The two rail system did not last very long, as the sea washing over the
track caused serious leakages of current; an off centre third rail was installed
about 1886 and the track raised on a timber viaduct above the shingle. Probably
about the
same time the gauge became 2 ft. 8.5 inches, instead of 2 ft. 9 in. During
the 1890s, Magnus was preoccupied with the Rottingdean venture, which will
he described on later pages.
As some compensation for the loss of the Rottingdean line, for which they
were partly responsible, the Corporation
allowed Volk to extend the original railway eastwards, bringing the length
to 1 miles. The extension passed through the
car shed at Paston Place, crossed Banjo Groyne on the level, and was carried
towards the Madeira Drive by a steel and
timber structure beneath which the sea washed at high tide. This viaduct
is now buried in shingle, which has piled up to
track level. Running parallel to the Drive on a timber viaduct, the extension
continued to the new terminus at Black Rock,
then a somewhat bleak spot.
There was some public protest at the danger of cars crossing the Banjo Groyne on the level, and for a time after the opening (during the year 1901) the extension was worked as a separate line, the cars starting from the east side of the Groyne. From 1902, power was taken from the town supply, but the original equipment was retained as standby. At this time the return fare was 4d.; speed rarely exceeded 8 m.p.h., although Volk had claimed in his leaflet that the cars could reach 30. Basic service was every 5-6 minutes.
The first fatality caused by the railway occurred on May 26th, 1915. when
a boy aged 7, still wet after paddling, climbed
under the viaduct and up on to the track, suffering a burn on the throat
when his body lay across the rails. Death followed quickly and was ascribed
to electric shock, although it was stated that the child was in a lymphatic
state that was conducive to death by any shock. At the inquest Volk maintained
that the maximum voltage of 170 had always been regarded as safe; people
touched the live rail for amusement to get a slight shock, and the workmen
on the line frequently received harmless shocks. He admitted that several
dogs had been killed.
Strangely enough, on the same day as the accident, another child had gripped a rail and was burnt, but he recovered sufficiently to enjoy an ice cream shortly afterwards. The Corporation Electrical Engineer said that tests had shown that the voltage did not exceed 160 when cars were running, and it fell as low as 130; the Board of Trade regarded anything below 250 as safe. Volk promised to enclose the live rail in boards, and this was done.
By this time the fleet had been built up to nine cars, and things continued
with little change for many years. In 1925
Volk operated two low loading motor buses on Guy chassis under the fleet
name Downland Cars. These worked in connection with the railway from Black
Rock station to a vantage point on the downs at the north end of Wilson
Avenue, but were not a success. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary on August
4th, 1933, the Mayor, in whitegloves, drove a new car; at his side stood
Magnus, now white-bearded and in his 82nd year, and still very proud of
his early achievement.
In 1937 the corporation opened a new Bathing Pool at Black Rock and the
railway was shortened slightly; the new Black Rock terminus was opened on
May 7th, 1937, when Magnus made his last public appearance. He died on May
20th, and his eldest son Herman took over the firm. All this time the Brighton
Beach Railway had operated without statutory
authority but by permission of the (corporation, from whom Magnus Volk,
Ltd., held a lease, which had been renewed in
1919 and was due to expire in 1939. This state of affairs was ended by the
Brighton Corporation (Transport) Act, 1938, which also empowered the Corporation
to work the line. At first the Corporation contented itself with leasing
the line back to Herman Volk under a profit-sharing agreement to be renewed
each April. Then, on April 1st, 1940, the Corporation took over the line
entirely, although by arrangement with Volk, the family name was to be retained
to describe the railway.
Thus the Corporation, which had abandoned its electric tramways on August
31st, 1939, resumed rail operation after a break of only 7 months, and the
Volk family broke its 57-year-old connection with the Beach Railway. Gordon
Volk, Magnus' novelist son, ruefully remarked remarked "it is a blessing
he never lived to see this day."
But the Corporation was to save the line for posterity and deserves the
greatest credit for its subsequent efforts.
The new owners acquired ten four wheeled cars, all of open and semi-open
type apart from the one built in 1930, which was used for winter service.
Some cars had the original Siemens motors with belt drive, and the remainder
had Belgian
motors with single reduction gear generating 8 h.p. at 750 r.p.m.
The two 1884 cars were still in full working order, and further details of all these vehicles are given in the next section.
