confirmed by Act of 21 July 1859. The sale was for £15,200 including settlement of an outstanding debt. The proprietors had expended £39,367 on building the line. Chipstead Valley Railway The Chipstead Valley Railway was incorporated in 1893 to run from Purley to Walton on the Hill, and an extension to Tattenham Corner. The Chipstead Valley line was opened to Kingswood on 2 November 1897 to Tadworth and Walton on the Hill on 1 July 1900 and to Tattenham Corner on 4 June 1901. Caterham line improvements The Caterham line was doubled in December 1895. The Brighton company was asked to improve the junction at Purley, and a full double junction with the mainline and a new platform were provided. Up to this time it had been of the ordinary roadside type, with a bay on the downside for Caterham branch trains. As rebuilt there were six through roads with a corresponding number of platform faces. A new Purley engine shed built by the South Eastern was also built costing nearly £10,000. Work started in 1897 and was completed by 1 January 1900. The Brighton railway extended its quadrupling of the Brighton main line from South Croydon to Stoats Nest on 5 November 1899, and from there to Earlswood avoiding Redhill on 1 April 1900 Electrification After the success of the initial electrification of its inner suburban network, the LBSCR decided in 1912 to extend the system to the outer suburban area. This was using its 6.7kV ac overhead system. As part of the scheme, it offered to incorporate the Caterham and Tattenham Corner lines of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Their trains ran to London Bridge and were therefore going to be under the wires for the majority of their journey. In fact the formation of the Southern Railway as part of the Grouping process, following the Railways Act 1921, led to a change of plan. The overhead electrification would be abandoned, and the third rail dc system adopted by the London and South Western Railway would be used instead. Electric operation of the Caterham branch started on Sunday 25 March 1928. There were 54 trains in each direction on weekdays; nearly all the electric trains combined or separated at Purley with Tattenham Corner trains; the trains generally ran to and from London Bridge. The service was much more intensive than previously, and the Southern Railway terminated the