Brighton railway works
50°49′55″N 0°8′19″W / 50.83194°N 0.13861°W
Brighton railway works (also known as Brighton locomotive works, or just the Brighton works) was one of the earliest railway-owned locomotive repair works, founded in 1840 by the
After use as a factory for constructing
London and Brighton Railway
The earliest locomotive servicing facility at Brighton was a small engine shed to the north-west of the station, serving the
London Brighton and South Coast Railway
Following his appointment as the Locomotive Superintendent of the successor company, the
Expansion 1860–1900
During 1860 and 1861 Craven began the removal of a large chalk hill on the western side of the main line, which had been dumped during the construction of the main line. The space created was used to accommodate a new much enlarged motive power depot in 1861, thereby permitting the closure of the existing facilities and their incorporation into the works proper.[4][5] Nevertheless, by 1866 consideration was again being given to concentrating repairs at New Cross Gate railway station.[6]
In the 1870s
Crisis at Brighton
From 1905 Brighton works was unable to keep pace with the locomotives requiring to be serviced, and backlogs began to build up. As a result, the LB&SCR established concentrations of locomotives awaiting entry to the works or else scrapping at
Plans to move the works
The LB&SCR directors recognised that part of the problem at Brighton was that the works was overwhelmed with work. In 1910 they purchased land at Lancing for a new carriage and wagon works, which was opened in 1912. This allowed Stroudley's carriage shed to be used as an overflow 'stock shed' by the locomotive works and the motive power depot. Locomotives repaired at Brighton were also sometimes taken to Lancing for their final painting.
Once confirmed in his post as Locomotive Superintendent in 1913 Billinton presented proposals to the LB&SCR board to close Brighton works and concentrate all locomotive building and repair at a new facility adjacent to the carriage works at
Locomotive building was severely curtailed at Brighton after 1916 and the works became involved in munitions production. After the war there was again a substantial backlog of repairs and new construction did not resume until late 1920.
Grouping & impending closure
Following the grouping of the LB&SCR and other railways in southern England to form the Southern Railway, in 1923, much of the new locomotive construction for the new railway was transferred to the more modern facilities at Eastleigh Works. After mid-1931, with the impending electrification of the Brighton Main Line, the locomotive works once again seemed likely to close. Many of the skilled workmen and much of the equipment were transferred to Eastleigh and Ashford, the Paint Shop was converted into an Electric multiple unit maintenance facility,[12] and the former carriage shed was converted for use by the Southern Railway's new Road Motor Engineers Department. Similarly the steam motive power depot was rebuilt and reduced in size.[13]
The Second World War and Revival
Fears of possible air attacks on Ashford and Eastleigh together with the need for more steam locomotive and armaments construction during
British Railways and closure
In the decade after the
Later uses of the site
After the closure of the main works, part of the workshop was used for the building of Isetta microcars between 1957 and 1964 and some of the land remained in railway use, associated with the stabling of electric multiple unit trains and other maintenance functions. Much of the land later became a large open car park, and was used for a popular market every Sunday morning. Some land on the eastern side was given over to an assortment of retail units including a number of car dealers with temporary structures being the predominant building type, and a strip below the yard was used for retail premises; behind these remained the stone and brick columns over which the yard had been extended when space was at a premium. Much of the land which was not suitable for use either by lock-up traders or for car parking or still in use by British Rail was left derelict. The final traces of the locomotive works vanished with the demolition of the elevated 1930s Southern Railway signal box in the mid-1980s, the signal box having used part of the main locomotive erecting-shop wall as support.
In the early years of the 21st century the site has finally seen redevelopment begin, and it lies at the heart of the New England Quarter.
Organisation of the works
A report of a visit to the works by members of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1947 described the arrangement of the works and the cranes and other mechanical equipment used. The works were then organised into:
- a boiler shop (then building new boilers for SR West Country class)
- an erecting shop (building West Country class locomotives and reconditioning of War Department "Austerity" locomotives for use on S.R. and L.N.E.R.)
- a machine shop
- a fitting shop to deal with the repairs to axle boxes, motion parts, boiler mountings, and other details.
- a coppersmith
- a pipe-fitting shop
- a light plating shop (for building smokeboxes and boiler clothing)
- a small welding shop to deal with welded details other than boilers
- a small brass foundry
The works was supplied with compressed air for pneumatic drilling, riveting, and chipping hammers; a hydraulic plant for the 250-ton plate flanging press and a 20-ton press; and both alternating and direct electric current.[16]
Locomotive construction at Brighton
The first locomotive to be constructed at Brighton was a 2-2-2, No.14.[17] Thereafter Brighton works was responsible for the design and construction of a large proportion of the locomotives operated by the LB&SCR under the engineers Craven, William Stroudley, R. J. Billinton, D. E. Marsh and L. B. Billinton.
London Brighton and South Coast Railway
Notable locomotive types constructed at Brighton included the
Southern Railway
For the first three years of
During the war years Brighton works built more than half of
The heyday of locomotive building at the works was during the decade after the war, when Brighton built more than 100
British Railways
During the early years of
In addition to the Leader class, other prototype locomotives constructed at Brighton included the third
Brighton staff were involved in the design of three of the most successful BR standard classes – the
New locomotive construction ceased in 1957 with the construction of
Other engineering work undertaken at Brighton works
As mentioned above, the works undertook marine engineering for the railway until the mid-1870s and carriage construction until the opening of
References
- ^ Griffiths, Roger & Smith, Paul (1999). The directory of British engine sheds and principal locomotive servicing points: 1 Southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales. Oxford Publishing Co. p. 69.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Griffiths (1999), pp. 79
- ^ Gray (1977), p.123.
- ^ ISBN 0-7110-1155-9.
- ^ Griffiths (1999), pp.69
- ISBN 0-7110-0059-X.
- ISBN 0-86093-583-3. 44.
- ^ Marshall (1963), p.443.
- ISSN 0307-1804.
- ISBN 978-0-85361-661-0.
- ^ Marx, (2007), pp.9–10.
- ^ Cooper (1981), pp. 86
- ^ Cooper (1981), pp. 58.
- ISBN 0-86093-503-5.
- ^ Cooper (1981), p. 65
- ^ Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History: 1947 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Visits to Works, www.gracesguide.co.uk/1947_Institution_of_Mechanical_Engineers:_Visits_to_Works (accessed 27/08/2015
- ^ a b Larkin (1992), pp. 33
- ISSN 0307-1804.
- ^ Bradley (1976), pp.26–7
- ^ Bradley (1976), p. 60.
- ^ Allen, Cecil J. (1962). British Pacific Locomotives. London: Ian Allan. p. 176.
Further reading
- Bradley, D.L. (1969) The locomotives of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway – Part 1, Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, 179 p., ISBN 0-901115-03-7
- Bradley, D.L. (1974) The locomotives of the London Brighton & South Coast Railway – Part 3, Railway Correspondence & Travel Society. 156 p., ISBN 0-901115-26-6
- Bradley, D.L. (1975) Locomotives of the Southern Railway, v. 1, Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, ISBN 0-901115-30-4
- Bradley, D.L. (1976) Locomotives of the Southern Railway, v. 2, Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, ISBN 0-901115-31-2
- Bradley, D.L. (1980) Locomotives of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, Revised edition, Railway Correspondence & Travel Society, ISBN 0-901115-49-5
- Gray, Adrian, (1980) The London to Brighton line 1841–1977, Oakwood Press.
- Larkin, E.J. and Larkin, J.G. (1988) The Railway Workshops of Great Britain 1823–1986, London : Macmillan, 266 p., ISBN 0-333-39431-3