plaque · London

Surrey Iron Railway

The Surrey Iron Railway was the first public railway in England, probably in the world. The railway ran along this road on its route from Croydon to the mouth of the River Wandle, a distance of nearly nine miles. Goods wagons were pulled by horses along a track of cast iron plates laid on stone sleepers, some of which are set in the wall below. The gauge was 4'2. It opened in 1803, following the passing of the Surrey Iron Railway Act in 1801, and closed in 1846, the victim of the success of newer railways, powered by steam.

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Source: Open Plaques. Geographic data via OpenStreetMap.

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Open Plaques, dedicated to the public domain (CC0). See openplaques.org.
Wikidata, available under the CC0 1.0 Universal dedication.
Historic England, National Heritage List for England, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. War memorial records are drawn from open community datasets (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, NHLE) — never from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which is excluded.

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