A transport system from London to Portsmouth was needed, either a canal or a tramway. The engineer William Jessop, recommended a tramway. He was given the job to build the first phase, from the Thames at the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth to Croydon, closely following the River Wandle which was already heavily industrialised. This began in 1801 and was completed together with the Wandsworth Basin so it was opended 1803. An extension to Godstone was authorised but only actually reached Mestham. This operated from 1805, making the entire route 18 miles long. Portsmouth was never reached. This early rail-way consisted of the rails on which carriages were pulled by horses. The rails meant that a single horse could pull much more than its usual load so the system was very efficient, but not as good as steam locomotive railways and the SIR closed in 1846. The Croydon Tramlink today uses much of the old SIR route. The SIR was the first public railway in the world not connected with a canal.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Surrey Iron Railway Company
Commemorated ati
Surrey Iron Railway Company - Croydon
Surrey Iron Railway Company 1801 {At the centre is an image of a draped femal...
Surrey Iron Railway Company - Wandsworth
Surrey Iron Railway Company 1801 {At the centre is an image of a draped femal...
Other Subjects
transportation to Australia
One of the (many) supposed origins of the word 'pom' for an Englishman, is that convicts were branded with the initials of 'Prisoner of Millbank'.
Eric Dixon
Transport campaigner. There is a plaque dedicated to him on West Hampstead Underground station, but we can't find anything about him. 2023: Deborah Chowney kindly sent us some information she foun...
Whitechapel and Bow Railway
A former underground railway in East London, It was a joint venture between the District Railway and the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. It is now entirely integrated into the London Undergro...
Moorgate tube disaster
At Moorgate station a southbound tube train from Drayton Park failed to stop on a terminus platform, ran into the tunnel, through the buffers and smashed into the wall at the end. Because it was b...
Harndale Group
Harndale Shipmanagement Services Limited was one of several companies formed by Keshava Raghuveer and Harini Raghuveer. It was incorporated on 31 January1984 with a company registration number of 0...