Caterham Station in 1973

CATERHAM

All 11.8.1973 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - SURREY TRANSPORT HISTORY

A surprisingly rural branch and station is Caterham in Surrey, the terminus of  a branch from Purley on the Brighton main line. My only visit was in August 1973 when I took these pictures. A nice feature was the small signalbox, which I doubt remains. Notice also the Southern Region signage still in place along the station building.

LINKS

Rail Thing Routes - Rails of Surrey

Rail Thing - British Railway Stations and Buildings

Southern Region Scene - 1970s

Rail Thing - Electrics and Diesels on Southern Metals

Caterham railway station and branch

The Caterham branch is a surprisingly rural branch line in suburban Surrey.

The first Caterham station was opened on 5 August 1856 and the second (existing) station on 1 January 1900. The line was electrified in March 1928.

The existing station has a single island platform and a carriage siding on the up side of the station. The site of the original station is now (2017) occupied by a supermarket and the station car park. Passenger figures in 2015-16 were 1.128 million, so the station is very well used, with four trains an hour at peak times, and two trains an hour on Sundays.

The intermediate stations between Purley and Caterham are Kenley, Whyteleafe and Whyteleafe South.

Brookwood 1985

BROOKWOOD

(All 26.6.1985 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - SOUTHERN REGION SCENE - 1980s

Brookwood back in 1985 was a fantastic location for sitting back and snapping trains - there were more than enough to burn quickly through a roll of film. These would all have been taken in about an hour back in June 1985. This was during the last year or so of the old pre-Network SouthEast blue and grey. As well as the electrics there were 33 hauled services to Salisbury and 50 hauled services to Exeter (though I seemed to miss them on this occasion).

An added bonus was the architecture of Brookwood station, which was pretty much complete. Brookwood was of course on the last steam main line in the UK, and there was still a slight steam feel to the station. It had also been a junction in the past, for two unusual lines. One ran into the adjacent Necropolis and brought coffins and mourners directly into the huge cemetery, which had two stations. To the north a short branch ran to Bisley, this was a light railway and ran a busy service during the shooting competition. No doubt I'll cover these two lines in the future!

Farncombe 1977

7406

(All 6.7.1977  copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

A station I've only visited once, on a line I've probably only travelled on a couple of times, in 1977 Farncombe was a surprisingly big station for a small place! I only spent a brief time there 

and only one train passed through - 7406 on a Portsmouth to Waterloo train.

More info (from Wikipedia)

Farncombe railway station opened in 1897 as a minor stop on the Portsmouth Direct Line between Guildford and Godalming, England. It is said to have been built at the instigation of General Sir Frederick Marshall, a director of the London and South Western Railway Company, who lived nearby at Broadwater.

The station lies in the centre of Farncombe, a northern suburb of Godalming. Nowadays it is served by South West Trains on the mainline from Waterloo toPortsmouth Harbour. It would have been served by the old Southern Railway.

Despite being of little significance, Farncombe station is staffed most of the time, and has a café on platform 1 in peak periods. As well as the ticket office,Farncombe has two ticket machines, both of them on platform 1. There are two full barrier level crossings at Farncombe, one at each end of the station. The two platforms are connected by an old, metal, bridge. There is a large carpark located by the exit of platform 1, this is pay and display and is open all day, 7 days a week.

Services

The classes of trains that use it are South West Trains class 444s and 450s with occasional freight workings. There are two stopping trains an hour and two fast trains (non-stop) an hour in each direction. These consist of:

2tph to London Waterloo via Woking

1tph to Portsmouth & Southsea (These services do not call at Milford and Witley)

1tph to Haslemere

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Guildford		South West Trains Portsmouth Direct Line (stopping services)		Godalming

Gallery

• 

  Station entrance
 
• 

  Asymmetrical platforms
 
• 

  Looking across to the down platform
 
• 

  Signal box
 
• 

  A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Farncombe railway station

Dorking 1973

(All Dorking (North) 12.5.1973 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAILS OF SURREY

As a kid I was often driven up to London and always looked out around Dorking for trains as the railway from Horsham through Warnham to Dorking was visible as you approached Dorking and, intriguingly, a second line crossed the road almost where Dorking station was. I never once saw a train crossing that line, but saw a few working their way up through Boxhill (which always seemed a strange place to have a station).

Into the 70s I was getting around on my own, by train of course. Back in 1973 I finally got to visit the station at Dorking, which I then knew was just one of three stations that served Dorking. It was full of boring slam doors of course - that's how we thought about them back then! The station itself was quite a large and attractive building and had a mix of suburban and through trains. The line south to Horsham was lightly used back then with some interesting intermediate stations.

