1.
East Grinstead
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East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex district of West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies 27 miles south of London,21 miles north northeast of Brighton, the civil parish covers an area of 2,443.45 hectares and had a population of 23,942 persons in the 2001 census. The population of the town at the 2011 Census was 26,383, nearby towns include Crawley and Horley to the west, Tunbridge Wells to the east and Redhill and Reigate to the northwest. The town is contiguous with the village of Felbridge to the northwest, until 1974 East Grinstead was the centre for local government - East Grinstead Urban District Council - and was located in the county of East Sussex. The town has historic buildings and is located on the Greenwich Meridian. It is located in the Weald and Ashdown Forest lies to the south-east of the town, the High Street contains one of the longest continuous runs of 14th-century timber-framed buildings in England. Other notable buildings in the town include Sackville College, the sandstone built in 1609 where the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas was written by John Mason Neale. The college has sweeping views towards Ashdown Forest, in the churchyard are commemorated the East Grinstead Martyrs, and in the south-east corner is the grave of John Mason Neale. The Greenwich Meridian runs through the grounds of the historic 1769 East Court mansion, home of the Town Council, the mansion stands in a parkland setting. In 1968 the East Grinstead Society was founded as an independent body both to protect the important buildings of East Grinstead and to improve the amenities for future generations. On the outskirts of the town is Standen, a house belonging to the National Trust, containing one of the best collections of arts and crafts movement furnishings. Off the A264 to Tunbridge Wells, there is a 1792 historic house called Hammerwood Park which is open to the twice a week in summer. East Grinstead House is the headquarters of the Caravan Club, local attractions include Ashdown Forest and the Bluebell Railway, a preserved heritage line with steam locomotives. The town is also the site of Queen Victoria Hospital, where famed plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe treated burns victims of World War II and formed the Guinea Pig Club. A statue of Sir Archibald McIndoe caring for an airman was erected in June 2014 outside Sackville College and was unveiled by HRH The Princess Anne. The town is located to visit Chartwell the country home of Sir Winston Churchill, Hever Castle home of Henry VIIIs second wife Anne Boleyn. Kidbrooke Park, a home of the Hambro family, was restored by the noted Sussex architect and antiquarian, Walter Godfrey, during the Second World War, the town became a secondary target for German bombers which failed to make their primary target elsewhere. On the afternoon of Friday 9 July 1943, a Luftwaffe bomber became separated from its squadron, followed the railway line and circled the town twice
2.
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
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The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a triangle, with London at its apex, practically the whole coastline of Sussex as its base. It was bounded on its side by the London and South Western Railway. It served the inland towns/cities of Chichester, Horsham, East Grinstead and Lewes, at the London end was a complicated suburban and outer-suburban network of lines emanating from London Bridge and Victoria, and shared interests in two cross-London lines. The London and Brighton Railway, created in 1837 and opened in 1841, the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway, created in February 1844, opened in June 1846. The Croydon and Epsom Railway, created in July 1844, under construction at the time of amalgamation, at the time of its creation the LB&SCR had around 170 route miles in existence or under construction, consisting of three main routes and a number of branches. The main line to Brighton from London Bridge opened in 1841, the sections between Corbetts Lane and London Bridge and between Croydon and Redhill were shared with the South Eastern Railway. There were two lines under construction at the time of the amalgamation, the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines from Croydon to Epsom. The West Sussex coast line originated with a line from Brighton to Shoreham. This was extended to Chichester by the time of the amalgamation, a connecting spur from the Brighton main line at Keymer Junction near Haywards Heath to the Brighton-Lewes line was under construction at the time of amalgamation. A short line from New Cross to Deptford Wharf, proposed by the L&CR, was approved in July 1846, shortly before amalgamation, a short branch from this line to the nearby Surrey Commercial Docks in Rotherhithe opened in July 1855. The main London terminus was the L&CR station at London Bridge, built by the London and Greenwich Railway in 1836, and exchanged for the original L&CR station in 1842. For the first few years of its existence, LB&SCR trains used the L&GR lines from Corbett’s Lane into London, the LB&SCR inherited from the L&CR running powers to the smaller SER passenger terminus at Bricklayers Arms. Poorly sited for passengers, it closed in 1852 and was converted into a goods station, the LB&SCR owned two stations at Croydon, later East Croydon and West Croydon. The L&CR had been operated by the atmospheric principle between Croydon and Forest Hill, as the first phase of a scheme to use this mode of operation between London and Epsom. However, following a number of problems, the LB&SCR abandoned atmospheric operation in May 1847. This enabled it to build its own lines into London Bridge, the history of the LB&SCR can be studied in five distinct periods. However, the LB&SCR had one important playing card not available to the L&BR – control of the SER main line between New Cross and Croydon, under this agreement the LB&SCR would have free access to London Bridge, Bricklayers Arms station and goods yard, and Hastings
3.
