53 17
Local History with Mike Laslett
Local History - Part 6 The Brighton & Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway and “Daddy-Longlegs.” Mike Laslett
We noted a few months ago that the inventor Magnus Volks was buried at Ovingdean. This amazing inventor of electrical gadgetry was responsible for the world’s first electric railway in 1883. You may still enjoy a ride along the Brighton seafront from the Aquarium Station to Black Rock on the Volk’s Electric Railway. However, in 1896, this railway was extended from Paston Place to Rottingdean for a brief period. The railway used an electrically propelled carriage on stilts called The Pioneer which became nicknamed “Daddy-Longlegs” and offered a “Sea Voyage on Wheels”. Its four giant legs ran on twin tracks, mounted on concrete sleepers, which were completely submerged at high tide. It took electric current from an overhead wire supported on wooden poles in the manner of a tram, returning the current through the rails. It was the only railway locomotive in the world that was required to carry a lifeboat and lifebelts!
After only one week the car was wrecked during the storm which destroyed the Chain Pier and though The Pioneer was rebuilt it was never powerful enough to make sufficient progress at high tide. The railway’s final demise came in 1901 when Brighton Corporation needed to install sea defences in the form of groynes which blocked the route. At low tide between Rottingdean and the Marina you can still see the double line of concrete tracks across the rock pools and if you look carefully just to the west of Rottingdean beach huts you can see the stumps of several wooden poles whose purpose was to carry the overhead electric line more than 100 years ago. For more information about Volk’s Electric Railway Association see their excellent website: http://www.volkselectricrailway.co.uk/
“Daddy Long Legs” leaving Paston Place
Wooden stump at Rottingdean
R B Services Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ
Plumbing Building Painting Tiling Metal Work
Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ
Handy Man Kitchens fitted Bathrooms fitted Decking Misty units replaced LOCAL BUSINESS
Call Richard on:
01273 301041or 07795 578900 To advertise call 01273 586527 or email info@deansmagazine.co.uk
LOCAL BUSINESS