Volk’s Electric Railway

Volk's Electric Railway is the world's oldest operating electric railway. Devised by inventor Magnus Volk the railway runs for just over a mile along Brighton seafront between Aquarium (for Brighton Pier) and Black Rock (for the Marina). Actually operated by Brighton & Hove City Council the railway has a dedicated supporters group, the Volk's Electric Railway Association (VERA) that provides assistance to the railway's full time staff plus a forum for the collection of Volk's artefacts and ephemera including the model of the railway shown here.

The son of a German clockmaker Magnus Volk was born in Brighton in 1851. Educated in the town he was eventually apprenticed to a scientific instrument company. Technology was a great interest of Magnus and he was the first person in Brighton to equip his house with electric light, and he was later awarded the contract for providing the famous Royal Pavilion with electric incandescent lighting.

The railway opened at noon on August 4, 1883 operating over a quarter of a mile of 2ft gauge line on the seashore. Power was provided by a 2hp Otto gas engine driving a Siemans D5 50 volt DC generator. The small electric car was fitted with a 1½hp motor giving a top speed of about 6mph.
A new line opened on April 4th 1884 using one car and an Otto 12 hp gas engine powering a Siemens D2 dynamo at 160 rpm. This gave an output of 160 volts at 40 amps - more than sufficient to propel two new cars along the 1,400 yard long line. With the arrival of the second car a 5 or 6 minute service was provided  - weather and storm damage permitting. This service operated up until 1940 when the threat of invasion closed the railway for the duration. After he war the Corporation set to and upgraded its new asset with new rail, shelters, car shed and station.

Another  facelift followed in 1962 when the cars started to appear in a new brown and yellow livery with VR and the Brighton crest applied to the sides. At this time, like many other seaside towns, Brighton suffered a holidiay trade downturn due to cheap package holidays. This, coupled with closure of the Black Rock pool in 1978, caused the railway’s passenger numbers to drop to an all time low.

Various changes, such as the replacement of the old overhead speed control with a new ‘tram type’ controller, were introduced during the 50s and 60s had done little to halt the decline in passenger numbers. Under economic pressure a decision was taken to keep the railway running on minimum expenditure at least until its centenary in 1983 and then to see what the future held. The 1983 Centenary was a great success with Conrad Volk, Magnus’s youngest son, driving a special train. So the railway survived beyond its centenary and hopefully has many years left still.

Daddy Longlegs

One of the most admired models of recent times is the ‘Daddy Longlegs’ of Mrs May King.

In 1892 Volk sought to extend to Rottingdean. Normally that would have meant either a steep climb to take it along the cliff top or a man-made viaduct along the unstable undercliff. Not  keen on either he turned his mind to building a completely new railway that would 'travel through the sea'. A similar system was already in operation across St. Malo harbour in Brittany but this was pulled along the rails by chain rather than being self-propelled.Construction of the line started in June 1894 and consisted of two separate 2ft 8½in. gauge tracks 18ft apart, effectively an 18ft gauge vehicle!
To provide power to the car a series of trolley standards were set on the land side of the track supporting the trolley wire 21ft above the spring tide level.

While the track was being laid, the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company were getting on with the salt water tram - suitably named Pioneer and nick-named ‘Daddy Longlegs’.
It weighed 45 tons and consisted of an elliptical deck 45ft long by 22ft wide supported on four braced tubular legs each 23ft long. At the bottom of each leg was a bogie housing four 33in. wheels. One bogie on each side was driven by a shaft and worm gear arrangement from two General Electric 25hp electric motors. The other two legs carried the brake rodding to the other two bogies. An ornate saloon was mounted centrally on the deck and a promenade deck was fitted on top. Control of the motors was via tramway type controllers mounted at the 'pointed ends' of the deck.

Following some problems the line was scrapped in 1902.

For more on the Volks Railway go to: http://www.volkselectricrailway.co.uk/ where you can also download a cardboard model kit of a Volks car.