| Summary : The West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway was authorised in 1853 from an end-on junction with the Sydenham Branch Railway, with powers of extension to the Thames at Chelsea Bridge and to Norwood Junction. In 1854 a branch was also sanctioned from Bromley Junction, beyond Crystal Palace, to Farnborough in Kent. The section between Crystal Palace and Wandsworth Common opened in December 1856, the Norwood Branch in October 1857, and the Thameside terminus of the line at Pimlico opened in March 1858. The Farnborough extension was opened in 1858 as a double line to Beckenham where there was a junction with the South Eastern Railway, and a single line thence to Bromley (Shortlands) but got no further. |