Standard gauge
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The standard gauge is a widely used railway track gauge. Approximately 55% of the lines in the world are this gauge, all high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge. The distance between the edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC track gauge, as railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge to be used. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a gauge of 1435 mm. In North East England, some lines in colliery areas were 4 ft 8 in. All these lines had been widened to standard gauge by 1846, parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. However, until well into the half of the 19th century, Britain. The American gauges converged as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent, notably, all the 5 ft broad gauge track in the South was converted to standard gauge over the course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States, snopes categorized this legend as false, but commented that. It is perhaps more fairly labelled as True, but for trivial, the historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles approximately 5 feet apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Others were 4 ft 4 in or 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in, the English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He favoured 4 ft 8 in for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham, the Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephensons Stockton and Darlington railway was primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees. The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge, George Stephenson used the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The success of this led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, authorised 1824 and opened 1825, used 4 ft 6 in, Dundee and Newtyle Railway, authorised 1829 and opened 1831, used 4 ft 6 1⁄2 in
4.
Sheffield Park railway station
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Sheffield Park is the southern terminus of the Bluebell Railway and also the headquarters of the line. It is located on the bank of the River Ouse and is also situated on the Greenwich Meridian. Originally named Fletching and Sheffield Park, the name of the village was dropped in 1883 following objections by the Earl. It was originally closed in May 1955 but was reopened in August 1956 after it was found the closure was illegal, following the lines closure in 1958, a group of students formed a society with the intention of preserving part of the East Grinstead to Lewes line. On 7 August 1960 the group began working a short stretch of line between Sheffield Park and Bluebell Halt, just south of Horsted Keynes which was leased to it by British Railways. By 1968, the group had raised funds to purchase both the Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes stations, with the former now the Bluebell Railways headquarters. The station now plays host to a shop, model railway, museum, the new combined shop and office block was opened in the late 1990s as the original shop was too cramped for the purpose. This was subsequently demolished, creating an open area on the platform for picnic tables. The station also houses the locomotive workshops and sheds, which are a major focal point for visitors to the line. It is restored in a LBSCR style of the start of the 20th century, an unusual signal box can be found on the platform, a popular feature being found at other small stations on the LBSCR where cost saving during SR days reduced manning to a Porter/Signalman. The structure of the box is post-preservation, replacing a fence enclosing what was more than a ground frame. Construction work started in January 2010 with about three quarters of the coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project was completed in early 2012 and it provides storage for many of the lines operational vintage carriages and the Pullman dining train. In addition, several bridges would need to be replaced on the route
5.
