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Railways around Waddon Marsh (Croydon)


Pete 75C
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OK. Today, Google Images is not my friend...

I've been steadily amassing as many pictures as I can find of Waddon Marsh station*, and the nearby power station, as well as images and drawings of the other stations on the line, but I am really struggling to find any decent images of the Croydon gas holders, cooling towers and gasworks, not just the power station. To date, Google Images, disused-stations.org etc etc have been really useful but not for shots of the gasworks...

Is anyone aware of a link to any images of these?

Also, does anyone know (roughly) when the wooden platform at Waddon Marsh was replaced and the approximate date the signal box was taken out of use?

Any period photos or links to images of (West) Croydon and surrounding area would be most welcome.

Prior to the ubiquitous 2EPB, was it the 2BIL that was a regular on the West Croydon - Wimbledon line?

Many thanks, Pete.

 

* I've had a long fascination for the place, I grew up just a mile or so away.

Edited by Pete 75C
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Also, does anyone know (roughly) when the wooden platform at Waddon Marsh was replaced and the approximate date the signal box was taken out of use?

 

I think the box went in 1981/2, under Victoria Area Resignalling Scheme, which built the new box at Clapham Junction.

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I think the box went in 1981/2, under Victoria Area Resignalling Scheme, which built the new box at Clapham Junction.

 

OK, that would make sense. I vaguely remember West Croydon A & B boxes so I guess the timescale would be the same or similar. Many thanks.

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Prior to the ubiquitous 2EPB, was it the 2BIL that was a regular on the West Croydon - Wimbledon line?

 

No, that would be the '2Wim' units (1809-12) that were converted from ex-LBSC 'Overhead' Trailer firsts. The cab ends were very similar, if not the same as the 'Bil's. One notable feature of the services was the use of the unique (AFAIR) double width '2' headcode stencil that the '2Wim' units used on West Croydon-Wimbledon and their '2SL' cousins used on the South London line.

 

See: http://www.semgonline.com/gallery/2wim.html

Edited by talisman56
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Thanks for that, I'll need to do a little reading up on stock. I remember seeing a (early 50s?) photo of a 2 car in the Wimbledon bay at West Croydon and going by appearance, I had just assumed it was a 2BIL. I don't have any personal memory of the line prior to the late 70s.

An RMWeb member has very kindly supplied some images of Waddon Marsh and surroundings that I've never seen before, so many thanks!

Edited by Pete_S
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I remember as a kid being dissapointed at not winning the competition on Blue Peter to press the plunger to blow-up the cooling towers at Croydon A. The event was filmed by the BBC, so there might be something on youtube and such like that might show you the surrounding buildings etc.?

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I remember as a kid being dissapointed at not winning the competition on Blue Peter to press the plunger to blow-up the cooling towers at Croydon A. The event was filmed by the BBC, so there might be something on youtube and such like that might show you the surrounding buildings etc.?

 

Are you sure it's croydon A? As Croydon A had wooden cooling towers and it closed in 1976 and croydon B had Concrete Cooling Towers and it closed in 1984 but wasn't taken down until 1991

Lee

HSTFAN13

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OK. Today, Google Images is not my friend...

I've been steadily amassing as many pictures as I can find of Waddon Marsh station*, and the nearby power station, as well as images and drawings of the other stations on the line, but I am really struggling to find any decent images of the Croydon gas holders, cooling towers and gasworks, not just the power station. To date, Google Images, disused-stations.org etc etc have been really useful but not for shots of the gasworks...

Is anyone aware of a link to any images of these?

Also, does anyone know (roughly) when the wooden platform at Waddon Marsh was replaced and the approximate date the signal box was taken out of use?

Any period photos or links to images of (West) Croydon and surrounding area would be most welcome.

Prior to the ubiquitous 2EPB, was it the 2BIL that was a regular on the West Croydon - Wimbledon line?

Many thanks, Pete.

 

* I've had a long fascination for the place, I grew up just a mile or so away.

