The footbridge at Whyteleafe South station

Image: © Marathon Taken: 9 May 2012

The first proposals for a railway along the Caterham Valley came in 1836 with the object of building a new London to Dover line through a mile long tunnel under the North Downs. It proved too costly and the existing line via Redhill was used. Instead Caterham received a branch line, built by Caterham Railway, a private company, and opened in 1856. The original purpose was to provide a convenient method of transporting the valuable building stone from the quarries at Godstone to London. Soon though the original purpose was overtaken by wealthy Victorian commuters using the line as the Caterham Valley developed. There were early frustrations for these commuters, for example, in the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway arranging for the connecting train at Godstone Road (now Purley) station to leave one minute before the Caterham train arrived. Whyteleafe South station opened at the same time as the line but was called Warlingham until 1956. The single-storey main buildings are on this, the down, side. The narrow gabled station house still exists on the up side, next to the level crossing which takes Salmons Lane across the railway. This view looks in the opposite direction, up the line towards Whyteleafe, Kenley and Purley.

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