A short walk took me to that other line, the one which crossed the A24 rather than paralleled it. I knew by 1973 that it was a dieselised cross country route between Reading and Tonbridge with some interesting cross-regional traffic. Just as I climbed the stairs and had taken my first shot of the station a coupled pair of class 33s came through. I was about eight years too late for steam but back then diesels were almost as big a treat!

(Both Deepdene 12.5.1973 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

More info (via Wikipedia - Dorking (North))

Dorking railway station is one of three railway stations that serve the town of Dorking in Surrey, England. The station is within walking distance of Dorking Deepdene station and interchange on a through ticket is permitted. Dorking West and Dorking (Deepdene) are located on the North Downs Line.
There are 2 trains per hour (tph) towards London Waterloo, 2tph towards London Victoria and an hourly service to Horsham(Monday to Saturday off-peak). South West Trains services to London Waterloo typically use Platform 2. Southern services to Horsham generally depart from platform 3.
The station which was previously called Dorking North was rebuilt during the 1980s and is now part of the same office block which houses the headquarters of Biwater.

Ticket barriers were installed in 2010.

Construction

The Mole Gap between Dorking and Leatherhead is one of the few natural breaches in the North Downs and its potential as a rail corridor was realised as early as 1830 when a line linking London to Brighton was proposed. In 1845-6, the "Direct London and Portsmouth Railway" was authorised by parliament to run south from Epsom to Dorking on to Godalming, Havant and Portsmouth. The scheme failed to attract sufficient investment and was dropped in favour of the Woking, Guildford and Havant route fromLondon Waterloo.

The first railway line to link Dorking with London was the independently promoted "Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway" proposed in 1845-6, authorised by Acts of Parliament in 1846 and 1847. This became the line we know today as the North Downs Line.

By 1859 the LBSCR and LSWR had built a joint line to Leatherhead from Epsom where their tracks separated (the former heading for London Bridge the latter for London Waterloo. An independent Horsham, Dorking and Leatherhead Railway was set up and promoted by interested local parties (principally from Horsham) to link the three towns. The railway was approved by Act of Parliament in July 1862, but only from a junction with the North Downs Line, 100 yards (91 m) to the east of Dorking Deepdene, to the Arun Valley Line at Horsham.

A year later in July 1863 LBSCR secured authority to build the line from its station at Leatherhead to make a connection with the line from Horsham. The line to Leatherhead was opened on 11 March 1867, however the connection with the line from Horsham was not made until 1 May 1867. Initially services ran from London Bridge to Brighton via Sutton and Steyning four times per day in each direction.

Electrification

The Southern Railway, formed in 1923, began an extensive programme of electrification of their suburban lines. The line from Waterloo to Dorking was electrified using the 660V third rail system in 1925 and regular half-hourly semi-fast services were introduced on 12 July 1925 to run seven days per week. The 22.5 mi (36.2 km) journey to Waterloo originally took 45 minutes, although this was considerably lengthened when trains began to stop at all stations shortly afterwards. An additional hourly electric service to London Bridge via Mitcham Junction and Tulse Hill began on 3 March 1929; the 25 mi (40 km) journey took 53 minutes.

The mid-Sussex electrification of 1938 resulted in the express steam services from Victoria being replaced by electric services which were routed through Dorking. These gave commuters from Dorking their fastest ever link to Victoria (34 minutes during peak hours). In the timetable change of May 1978 the mid-Sussex express services were routed via Gatwick Airport and the off-peak service to Dorking was reduced to two semi-fast services from Victoria per hour, with services to Horsham running every two hours. Now the average journey time to London termini takes a passenger 55 minutes.

The service to Horsham was neglected for some years during the 1980s with a shuttle service between Dorking and Horsham operating every two hours at off peak times. The service now provided is one train an hour through from London to Horsham, (headcode 84). The off peak service of two trains from London Bridge to Horsham via Sutton and Dorking ran for a number of years from about 1985 but had ceased by 2000. The former Horsham to Waterloo via Dorking North trains (headcode 15) ceased as early as 1980.

Signal box

The resignalling scheme of 1938 introduced three aspect colour signals to replace the original semaphore signals. A new signal box was constructed and opened on 15 May 1938. It is one of many built in the Odeon style by the Southern Railway during the 1930s. The original frame was an A2 type Westinghouse with 44 levers. The box controls the line from Box Hill & Westhumble to Warnham.

More info - (from Wikipedia (Deepdene))

Dorking Deepdene railway station is in Dorking, Surrey, England.

The station and all trains serving it are operated by First Great Western. It is on the North Downs Line. It is one of three stations in Dorking. The other two are Dorking and Dorking West. The station is within walking distance of Dorking station and interchange on a through ticket is permitted.

