Volk's Electric Railway

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tram
Volk's Electric Railway
image
Basic information
Country United Kingdom
city Brighton
opening 4th August 1883
operator City of Brighton and Hove
Infrastructure
Route length 1.64 km (since 1990)
Gauge 825 mm
Power system 110 V DC through internally offset power rail
Stops 3
Depots 1
business
Lines 1
traveled route
Legend
   
 former Palace Pier station
   
 Aquarium station
Blockstelle, Awanst, Anst etc.
 Evasion
Station, station
 Paston Place ("Halfway Station")
Station without passenger traffic
 Depot
Blockstelle, Awanst, Anst etc.
 Evasion
   
 Black Rock Station (Marina)
   
 former Black Rock station

Volk's Electric Railway is a Railway in Brighton and the oldest electric railway in the UK . Its current track width is 825 millimeters.

history

The runway opened along the coast on August 4, 1883, and originally connected the aquarium to the Old Chain Pier. It is named after its builder, Magnus Volk , a son of German immigrants. Instead of an overhead line , Volk initially opted for a power supply via the two rails, originally 610 mm apart, with 50  V voltage. Electricity generation took over a 2-hp gas engine , the D5 a generator from Siemens for operation. The top speed was six miles per hour. When it opened, the route was almost half a kilometer long; In 1884 it was extended by a 1.2 kilometer section beyond the Old Chain Pier to Paston Place . In the course of this work, the track width was also widened to 838 millimeters and the driving voltage increased to 110 volts. In 1886, the track has been again changed to 825 mm and a third rail for power supply as a power rail installed. To avoid short circuits in the damp environment, the entire length of the route was laid on wooden yoke bridges .

When the Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway, also built by Volk from 1894 to 1896 and running parallel to the coast through the sea , had to be abandoned as a connection to the neighboring town of Rottingdean to the east, another extension to Black Rock followed in 1901 , so that the railway now has two Was kilometers long. One of the most remarkable constructions was a bridge that led directly over the water and the beach.

After the death of Magnus Volk in 1939, the railway became the property of the city. The Second World War caused operations to be interrupted, which was only resumed on May 15, 1948 after eight years. In 1952 and 1953 the railway was completely overhauled and from 1954 it is only operated between Easter and September. It then runs between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. or on weekends until 6 p.m.

The railway is now operated between the terminus Aquarium Station and Black Rock , both of which were slightly relocated in the 1930s by shortening the route by 183 meters each. The Palace Pier, completed in 1899, is connected to the marina . In the middle of the route there is the Halfway Station stop ( Peter Pan ’s Playground). The beach level has meanwhile increased due to the construction of groynes and the relocation of gravel along the English Channel so that the route runs sufficiently high above sea level even without bridge construction.

gallery

  • Trip in stormy weather around 1890

  • The middle station of the Volk's Electric Railway

  • VER vehicles

  • VER track with third rail for power supply

literature

  • Alan A. Jackson: Volk's Railways Brighton - an illustrated history . Plateway Press, 1993, ISBN 1-871980-18-6 .

Web links

Commons : Volk's Electric Railway  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 49 ′ 0 ″  N , 0 ° 7 ′ 17 ″  W.