Have you seen Page 2 of the Disused Stations site - this does have a few photos http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/waddon_marsh/index5.shtml

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Have you seen Page 2 of the Disused Stations site - this does have a few photos http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/waddon_marsh/index5.shtml

 

Yeah, I've hoovered up all of the images for reference. I do have a few of the gasworks, but the power station seems to feature far more often in railway-related photos. That said, there are a few shots that are useful and perhaps the most useful is a period map that I was emailed recently showing the sheer extent of the lines in the area, far more complex than I had ever imagined.

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.

 

The Smell  !     THE  SMELL  ! ! ! ! !

 

I lived in Mitcham from 1960 to 1968 and often went to Croydon by train on a Saturday (and latterly for a couple of years to school).

 

You didn't need to look out of the window to know when you were going past the gas works and power station.

 

Despite all my journeys past, the industrial locos seem to have been welded to the rails !

 

There is a small pamphlet on the locomotives of Croydon power stations, but unfortunately it doesn't have many photos and they are small and of poor quality.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000E8QAO/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=

 

 

http://kcselectrics.co.uk/croydon-power-stations/

 

.

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Thanks for that Phil - that's useful. The smells I remember most from childhood are, as you say, the gasworks and power station, but also the Paynes Poppets factory on the Croydon Road heading towards Wallington. I can almost still smell that bitter sweet chocolate aroma hanging in the air!

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Are you sure it's croydon A? As Croydon A had wooden cooling towers and it closed in 1976 and croydon B had Concrete Cooling Towers and it closed in 1984 but wasn't taken down until 1991

Lee

HSTFAN13

Pretty sure it was A that blue Peter blew up.  It was the ones at B that got used in Terry Gilliam's film IIRC.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi

 

Saw the discussion about Croydon's power and gas works and thought I'd offer you some additional info.

 

Croydon A had both wooden and concrete cooling towers. The concrete towers were dismantled in 1974. One was demolished by hand as it was close to residential buildings. Two others were close to Wandle Park and were demolished with explosives. Blue Peter did indeed run a competition.

 

Croydon B, the replacement station built after the war, had six cooling towers. The site featured in the movie Brazil. They were demolished by explosive in the late 80s or 90s.

 

Newsreel footage of the Croydon A demolition can be found at

http://www.movietone.com/assets/BMN0129/wmv/CSAI127042CSAIEND_CSEXT99649CSEXTEND3.wmv

 

Croydon A power station
http://uwww.historypin.com/services/thumb/phid/119679/

 

Croydon B power station

http://uwww.historypin.com/services/thumb/phid/118424

 

Map of gas works

http://vakart.org.uk/download/croydon_gasworks.jpg

 

To answer the original post regarding the gasworks, I may have some images that I can scan. What are you looking for exactly?

 

Regards

Tim

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Hi Tim. Thanks for that info, that's interesting stuff.

What I'm struggling with are views looking towards the Gasworks that would have been taken from Waddon Marsh station platform, and also the exact opposite side of the Gasworks, taken from the location of the current A23. Most shots seem to be taken from the road bridge over the railway line looking back towards Croydon. I'm also rather intrigued by the inclined siding which looks similar to coal drops. Pete.

 

post-17811-0-63923600-1394782317.jpg

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Pete,

 

If you register with "Britainfromabove", you can zoom in on this image:

It's from a damaged negative, but you can see a little bit of the layout

post-2484-0-49893200-1394784587.jpg

http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw013180 Image used under these conditions: Display Attribution [no cropping of watermark]. Include link to source page. No Commercial Use or Sale, No Sub-Licensing, No Advertising Use

 

 

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The concrete towers were there until the 1980s; the site is now occupied by IKEA. There were mentions of the sidings being used a as preservation base at one time in the 1980s but as usual nothing came of it.

 

If it's any help to anyone, I took a load of pics of Mitcham Junction being rebuilt for the Tramlink works complete with contractor's loco on site.

 

There might be some pictures of the area in the book on the Surrey Iron Railway which the Spratt & Winkle followed for a distance. Would this make Croydon Tramway THE oldest tramway in the world still operating??

