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
National Railway Heritage Awards
From their website: "We are the only Awards body dedicated to encouraging and rewarding best practice in the restoration and continued upkeep of our rich heritage of railway and tramway buildings a...
Bentley Motor Car
Walter Owen Bentley (1888 - 1971), "W. O." to his friends, founded Bentley Motors Limited. The chassis for the first model (3 litres) was exhibited at the London Motor Show in October 1919. By Dece...
Paul Atterbury
As this is a fairly unusual name, we are presuming he's the same person who is one of the experts on the BBC television series 'Antiques Roadshow'. He has also written about railways.
Charing Cross Station - renovation
The original station was built on the site of Hungerford Market and opened in 1864. Londonist's post about the 1905 roof collapse has some fine photos and drawings. The post-modern office building...