Talk:Chipstead railway station

Year Opened

Is anyone able to confirm when exactly in 1899 this station opened? Ringpull (talk) 01:54, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

The problem is that the only source for 1899 is that local website. Railway books such as these:

• Dendy Marshall, C.F.; Kidner, R.W. (1963) [1937]. History of the Southern Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 514. ISBN 0 7110 0059 X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 1 85260 508 1. R508.

both show 2 November 1897, which was the date of the opening from Purley to Kingswood. --Redrose64 (talk) 11:22, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Oh okay, interesting stuff. I've found another website that backs up the local Chipstead website.

"The line was opened in several stages. It first opened as a single-track railway as far as Kingswood on 2 November 1897, and then to Chipstead & Banstead Downs in 1899"

John Speller (2012). "Chipstead Valley Railway". spellerweb.net. Ringpull (talk) 17:22, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Sounds a bit dodgy, considering that Chipstead is before Kingswood on the Tattenham Corner line: how could it open to Kingswood before opening to Chipstead? However, Dendy Marshall agrees that the initial stretch was single-track: "The only recorded instance in which single lines were doubled later are two; in both cases the lines had been promoted independently. ... the Chipstead Valley (opened 1897, from a point on the Caterham branch just South of Purley, to Kingswood), where the second track from Purley to Tadworth was not introduced until 2nd July, 1900, the single line having been extended from Kingswood to Tadworth on the preceding day, and to Tattenham Corner a year later."(Dendy Marshall & Kidner 1963, p. 315) --Redrose64 (talk) 17:54, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure it opened to Kingswood first because Sir Cosmo Bonsor lived in Kingswood at the time, and he was the driving force behind its construction.

This article at the BBC states the line was extended from Purley to Kingswood too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/history/previousowners.shtml

I see no reason why Chipstead couldn't have been built shortly after Kingswood. The fact Chipstead is before Kingswood isn't much of an argument, as so are Smitham, Reedham and Woodmansterne but they were all built several years later (with the latter in the 1930's). Ringpull (talk) 21:32, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I know: the thing is, the text "The line was opened in several stages. It first opened as a single-track railway as far as Kingswood on 2 November 1897, and then to Chipstead & Banstead Downs in 1899" implies that the line was extended from Kingswood to Chipstead. If they had written something like "... It first opened as a single-track railway as far as Kingswood on 2 November 1897, and an intermediate station at Chipstead & Banstead Downs was opened in 1899", or "... It first opened as a single-track railway as far as Kingswood on 2 November 1897, and then extended to Tadworth in 1900" the meaning would be clear. --Redrose64 (talk) 21:49, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

I agree, the wording is really odd! Ringpull (talk) 01:01, 8 March 2012 (UTC)