London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
of London Bridge Railway Station, London.
See Brighton Works
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SC Railway) (commonly known as "The Brighton line"), was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1923. [1]
Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its apex and practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base. It was bounded on its western side by the lines of the London and South Western Railway; on its eastern by the South Eastern Railway (later the South Eastern and Chatham Railway). It supplied the most direct routes to the South Coast seaside resorts of Brighton, Eastbourne and Worthing among many others. At the London end was a complicated suburban and outer-suburban network of lines.
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) was formed by Act of Parliament on 27 July 1846, through the amalgamation of a number of pre-existing railway companies.
These were:
- London and Croydon Railway (L&CR) created in 1836 and opened in 1839.
- London and Brighton Railway (L&BR) created in 1837 and opened in 1841.
- Brighton and Chichester Railway created in 1844 and opened in stages between November 1845 and June 1846, with an extension to Havant and Portsmouth under construction.
- Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway, created February 1844, opened in June 1846.
- Croydon and Epsom Railway, created in July 1844, but under construction.
1846 The company was incorporated.
1849 The South Eastern Railway and the LB&SCR agreed on access to London, something which had been a source of friction between the companies. The SER obtained access over the "Croydon" lines to Corbett's Lane junction with the London and Greenwich Railway.
1858 The Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway was sanctioned, to connect from the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway near the Battersea terminus and cross the river to the new station at Victoria Street, Pimlico. The LB&SCR subscribed half of the capital and was entitled to half of the new station.
1860 The line into Victoria was opened.
1868 Resident Engineer is Frederick Dale Banister.[2]
1875 See 1875 Number of Locomotives, The Portsmouth Waterside Extension Railway.[3].
1881 Edward J. Houghton installed electric lighting in a Pullman car train which ran between London and Brighton, thought to be the first attempt to light a train by electricity. The lighting was supplied from accumulators, recharged each night.
c.1885 Mr. Houghton designed a system so that the accumulators were charged by a dynamo placed in the guard's van and driven by belting from the axle. This worked so well that nearly 400 coaches were equipped with the apparatus on the Brighton line.
1888 See Locomotive Stock June 1888
1889 Resident Engineer is Frederick D. Banister. Loco Supt is W. Stroudley.[4]
1908 The company owns 431 miles of road (track), and jointly with others, 38 miles more. [5]
1909 The London Brighton and South Coast Railway introduced an electrification system using AEG as the electrical contractor with power supplied by the local authority. Following testing on the South London line in 1909 public services commenced there and to Crystal Palace by 1911. A high voltage distribution system of 25Hz at 6666.66V was used.[6]. The carriages for the electrified service were built by Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Co
1920 Article on the LBSCR Brighton and Lancing Works in War Time in The Engineer. [7]
1923 Became part of the Southern Railway
1924 It was reported that the electrification proposal for the Brighton line had been abandoned[8]
1925 Electrification at 6kV was extended from Balham to Coulsdon North and to Sutton via Selhurst.
However, the Southern Railway subsequently decided that the AC system was "non-standard" and should be discontinued. The AC electric trains on the South London line were replaced by DC trains in 1928, and those on the Crystal Palace (Low Level) line in 1929. The last overhead-wire AC electric train left Victoria for Coulsdon North on 22 September 1929.[9]
Locomotive Superintendents
- John Chester Craven (1847-1870)
- William Stroudley (1870–1889)
- Robert John Billinton (1890–1904)
- Douglas Earle Marsh (1905–1911)
- Lawson Butzkopfski Billinton (1911–1922)
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] Wikipedia
- ↑ 1868 Bradshaw's Railway Manual
- ↑ The Engineer 1876/10/06
- ↑ 1889 Bradshaw's Railway Manual
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ [2] Southern Railway
- ↑ The Engineer 1920/06/04 p568 & p578
- ↑ The Engineer 1924/03/21
- ↑ [3] LBSCR electrification
- Obituary of Edward Houghton