There were three passing loops, and wooden station buildings at Aquarium, Paston Place (combined with the car shed) and Black Rock. Flat-bottomed running rails on transverse wooden sleepers acted as negative return for the 160v traction current carried in the off-centre conductor rail. There were 18 regular employees. The Corporation did not have long lo try out their new toy. At 5 p.m. on July 2nd. 1940, the Government closed the beaches against the threat of a German invasion, and the railway could not be run after that time. Defence works were built around the tracks, and the two terminal stations were demolished. The cars were trapped in their shed by the barbed wire entanglements.
After the war, the line was in a sad state; military occupation, salt corrosion
and general neglect had all but wrecked it.
It would have caused no surprise had it been abandoned there and then. But the Transport Committee obtained permission to rebuild and restore. Under the supervision of Mr. Budd, the retired tramway permanent way engineer, the track was renewed from end to end in 58 Ib. rails.
A redundant tram shelter served for the station at Aquarium, and a completely new island platform with umbrella roof was erected at the Children's Playground, about 50 yards west of the car shed at Paston Place, which no longer served as a station, its movable platform being demolished. The car shed was re-arranged to accommodate the whole fleet on five storage roads and the through running road (one of the storage roads has since been removed). Another new island platform similar to Playground was provided at Black Rock. next to the Corporation Swimming Pool. The timber walls of the car shed were rebuilt with granite setts from the tramways and these setts were also used for the platforms at Playground and Black Rock. Passing loops were provided at Playground and at the halfway points between there and each two-road terminus.
Spring-operated points were set for normal, left-hand running at the loops.
During the winter of 1947-8, the seven
best cars were restored at Lewes Road trolleybus depot. Their brown woodwork
was well varnished and conventional over-load relays and circuit breakers
were fitted. The old collector shoes were replaced by a more conventional
type which did not require wooden supports at points and crossings. A rebuilt
motor generator, once used for track welding on the tramways, was installed
to provide the line voltage of 160. This was later replaced by two Hewittic
mercury-arc rectifiiers with an output of 140 volts. The reconstructed line
was opened on May 15th, 1948.
A second fatal accident ocurred on April 11th. 1950. when a ten-year-old
girl slipped from a concrete pedestrian ramp in front of an approaching
car, and was killed at once. After another fatality, the 13 pedestrian crossings
from the Madeira Drive to the beach were fitted with light signals, which
blink red when brushes on an approaching car touch skids at the side of
the track. At Banjo Groyne crossing there is also a bell which rings when
a car is coming, and zig-zag barriers
to impede hasty dashes over the track. The line is fenced throughout with
strong wire netting.
When the Southend Pier Tramway re-newed its rolling stock in 1949, Brighton
Corporation purchased two of the old
cross-bench control trailers, converted them from 3 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. 8.5
in. gauge, and fitted motors. Apart from the wartime interruption, the first
winter closure was in 1952/3 when the opportunity was taken to over-haul
the line, work which included some resleepering in concrete with rubber
pads. A restricted winter service at weekends only was worked in 1953/4,
but the line is now closed from the end of September until just before Easter.
The present single fare is 7p (3p child) and return tickets are not at present
issued. During recent years an average of 465,000 passengers have been carried
annually, with a peak figure of 570,000 in 1966.
Until 1964, all cars on the railway ran singly, and when additional cars
were put in service, one followed behind each of the basic service cars.
each pair of cars keeping a few yards apart and closing up at the loops
and stations. Today, the
service is worked by two pairs of coupled cars passing at the centre station,
or four pairs passing at the centre station and the loops. Operation is
regulated by a signal light and bell system, operated by a master electrical
timing control in the running sheds at Banjo Groyne. There are signal lights
at all three stations and an emergency push switch at each end of the line.
The first car runs about 10 a.m. and service ceases about 6.30 p.m., except
on Bank Holidays and Sundays in August,
when it is extended to 8.30 p.m. In 1960 the line was transferred from the
Transport Committee to the Entertainments and Publicity Committee, but still
managed from Magnus Volk's old office over the workshop at Paston Place.
New
posters were produced to advertise the line, and early in 1962 all the cars
were repainted in yellow and very dark brown,
with the large initials V.R. (many must have thought they stand for Victoria
Regina!) and the Brighton coat of arms on the sides and dashes.
Plans were prepared by the new "owners" for four new fibreglass
or aluminium bogie cars costing about £5,300 each, with an expected
saving in wages. The Committee finally decided—we think wisely—that
much of the attraction of the line lay in its vintage charm, and it was
agreed instead to rebuild the existing small cars for further life and couple
them together in pairs under the control of one driver. It would seem that
the railway, which has become as much a part of the Brighton
scene as the Royal Pavilion, has an assured future; certainly Brighton would
be wise to treasure its unique attraction.
By Alan. A. Jackson
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