Croydon's Atmospheric Railway

In 1845 an atmospheric railway was installed between West Croydon and Forest Hill. It used the method of atmospheric traction invented by gas engineer Samuel Clegg and the marine engineers Jacob and Joseph Samuda.

A large pipe was laid between the existing railway tracks. Stationary engines positioned at West Croydon, Portland Road (Norwood Junction) and Dartmouth Road (Forest Hill) worked large air pumps which sucked the air out of the pipe in front of the train. The pump houses communicated with each other using Cooke & Wheatstone’s two-needle electric telegraph. Each train was headed by a special carriage which had an arm underneath which passed through a slot into the pipe. A piston was attached to the leading edge of the arm and a counterweight to the rear. The slot in the pipe was closed by a valve, formed of a leather strap covered with short plates of iron above and below. Wheels on the leading edge of the piston arm raised the valve, allowing the piston to move along the pipe. Air rushed in through this gap directly onto the back of the piston. The valve then fell back into place behind the piston arm and a wheel attached to one of the carriages pressed it down. On the opening side of the valve was a groove which was filled with a mixture of wax and tallow. A heated copper bar was then drawn along the groove to force this mixture against the edge of the valve and so form an airtight seal. The vacuum in front of the piston and atmospheric pressure behind it caused the train to move forward.

The advantages of the atmospheric system were that it didn’t need smelly, noisy and dirty locomotives to haul the carriages; it was considered safer - as two trains could not work simultaneously between two pumping stations there was no risk of collisions; and it was expected to be much cheaper to run.

The atmospheric railway called at Croydon (now West Croydon), Jolly Sailor (Norwood Junction), Annerley (now spelt Anerley), Penge (Penge West), Sydenham and Dartmouth Arms (Forest Hill) stations. This route was flat except for a wooden fly-over at Brighton Junction near Jolly Sailor (the first fly-over in the world). This was necessary because the atmospheric pipe couldn’t cross other lines on the same level.

The first trial was on 22 August 1845. The train reached 60mph on that occasion and on a later trial achieved 70mph. However, failures occurred with the pumping equipment and the public opening was delayed until 19 January 1846. By December 1846 the atmospheric railway had been extended from Dartmouth Arms to New Cross, but the system was abandoned in May 1847 and the line changed over to locomotives.

There had been constant problems in maintaining the air-tight seals that were necessary to create the vacuum. In warm weather the mixture used to seal the valve melted and the leather hardened. In cold weather the leather cracked. Rubbish, including rats, were sucked through the pipes and clogged up the air valves. There were also delays in turnaround times at each end of the track. The piston carriage could not reverse and neither could the iron pipe cross other rails. So to get the piston carriage to the other end of the train it had to be manhandled out of the tube, have its piston and counter weight removed, then be taken round its train by further manhandling or possibly horse towing, have the piston and counterweight replaced the opposite way round and then re-inserted in the tube. The final straw was that, far from being cheaper, the power for the trains actually cost about three times more than conventional engines.

The stationary engine-house at Forest Hill railway station was largely demolished in 1851 and an electricity sub-station was built on the site in 1928.

Jolly-sailor railway station & pumping station, 1845

The Jolly Sailor station (named after the Jolly Sailor inn) was at the North end of the High Street, immediately adjacent to a level crossing with Portland Road. During the construction of the atmospheric railway the level crossing was replaced by a low bridge across the road. The pumping station was built in a Gothic style, with a very tall ornate tower which served both as a chimney and as an exhaust vent for air pumped from the propulsion tube. In 1846 the station was renamed Norwood, and it became Norwood Junction by 1856. The original station was closed on 1 June 1859 and replaced by the current station on the south side of Portland Road underline bridge. The original station building was used as a private house until the 1960s when it was demolished. The Norwood power house was removed to Park Hill House, where part of it was re-erected at the entrance of the grounds and used as a lodge; the rest was re-erected in the grounds as stables. Park Hill House was demolished in 1949.

Materials from the atmospheric railway boiler house and engine house at West Croydon were re-used in 1851 by Cox to build the steam powered waterworks in Surrey Street. However, it wasn’t built to exactly the same design. The engine house at West Croydon was of one main storey whereas that at Surrey Street is much taller.

Surrey Street Waterworks showing 1851 and 1912 buildings.

Surrey Street Waterworks showing side of 1851 building.

Surrey Street Waterworks showing 1867 tower by Baldwin Latham.

Parts of this original building can still be seen in the current listed building. The castellated addition of 1867 is by Baldwin Latham. There were further additions in 1872 (by T Walker) and 1912. The tall chimney has now gone. The purpose of the building was to pump water to the reservoir (now demolished) at Park Hill and (from 1867) the water tower. The tower was also by Baldwin Latham and still stands in Park Hill. Although the buildings in Surrey Street are now redundant for water supply purposes and empty, the wells are still pumped. The pumps now are submersible electric pumps and are remotely controlled. West Croydon station was rebuilt during 1932/33 and this removed the final remains of the old London & Croydon Railway terminus.