Croydon & Oxted Joint (LBSCR & SER) line which opened on the 10th March 1884. The Woodside & South Croydon Railway opened on 19th
August 1885 with
an intermediate station at Coombe Lane and a junction station with the Oxted line at Selsdon Road. The main engineering feature on the line were three contiguous tunnels under the Addington Hills, Woodside (266 yards), Park Hill (122 yards) and Coombe Lane (157 yards). Rolling stock was supplied
by the South Eastern Railway who ran the service until the London
Brighton & South Coast Railway took over at the beginning
of 1887.
The line had a chequered career from the offset; the first proposal
to close came in 1895. With increasing competition from trams
and busses in the early 1900's Kitson
Railmotors were introduced to try and improve passenger numbers. At the same time two new halts
were opened, Spencer Road Halt between Selsdon Road and Coombe
Lane and Bingham Road Halt between Coombe Lane and Woodside. Both were
very basic built of old sleepers with no buildings. Bingham
Road was sited close to the tram terminus in Lower Addiscombe
Road and was well used.
Although passenger numbers improved it was not enough and with
losses running at over £2000 a year the passenger service
was withdrawn as a wartime economy measure in 1915 when the Railmotor service was withdrawn. Coombe Lane
and Selsdon Road remained open for some through trains until 1916
but the new halts were closed.
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For a while the line was used to store surplus goods wagons but
after four years a daily goods service calling at Woodside and
Selsdon Road was started. In 1927 the track was re-laid which
brought speculation about the restoration of the passengers service,
this didn't happen but the line became part of a new through route
to the south coast and into Kent for |
excursions and special services. The track was again re-laid early in 1935 but this time with an
electric conductor rail which was extended onto the Oxted line as far as Sanderstead to allow trains to reverse. Coombe Lane was rebuilt and renamed Coombe
Road and Bingham Road Halt was rebuilt as a station. Initially
it was going to be renamed Ashburton but on opening it retained
its original name of Bingham Road. Selsdon Road was renamed Selsdon
while Spencer Road Halt was not reinstated and the remains of
the station were cleared away. The new electric service started
on 30th September 1935.
The early enthusiasm was however short lived with disappointing
passenger numbers bring a reduction of the service during WW2
with still further reductions after the war when off peak trains
terminated at Elmers End. With no improvement during the 1950's
closure was announced for 4th March 1963. A local pressure group
was formed to fight the closure claiming there was no alternative
and after several public meetings the Ministry of Transport rejected
the closure plans because of the hardship it would cause to the
650 daily passengers using the line.
With no improvements the
Saturday service was withdrawn in January 1967 and in 1976 all
through trains to London were withdrawn reducing the line to a
shuttle service between Sanderstead and Elmers End, seven years
later the line finally closed on 13th May 1983. The track was
lifted during the summer of 1984 and by the autumn of that year
Bingham Road |
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and Coombe Road stations had been demolished. A short
section of track between Selsdon and the footbridge at Spencer
Road was retained to serve the Selsdon Oil Siding. This finally closed in 1993 and although heavily overgrown the track
is still in situ as is the down platform at Selsdon. The junction has however now been lifted making retrieval of the remaining track very difficult.
In 1986 a study of Greater London transport was undertaken by
London Transport and British Rail, one of its proposals was the
reintroduction of trams in the Croydon area to ease traffic congestion
and to provide a service into New Addington which was poorly served
by pubic transport. In 1990 Croydon Council and London Transport
began working together to promote the Tramlink project which received
considerable public support.
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In 1986 a study of Greater London transport was undertaken by
London Transport and British Rail, one of its proposals was the
reintroduction of trams in the Croydon area to ease traffic congestion
and to provide a service into New Addington which was poorly served
by pubic transport. In 1990 Croydon Council and London Transport
began working together to |
promote the Tramlink project which received
considerable public support.
In November 1991 the Croydon Tramlink Bill was submitted to Parliament
and received Royal Assent on 21 July 1994, allowing London Regional
Transport to authorise the construction of Tramlink. Three routes
were to be built, Croydon - Beckenham Junction, Croydon - new
Addington and Wimbledon - Elmers End.
As the lines from New Addington,
Beckenham and Elmers End converged on Croydon (click here for map) they would utilise almost the entire length of the former
Elmers End to Selsdon railway line with the three lines joining
at a new junction at Sandilands from where they would run into
central Croydon. The first Tramlink route to New Addington opened on 10th May
2000 with the line to Beckenham through Addiscombe following
on 23rd May.
For a full history and photographs of the Woodside and South
Croydon Railway see the Transport
of Delight web site. Click here for a photo gallery.
See also Unofficial
Croydon Tramlink & Disused Railways and Eighties Rail Heaven web sites. Tickets from Michael Stewart & Brian Halford
Further reading: Croydon's Railways by M W G Skinner - Kingfisher
1985 ISBN 0 046184 14 3
and Croydon Light Rail (Tramlink) a report considered by the Highways
& Transportation Planning, Resources, Fiancee & Policy
Committees at their meetings on 27.2.1991 & 15.5.1991
To see other stations on the Elmers End to Selsdon Line click on station name: Elmers End, Woodside, Bingham Road, Coombe Road & Spencer Road Halt
See also Park Hill Tunnel |