Oxted line
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The Oxted line is a railway in southern England and part of the Southern franchise. The railway splits into two branches towards the south and has direct trains throughout to London termini and it was opened jointly by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and the South Eastern Railway in the 19th century. The line branches from the London to Brighton main line at South Croydon in Greater London, the line then passes under the North Downs in two tunnels, and then splits into two branches at Hurst Green, adjoining Oxted in Surrey. One of these ends at East Grinstead, the other at Uckfield. The line is double track, but there are some sections of single track on the Uckfield branch. A line was proposed in 1864 from Croydon to Tunbridge Wells via Oxted by a group of former LB&SCR directors and their proposal for the Surrey and Sussex Junction Railway was to have the scheme underwritten and then operated by the LB&SCR. However, the South Eastern Railway saw the S&SJR, and particularly the involvement of the LB&SCR chairman Leo Schuster, in addition to creating a rival to its own line to Tunbridge Wells, the SER saw the LB&SCRs direct involvement as contravening an 1849 agreement between the two companies. In retaliation, the SER put forward proposals for a London, Lewes and Brighton railway together with the London Chatham and Dover Railway. As a result of difficulties and the financial crisis of 1866-7, the LB&SCR signed a new agreement with the SER in which it withdrew support for the S&SJR. Work on the S&SJR immediately ceased, but the company remained in existence until 1869. On 10 March 1884, the LB&SCR and the SER formed a joint venture company, surveyed and engineered by the LB&SCRs Chief Engineer Frederick Banister, the proposed route in part used trackbed constructed for but never used by the S&SJR. Some of the redundant materials were used to electrify the section between South Croydon and Selsdon in 1984 and a few electric trains then operated from London to Sanderstead via East Croydon. The section beyond Sanderstead to East Grinstead was electrified in 1987 at 750 V DC third rail, however, the Uckfield branch is not electrified, and is worked by Class 171 diesel multiple units, which replaced Class 205 and Class 207 DEMUs. The standard service on the line is two trains per hour from London Victoria to East Grinstead and one train per hour from London Bridge to Uckfield, additional services operate on both branches at peak times. On Sundays, the London Bridge to Uckfield service runs only between Oxted and Uckfield, oyster and contactless payment cards are valid on the Oxted route as far as Upper Warlingham. The Bluebell Railway runs from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead, where it has built a new station which interchanges with the National Rail station. Passenger services started on 23 March 2013, ashurst and Eridge on the Uckfield branch were junctions for Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead, which were linked directly by the Spa Valley Railway, which used part of the route. Eridge was until 1965 a junction for Cuckoo Line to Eastbourne, a short stretch of the main line, between Uckfield and Lewes is preserved at Isfield as the Lavender Line
6.
Hurst Green railway station
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Hurst Green railway station serves Hurst Green in Surrey, in England. Train services from the station are provided by Southern, and the station is on the Oxted Line, on the London-bound platform is a manned ticket office and a self-service passenger-operated ticket machine is located outside the station on the London-bound side. A self-service PERTIS passenger-operated coin-in-the-slot ticket machine is available on London-bound Platform 1 for use when the office is closed. The typical off-peak service is, 2tph to London Victoria via Oxted 1tph to London Bridge via Oxted 2tph to East Grinstead, the original Hurst Green Halt opened 1 June 1907 with short wooden platforms It was sited between the road bridge and the junction between the East Grinstead/Uckfield lines. This halt was closed on 12 June 1961 and the present station was opened on the northside of the bridge, train times and station information for Hurst Green railway station from National Rail
7.
Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line
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Opened in 1855, the main section of the line was a casualty of the Beeching Axe – the last train ran on 1 January 1967. The remaining section to Tunbridge Wells closed on 6 July 1985, the LBSCRs bill was passed, however, due to a sudden economic crisis this scheme was abandoned. In July 1852 a public meeting place in East Grinstead to discuss the setting-up of a railway company which would build a line to Three Bridges. The majority of landowners affected were in favour and a contractor, unfortunately, he was killed in accident shortly afterwards. A company, the East Grinstead Railway Company, was incorporated in November to promote a bill authorising a railway between Three Bridges and East Grinstead, the EGRs bill received royal assent on 8 July 1853 and passed into law as the East Grinstead Railway Act. It authorised a single track line covering a distance of 6 miles 67 chains, before the Act was passed the route underwent a late change necessitated by a landowners objections, a Mr J. H. Wilson who occupied The Grange in Crawley Down. He refused to allow a station on his land and demanded the line be deviated through a tunnel, the first post-authorisation EGR board meeting was held at the Crown Inn in East Grinstead on 6 October 1853. Present were the directors, all prominent local businessmen, led by John Dorrien Magens, George Head, William Stenning, Charles Tooke. The costs of construction were estimated at £50,000 - the same amount which the LBR had proposed to pay for the line when it was ready. George Wythes of Reigate agreed to construct the line for £43,700, only Mr Wilson of The Grange was stubbornly refusing to part with his land and required the matter to be taken to arbitration under the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845. Before the arbitrator Wilson demanded £5,500 compensation, but only received £1,400. The EGRs engineer, R. Jacomb Hood, confirmed the progress of works, mid-May 1855 saw last minute works on the line before the scheduled inspection by the Board of Trades Lt. -Col. The station at East Grinstead was in its stages and the line from Three Bridges was ready. Wynne found no fault with the line, requiring only an undertaking from the EGR to the effect that the line would only be worked by a single engine, the line was officially opened on Monday 9 July 1855. A public holiday in East Grinstead marked the occasion which was celebrated by over 200 guests, among those present was local landowner the Earl de la Warr who commented that although the line was not long, its importance was not to be measured merely by its length. The total amount expended on the construction was £48,721. Initial passenger services consisted of six each way on weekdays. Total journey time was 20 minutes each way, the last Down train was the 18,00 service from London which would connect with a service from Three Bridges scheduled to arrive in East Grinstead at 19,40
8.