There is no ticket office and the station is unstaffed. Tickets can be bought on trains or from the automatic ticket machine at the foot of the westbound platform stairs. The ticket office at Dorking station is open seven days a week and sells tickets for all National Rail services. The station is accessed by steps only and as such there is no disabled access to either platform.

History

The Reading, Guildford and Reigate Railway (RG&RR) was authorised in 1846 and opened in stages. One of the first parts to open was between Redhill and Dorking, on 4 July 1849; the terminus was the present Dorking West station.

Redhill - Reading train in 1964

A second station in Dorking was opened on 1 February 1851 on the same route, and was originally named "Box Hill and Leatherhead Road"; this was shortened to "Box Hill" in March the same year. The RG&RR was soon absorbed by the South Eastern Railway (SER).

The station at Box Hill was temporarily closed from 1 January 1917, and reopened on 1 January 1919.^[2] In the 1923 grouping the SER became part of the new Southern Railway, which on 9 June of that year renamed the station "Deepdene" to avoid confusion with Box Hill & Westhumble station.

On 11 May 1987 British Railways renamed the station "Dorking (Deepdene)".

Services

The typical off-peak service is two trains per hour to Reading, and two to Redhill, of which one continues to Gatwick Airport.

Raynes Park - missed opportunity?

(Raynes Park 12.5.1973 Copyright Rail Thing/Steve Sainsbury)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING 70s RAILSCENE

Raynes Park is a busy junction station on the main line west from London, with a constant procession of main line and suburban trains.

So why did a trip back in 1973 only produce these three shots? Two reasons - I was just changing trains, taking the branch down to Chessington. And secondly the usual - the high cost of film and processing. This was a good 30 years before digital photography!

So an hour here back in 1973 would have seen class 33s and 50s on trains to Salisbury and Exeter, perhaps a freight or two, loads of slam doors on suburban trains and perhaps the odd light engine movement.

But I managed to miss all that except for a couple of slam door trains! 

More information (via Wikipedia)

History

The railway station at Raynes Park was opened on 30 October 1871 on the London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) line that ran from its terminus at London Waterloo to Woking and beyond. The line runs east by north-east in the London direction and has two through lines (for express services) through the middle and platforms to the outsides.

Raynes Park station is the junction station where the line to Motspur Park (and on to Chessington South, Dorking or Guildford) branches off from the South Western Main Line ultimately to coastal resorts and port cities.

The track to Epsom was to compete with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR)'s Mole Valley Lines to Epsom but then use statutory running powers over that line through Ashtead to Leatherhead. From where the London and South Western Railway (LSWR)'s second Guildford track headed via Effingham Junction to Guildford, south-west following its line built from the north. From Epsom, the LBSCR laid the southward track via Dorking (then called Dorking North) to Horsham.

One distinct feature of the station is the long footbridge over the 4 tracks of the main line which is set at an angle because of the offset of the platforms. This stands out as the mainline is on a fairly high embankment (allowing local roads and the Epsom line to pass beneath). Passenger access to the station is via subway at street level on either side of the mainline.

There was originally a LSWR mechanical signal box at the far south, opposite platforms 1 and 2, but this was demolished and replaced by modern automated signalling equipment many years ago.

Raynes Park goods yard was in and beyond the notch between Platforms 3 and 4, and was accessed from the Epsom lines. It did not push right up into the point of the V though. The goods yard is no longer in use and is now occupied by local manufacturing firms.

Accidents and incidents

• On 25 May 1933, a passenger train was derailed approaching the station, coming to rest foul of an adjacent line. Another passenger train was in a side-long collision with it. Five people were killed and 35 were injured. The cause of the accident was the failure to implement a speed restriction on a section of track that was under maintenance.
• On 28 November 1967, a newspaper train was derailed entering the station. One of the vans struck the support pillars of the footbridge, severely damaging it. The line was blocked for two days. The cause of the accident was that the guard of the train failed to inform the driver that there were wagons in the train restricted to 45 miles per hour (72 km/h). The train was booked to run at up to 75 miles per hour (121 km/h) and was doing about 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) when it derailed.

Platforms and infrastructure

The station has four platforms on two islands, 1 and 2 on the Up lines, and 3 and 4 on the Down lines.

• Platform 1 is an eastbound platform for services to London Waterloo that have originated from Guildford, Dorking (both via Epsom) or Chessington South.
• Platform 2 is an eastbound platform for services to London Waterloo that have originated from Waterloo (via Strawberry Hill on the Kingston loop), Hampton Court or Shepperton.
• Platform 3 is a westbound platform for trains to Waterloo (via Strawberry Hill on the Kingston loop), Hampton Court or Shepperton.
• Platform 4 is a south-westbound platform for trains to Guildford, Dorking (both via Worcester Park and Epsom) or Chessington South.

