London, Brighton and South Coast Railway closely involved with the company that purchased The Crystal Palace after the completion of The Great Exhibition in October 1851 and arranged for its removal to a site on Sydenham Hill, close to the London to Brighton main line, where it became a major tourist attraction. The LB&SCR therefore encouraged the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway to build a branch line from Sydenham, opened in June 1854. This was extended in a wide arc round south London to Wandsworth in 1856 and Battersea Pier in 1858. Shortly after the line was completed, the LB&SCR leased it and
West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway The West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) was an early railway company in south London between Crystal Palace station and Wandsworth, which was opened in 1856. The line was extended in 1858 to a station at Battersea Wharf which was misleadingly named Pimlico. Throughout its brief existence the railway was operated by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) to which it was leased in 1858 and sold in 1859. This relatively short line was of considerable importance to the history of railways of south London as it