Edited by roythebus
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Pete,

 

If you register with "Britainfromabove", you can zoom in on this image:

It's from a damaged negative, but you can see a little bit of the layout

 

Morning Ernie. I have registered and hoovered up all of the relevant images. I'm amassing quite a collection of maps and photos covering the entire length of the line! Aerial shots and maps are certainly useful for getting an idea of the overall layout of a place.

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The concrete towers were there until the 1980s; the site is now occupied by IKEA. There were mentions of the sidings being used a as preservation base at one time in the 1980s but as usual nothing came of it.

 

If it's any help to anyone, I took a load of pics of Mitcham Junction being rebuilt for the Tramlink works complete with contractor's loco on site.

 

There might be some pictures of the area in the book on the Surrey Iron Railway which the Spratt & Winkle followed for a distance. Would this make Croydon Tramway THE oldest tramway in the world still operating??

 

Hi Roy. The more you look into it, it certainly is a fascinating subject. As a child, I would spend ages in Beddington Park and Wandle Park searching for relics of the tramway. It was only later that someone told me the Surrey Iron Railway didn't actually run through Beddington Park. I'd just assumed that because it followed the route of the River Wandle, and that the river ran through the park, I was only moments away from finding historical treasure! Having moved away from the area some years ago, I just find my fascination with it growing, not diminishing!

If you get a chance, can you post a couple of shots of the Mitcham Jnct rebuilding, I'd be interested to see those. Pete.

Edited by Pete 75C
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Hi Pete 

 

So where did you live? 

 

We were on the Mitcham Road/KIngsley estate. Our house backed onto the railway line at Waddon Marsh. I lived there from the 70s-90s. Infact, family are still there.

 

Here are a few pics looking towards the gas works from Waddon Marsh platform and one from near Wandle Park. These are mostly from the web so you may have them yourself already.

 
 
The "Britain From Above" site is good for seeing the whole scope of the gasworks. This pic shows Purley Way from bottom left to top right and the gas works enclosed in a roughly triangular block of land. 

http://vakart.org.uk/download/gw13.jpg

 

The white houses that begin at the bottom of the bridge were gas worker cottages. The gasometers were there until the late 70s.

 

The site was mostly redeveloped in the 80/90s. The main site (where you see all the smoke being generated)  was highly toxic and was a massive hindrance to development. This was where town gas was made.

 

The farthest end of the site would later be used for the more modern plant that was built in the 60/70s. You can see part of that complex in gw7 and gw8 above. That part of the site has only been cleared of the hazardous materials in the last five years and is now a development called New South Quarter.

 

Lastly, here is the site plan I uploaded last night, overlaid on a modern google map.

http://vakart.org.uk/download/gw14.jpg

 

 

And why my interest? Apart from growing up in the shadow of the power station and gasworks, my grandfather worked there and once took me on a tour of the site. It made a lasting impression.

 

Hope its useful.

 

Regards

Tim

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Hi Tim. That's all really useful, thank you. I'll work my way through everything over the weekend. Grew up in Wallington, a stone's throw from Beddington Park, but used to catch the 157 bus and go over the footbridge in to Wandle Park, either that or cycle there. The industrial nature of the area was always a strong draw, and I agree (lament) that it's all changed beyond recognition. Many thanks, Pete.

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When I ran a bus company from Willow Lane in Mitcham my office overlooked the line. The service went from a train with about 6 people on every 50 minutes or so to a tram every 7 minutes each way loaded so much you couldn't see daylight through them!

 

Tramway Path at Mitcham might give a clue; the old tramway bridge on the A23 just before the M23 junction is still in daily use, clue to the S.I.R. 

 

Crossing over to the Kings Cros Model shop slightly, I met a Waterloo driver in there one day who was showing odd a map of London dated about 1820 and he said "there's no railways on it".....until I pointed out the S.I.R clearly shown. the British museum reckoned it was the fit time they'd seen that particular issue of that map.

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