Three Bridges railway station
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Three Bridges railway station is located in and named after the village of Three Bridges, which is now a district of Crawley, West Sussex, England. It is at the point where the Arun Valley Line diverges from the Brighton Main Line and it was designed by the architect David Mocatta, and was one of a series of standardised modular buildings used by the railway. This building was demolished 5 May 1985, the London and Brighton Railway merged with others to become the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846, and the branch to Horsham was opened two years later. Three Bridges was enlarged in July 1855 with the construction of a line to East Grinstead. The present ticket office was built on the west side of the line and new platforms. Electric multiple unit trains began to run between London and Three Bridges on 17 July 1932, the line was electrified throughout on 30 December. At the same time the practice of using slip coaches for East Grinstead at Three Bridges from expresses bound for the south coast was abandoned by the Southern Railway, the line from Three Bridges to Horsham was electrified in May 1938. The single-track branch line to East Grinstead was never electrified and it remained steam operated, using tank locomotives of the M7 and H classes hauling push–pull trains. After the end of operation in 1964, it was then briefly operated by diesel-electric multiple units of British Rail Class 205. There have been four recorded accidents at Three Bridges station, the first two of which were minor and involved no injuries. On 12 April 1858 an engine collided with passenger carriages, two members of station staff died on 13 December 1868 from an explosion of naphtha in a truck of a goods train. On 28 January 1933 an electric train crashed into the back of a freight train waiting at the signal box. The driver of the train and the guard of the freight train were both seriously injured. An engine shed was opened in July 1848 on a site to the west of the station. This was closed in 1909 to make way for the enlargement of the station, the original small goods yard to the south of the station was greatly extended during the First World War and was used as a marshalling yard for munitions trains heading for the Continent. Trains from the Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway were brought here for onward transmission to Newhaven Harbour, in the early 2000s, Virgin CrossCountry built a depot at Three Bridges to service its Class 220 Voyagers. It closed following CrossCountry withdrawing its Gatwick and Brighton services in December 2008, the operating centre build was designed as a 71.45 by 34.8 m three-storey building with 6,980 m2 of floorspace, providing railway operational and administrational and training facilities. Equipment was primarily on the floor, with the operation rooms on first
9.
