Rather than simply being demolished, between 1852 and 1854 it was rebuilt in a pleasure park at Sydenham Hill as an "events" venue, creating a potential demand for lucrative leisure travel.

In 1856 the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) arrived with a line through its own platforms next to the LBSCR station, and on to Norwood Junction.

[citation needed] The WELCPR thus became the LCDR's principal route to central London, and provided good access to the new Crystal Palace site.

The LCDR lines were extended east from Peckham as far as Nunhead then south to Upper Norwood under the auspices of the CPSLJR, an LCDR-promoted independent company.

[citation needed] The branch line had a chequered history, linked to the Crystal Palace's own precarious financial position, with two periods of closure.

[1] In the early 1990s, a local amenity group, Friends of the Great North Wood, produced a walking leaflet entitled From the Nun's Head to the Screaming Alice describing a route that closely follows the line.