Southern Heights Light Railway

The context of the scheme lay in the suburban development of a remote rural area near the crest of the North Downs on the Kent-Surrey border, comprising the tiny hamlet of Biggin Hill in the former together with the small but ancient village of Tatsfield in the latter.

The process involved speculative developers buying up failed country farms or estates, and dividing the land into portions or plots of about an acre which were then sold off to individuals to do with as they pleased.

The results were usually settlements of poor quality residences lacking utilities and social services, accessed by unmade tracks.

The Orpington, Cudham and Tatsfield Light Railway Company (OCTR) was therefore incorporated in 1898, with Colonel Holman Fred Stephens as the engineer.

It then turned south-west to run up the valley occupied by Cuckoo Wood to Cudham station at Hang Grove Hill.

[8][9] The SHLR scheme first drew wider public attention in March 1925, when an inquiry into the proposed line was held at Orpington, Kent.

That company's chairman, Sir Herbert Ashcombe Walker, addressed its board on the scheme's behalf in February 1926, just before the application for a Light Railway Order.

Sir Herbert obtained the board's approval for the SR to guarantee the interest on the latter, and to work the line in return for 75% of the gross receipts.

Only three of the proposed stops were to be built as full stations, and the company requested that level crossing be allowed "where necessary" (this was in contradiction to the scheme's original publicity).

The SR had to electrify a connection to the proposed western junction at Sanderstead, and chose the previously failed Woodside and South Croydon Joint Railway.

[16][18] Despite the SR's abandonment of support in 1931, electrification works already in hand were allowed to go ahead, and electric trains from London termini to Sanderstead via Woodside began in 1935.

The circuitous nature of the route meant that the proposed railway would not have attracted through traffic, especially since there was no direct passenger connection allowed for to the Brighton main line near Sanderstead.

Given this, it is noticeable that the proposed stops were quite widely spaced compared to the Southern Railway's London suburban lines in general.

[19] The topography added a further complication, this being the need to avoid crossing the several steep-sided narrow valleys which dissect the dip slope, and which would have required viaducts.

[20] South of Orpington station on the east side of the line some excess spoil was delivered to the site during the 1930s ready for construction and in 2023 was still in situ.

The fact that two out of three of the true stations proposed for the line were so close together is an indication that the focus of the scheme was very much on the Biggin Hill - Tatsfield suburban development.