There are no platforms for the two central fast tracks on the mainline.

The Epsom to London line, arriving from the south-west, passes under the four mainline tracks to the west of the station and then curves up and right to platform 1. Beyond the platforms it makes a trailing junction onto the Up Slow line to Waterloo. Opposite platform 2 the Down Epsom line branches off the Down Slow mainline to arrive at platform 4, on the left side of a V formed with platform 3. The line then drops away to the south to parallel the Up Epsom line after the station. The Down Slow continues straight ahead on the right hand side of the V to platform 3.

Services

Services from the station to destinations served are frequent throughout the whole day, with weekend services running at a similar frequency. Almost all of the services either start or terminate at London Waterloo.

The typical off-peak service from the station is:

• 12 trains per hour to London Waterloo direct
• 2 trains per hour to London Waterloo via Kingston and Richmond
• 2 trains per hour to Hampton Court
• 2 trains per hour to Shepperton
• 2 trains per hour to Guildford via Epsom
• 2 trains per hour to Dorking
• 2 trains per hour to Chessington South

Weekday services to London Waterloo start at 5:13 with the last direct train at 23:58. The first weekday services from London Waterloo arrive at 5:31 with the last service arriving at 1:07am. Electrified trains provide stopping services only with time to and from London Waterloo of 23-24 minutes.

Deepest Surrey 1986

HOLMWOOD

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing Holmwood 30.4.1986)

FACEBOOK - RAILS OF SURREY

BLOG/MINIWEB - SOUTHERN REGION

An odd little line in Surrey is the line from Horsham to Dorking. Back in 1986 it was something of a backwater, except during the rush hours. The line was busier from Dorking northwards, the line south via Warnham, Ockley and Holmwood served a very rural area, with the non-peak trains running empty or almost empty. I haven't visited the line since 1986 so no idea what the situation is like today!

Further info (from Wikipedia)

The station opened in 1867 in what was the far north of the parish of Capel along the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway line to Portsmouth. Why it was called Holmwood is mysterious, however Beare Green was a smaller settlement than the Holmwood area which was expanding with building at the time.

Holmwood for many years had until a revised timetable of 10 July 1967 two hourly services during the day in each direction:

• to and from Waterloo and Horsham
• to and from London Bridge (via Sutton and Tulse Hill) and Horsham.

In respect of the first route where on time the journey was completed in less than 55 minutes: no slack, allowing for lengthy boarding assuming identical track speed, was built into the timetables. Of relevance to Bognor Regis, a once an hour non-stop express Victoria service went through the station from the coastal resort.
Further, Holmwood was a terminus for various additional trains to and from Waterloo.

The Grade II listed signal box

Prior to 1963 the use of Holmwood as a terminus was implemented for much of the day. For example, a serious accident at Motspur Park on 6 Nov 1947 involved the 16:45 Southern Railway train from Holmwood to Waterloo. This service was withdrawn in 1963, the later 17:45 being the last of a series of hourly trains from Holmwood to Waterloo to be retained in the 1963 timetable. The accident in 1947 resulted from incorrect manual fog signalling when the driver of the Holmwood train was given permission to enter the junction at Motspur Park before the down Chessington train had cleared the junction, and before the signals and points were changed by the signal box. This is one of the few references one can find to the important role that Holmwood station played in the Sutton and Mole Valley Lines to Waterloo service initiated in the early 20th century by the Southern Railway. Before nationalisation in the 1940s, the Southern Railway built, owned its trains, running from today's two London termini as well as Waterloo following the formation of the Big Four.

Thus the earlier timetables for services on the line from London Victoria to Horsham in 1905 and 1917 show that services to London Waterloo and London Bridge adhering to the Victorian service pattern from Holmwood, Ockley and Warnham being to London Victoria only.

Some features of the unusual service pattern endure include its last evening weekday rush hour service from London Victoria at 7:20pm (apart from the 11:26pm weekday service added to the timetable in December 2004 following several years of pressure from a local campaigner) traceable to the Victorian/Edwardian origins.

From at least Victorian times (or quite probably from the opening of the line in 1867) until the middle of the 20th century the line also had four services to and from London Victoria in each direction on a Sunday compared to no Sunday service at all in current times. There were two services in each direction in the early morning and two more in the late afternoon/early evening (a total of eight trains in all on the Dorking to Horsham section of line during the day) making Sunday outings to the Capital and elsewhere possible in this still largely pre-motor car era. However it is not clear from easily available records precisely when Holmwood and the neighbouring two stations of Ockley and Warnham lost their Sunday railway services.