Completion of the line from Horsham to Guildford took place in October 1865, however it was always something of a backwater and never lived up to the expectations of the promoters. Hopes of channelling traffic from the Midlands to the South Coast via a link to the Horsham–Shoreham route at Christ’s Hospital remained unfulfilled and the branch settled down to an uneventful existence for just short of 100 years before closing in 1965. Serving a largely rural community with limited passenger potential meant that trains were infrequent and slow, and right up to the end were mainly worked by steam. Had the route been developed into a double track electrified line, feeding into a similarly electrified route from Christ’s Hospital to Shoreham and the South Coast, things may have turned out very differently.
In From the Adur to the Wey Volume 2: Horsham-Christ’s Hospital-Cranleigh-Guildford images of all the stations on this rural route are featured, together with photographs showing the variety of motive power that ran on its tracks. Also included are black & white images of tickets, and a map from 1920 showing Peasmarsh Junction.
Hardback. 90 black & white photographs. 80 pages.