Norwood Junction

Norwood Junction railway station is in South Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon in south London. The station has occupied two sites under three different names.

Originally opened in 1839 the London and Croydon Railway Jolly-sailor station — "Jolly-sailor near Beulah Spa" on fares lists and timetables.

In July 1846 the L&CR merged with the L&BR to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, and the station was renamed Norwood in the same yearIn 1844 the L&CR was given parliamentary authority to test an experimental atmospheric railway system on the railway. A pumping station was built on Portland Road to create a vacuum in a continuous pipe located centrally between the rails. A piston extended downwards from the trains into a slit in the pipe, with trains blown towards the pumping station by atmospheric pressure. The pumping station was in a Gothic style, with a very tall ornate tower that served both as a chimney and as an exhaust vent for air pumped from the propulsion tube.

As part of the works for the atmospheric system, the world's first railway flyover was constructed beyond the south end of the station to carry the atmospheric line over the conventional London & Brighton Railway steam line. At the same time the level crossing at Portland Road was replaced by a low bridge across the road.

In July 1846 the L&CR merged with the L&BR to form the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, and the station was renamed Norwood in the same year.

In 1856 the station was renamed again to became Norwood Junction.

Following construction of lines to Crystal Palace the station closed on 1 June 1859 and was replaced by the current station on the south side of the A215 road. The original station building was used as a private house until the 1960s, when it was demolished.

East London Line (London Overground)
Next Station Northbound: Anerley [Link]
Next Station Southbound: West Croydon [Link]