The chief goods transported were coal, building materials, lime, manure, corn and seeds.

[5] The Surrey Iron Railway was commercially successful only briefly, until shortly after the opening of the canal between Croydon and London in 1809.

[6] By the end of the eighteenth century, a number of short plateways, such as those to the Caldon Low quarries and the Little Eaton Gangway, had been built.

The original plan for a transport connection between Wandsworth, on the River Thames, and the industries of the Wandle Valley had been a canal scheme, put forward in 1799, but doubts about the availability of water led to the adoption of a plateway.

The line started at a wharf on the Thames at Wandsworth, and ascended gently through Tooting and Mitcham to Pitlake Mead in Croydon.

The initial share capital was £50,000 to which a further £10,000 was added in 1805–1806 having been authorised by the Surrey Iron Railway Act 1805 (45 Geo.

It was a public toll railway, providing a track for independent goods hauliers to use their own horses and wagons.

[32] Rails with a constant 1 inch (2.5 cm) flange were used at road crossings, as directed by the House of Lords.

[32] Simple points or switch plates consisting of a pivoted iron rail or bar allowed trains to pass from one track to another, connect branch lines and provide sidings at the wharves.

[36][33] At the Wandsworth wharf there were a pair of turnplates or turntables that allowed the wagons to be rotated through 90° so their load could be tipped into a waiting barge.

[41] The company, Were & Bush, were significant linseed oil manufacturers at Garratt Mill where today's Trewint Street crosses the river Wandle.

[42] McGow believes they were the first known users of the Surrey Iron Railway in September 1802 when a newspaper reported three wagons carrying 33 quarters of linseed were pulled by a small horse.

[36][32][43] The train travelled at the walking pace of the person who led the horses / mules and checked the track.

[31] The Wandsworth wharf ran alongside the newly cut basin or dock that extended from the Thames nearly as far as Wandsworth High Street and could accommodate 30 barges, varying in size from the west country barge to the smaller lighter and passage boat (ferry).

[48] There was another swing (or lift) bridge at today's Armoury Way where a branch of the railway crossed the dock to Mr Shepley's (aka Shipley's) warehouse.

[21][59] Jessop had hinted at the possibility of extending the railway to the Sussex coast in 1800[60] and at the SIR's first annual meeting in June 1802 it was agreed to enquire about opening "a communication with the sea ports in the Channel, and particularly with Portsmouth".

[67] The engineering on the CM&GR was more substantial than the SIR, with an 8m high embankment at Coulsdon, parallel but southwest of Lion Green Road[68] and a 9m deep cutting or cuttings near Merstham (on the east side of London Road North opposite Harps Oak Lane) that was nearly 1 km long.

The cutting started just north of Dean Lane, which required a brick bridge to carry the road over the railway.

[70] The Coulsdon embankment extended over today's A23 where there was a brick archway "of sufficient height and width to admit a wagon loaded with hay, straw, faggots, or the like to pass underneath".

[72] Malcolm claims there was another embankment with brick arch to the south of Hooley[note 3] where the road had to be lowered to pass under it; between Purley and Coulsdon the ground had to be levelled by cutting and filling.

[75] The CM&GR had its own toll houses at Croydon and Merstham; the latter is still standing as Weighbridge Cottage, 201 London Road North, and is a grade 2 listed building.

[82] It had a double track tramway with crossovers along its east side that interconnected with both the SIR and CM&GR.

[83]  At the canal basin the wagons were dragged up a short incline on to a platform using a windlass, which likely doubled as a 4 ton crane.