Horton Light Railway

The Horton Light Railway had its origins in a contractor's line (the Ewell & Long Grove Railway) built in 1905 to transport building materials, coal and other supplies for London County Council's Epsom Cluster of psychiatric hospitals in the Horton area to the North-West of the town of Epsom.

London County Council (LCC) bought the Horton Estate in November 1896 to build a cluster of new psychiatric hospitals.

[3] Work was about to begin on the large Long Grove Hospital, and the issue of road damage got worse.

The required 41 acres (17 hectares) of land were bought in late 1904, and work started on the railway in January 1905.

[3] As a freight only railway, light gauge rails and permanent way were adopted, and rather than have run round loops (except at the exchange sidings) the locomotives would propel the loaded wagons.

The construction of the fifth institution, "West Park" was planned in October 1908, but Foster & Dicksee was blocked by the local authority from operating the railway.

The solution was that the railway was sold to London County Council so that they could build a permanent line allowing coal to be hauled to the power station at a considerable saving and benefit to the local roads.

The line was sold to LCC "as is", and they inserted a clause in the General Powers Bill of 1909 allowing them to build the line,[9] which included an extension to West Park, a siding to the power station, re-routing in various places, and the elimination of all level crossings by footbridges, and by a cutting under Hook Road.