The Volk's Railway in Brighton

The World's Oldest Operating Electric Railway

Jul 23, 2009 John O'Connor

In Brighton on the South coast of England, an idiosyncratic example of Victorian eccentricity sits along side the pier and bustling day trippers - The Volk's Railway.

On 4 August 1883, the son of a German watchmaker introduced a remarkable attraction for locals and visitors alike to the bustling seaside town of Brighton - Magnus Volk unveiled The Volk's Electric Railway.

The Early Years of the Volk's Electric Railway

Originally running a quarter of a mile from opposite the Brighton Aquarium to the Chain Pier, Volk's applied for an extension westward to the the town boundary. The Council did not approve and he instead turned east and was granted permission to extend to the Banjo Groyne.

This caused technical challenges to Volks and his team. Although running parallel to the shore, extensive timber trestles were required to bridge gaps in the shingle and combat sharp gradients near the Chain Pier. The resourceful Volks triumphed and the extension opened on 4 April 1884.

Two years later the line was raised by means of a wooden viaduct to offer protection from the sea, but a decade later a severe storm destroyed the Chain Pier and put great strain on the continuing viability of the railway. Just prior to the fearsome December storm Volks had opened a remarkable new project - a railway through the sea called the Daddy Long Legs.

The Daddy Long Legs on the Volk's Railway

The embryonic idea of the Daddy Long Legs occurred to Volks in 1892 when he envisaged extending his railway three miles along the coast to Rottingdean. To achieve this would entail either a steep climb to run along the cliff top or a further viaduct running under the unstable undercliff. As neither option appealed, Volk's decided to build a fresh railway line that would travel through the sea.

Finance was raised locally and construction began in 1894 with the official opening on 28 November 1896. However the December storm of the 4th and 5th wreaked havoc and almost drowned the ambitious project at birth. The tram, named Pioneer, was torn from its moorings at Rottingdean and slid slowly down the 1 in 100 slope and away from the jetty to face the full force of the channel storm.

The new day brought hope however with damage not as catastrophic as initially feared - the track only broken at a single point, overhead wire still intact with only three poles damaged and the jetty somehow surviving. What remained of Pioneer was salvaged and placed along side Banjo Groyne to be rebuilt with legs two feet longer than originally designed. In less that a year, on 20 July 1897, the railway reopened to much local celebration.

Despite its popularity, the Daddy Long Legs railway did not survive. It proved suitable for only shallow waters and the investment required to install more powerful motors did not materialise. After further difficulties involving work on sea defence the line was finally abandoned in midsummer 1902.

For almost ten years Pioneer slowly rusted at nearby Ovingdean pier before finally being sold for scrap. Today little physical evidence remains of Volk's magnificent construction apart from the concrete sleepers which can be seen at low tide at Rottingdean.