Groombridge railway station
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Groombridge railway station is a station on the Spa Valley Railway in Groombridge, East Sussex, England. Once a busy station serving four directions, it closed in 1985 to British Rail services, a new station the other side of Station Road bridge was opened by the SVR in 1997 as part of a standard gauge heritage railway to Tunbridge Wells West. At this time trains from Lewes and Uckfield could only reach East Grinstead by reversing at Groombridge, the station buildings were designed by Charles Henry Driver. Authority was therefore obtained in 1878 to lay a single track south of Ashurst Junction which would enable services to bypass Groombridge. Although completed in 1888 this spur remained largely unused until 1914 and it was eventually doubled to handle increased traffic on the Cuckoo Line and regular services to Uckfield. This spur thus reduced the importance of Groombridge as a station as direct Victoria - Crowborough/Uckfield services no longer had to reverse at Groombridge. The opening of the spur meant that services were routed through Eridge which became the point where London trains were divided for the two lines south. To compensate for loss, slip coaches were shed from some down trains at Ashurst. Upon the completion of the Cuckoo Line in 1880, the line between Eridge and Groombridge was doubled, at the same time, a crossover was constructed on the western side of Groombridge station, together with associated signalling equipment, and later the Groombridge West signal box. A second signal box, Groombridge Junction, was provided on the opening of the Cuckoo Line, within 10 years of nationalisation, the three signal boxes had been closed by British Rail and replaced by a single box on 23 November 1958 when the Groombridge section was resignalled. The station was equipped with three faces, the main station platform was used for down trains, whilst the far side of an island platform served the up trains. A double track ran through the station, with a third line splaying out to the side of the island before merging once again with the line to Tunbridge Wells. Four sets of sidings lay to the north of the main station serving a carriage dock, blacksmiths shop. By 1899 the levels of traffic generated from the Oxted Line prompted the LBSCR to invest in extending the island platform, until 1965 north-south services were run in two sections, Victoria - Tunbridge Wells West, and Tunbridge Wells West - Brighton/Eastbourne. The Cuckoo Line was the first to go in June 1965, followed by the line from Three Bridges and East Grinstead in January 1967, the line between Ashurst Junction and Groombridge, was taken out on 5 January 1969. At the same time, the box opened in 1958 was closed leaving the block signalling section between Tunbridge Wells West and Birchden Junction. The island platform has been demolished and houses have built on part of the trackbed requiring the new single track to curve along the trackbed of the old up loop line into the new station. A joint ticket between the railway and nearby Groombridge Place is available, canopies have been erected on the station, using the former canopy supports from Gravesend West station
10.
East Grinstead railway station
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East Grinstead railway station serves the town of East Grinstead in West Sussex, England. Only the lower level platforms remain open today, the high level having closed in 1967 with the Three Bridges to Ashurst Jn. line as part of the closure programme proposed by the Beeching Report. A third low-level platform has been constructed at the south of the station by the Bluebell Railway, Bluebell services began running south to Sheffield Park from 23 March 2013. The current East Grinstead station is the fourth to have been constructed in the town, the first station to serve East Grinstead was built by the East Grinstead Railway as the terminus of its 6-mile-67-chain single-track line from Three Bridges. It was opened on 9 July 1855 in Swan Mead off the London Road, well-situated for the town centre, with the first train out at 12,12 pm. Constructed at a cost of £3,000, the station comprised a main building which survives to this day, as well as timber goods. The goods facilities were described in a specification as being equal to those at Hailsham railway station, there were probably two platform faces and the goods yard was on the up side. The first stationmaster was a Peter Nesbitt, he remained in post until his death on 10 September 1864, the initial passenger service consisted of six trains each way daily and two on Sundays, trains started and finished at East Grinstead. The service appears to have exceeded expectations as the service increased to nine each way on weekdays, the fastest time to London was 1¼ hours achieved by the 4,00 pm down train which was first-class only. As from September 1855, an additional train was provided each way. This was increased to nine each way by 1862, the rail fare from East Grinstead to London was 6s first class and 3s third class. The line was operated from its outset by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway for a rental of £2,000 until January 1865. It was reached by steps from the road by the bridge, the station building straddled the double track with basements at platform level which contained the stationmasters office and porters room. A large brick goods shed replaced the timber structure, whilst the site of the old station became a goods yard. The new station was opened for traffic on 1 October 1866, the initial passenger service was poor, with only six trains each way and the withdrawal of three East Grinstead to Three Bridges services. Journey time to Tunbridge Wells was just under an hour, in 1869 annual season tickets to London were £32 first class and £24 second class, while returns were 9s 6d first, 7s 6d second and 4s 8d third. The L&EG would approach the Three Bridges line from the south at a right-angle and it was therefore decided to build a new station around 300 yards to the west which would be arranged on two levels. The main buildings were on the low level platform, the low level station was set at a right-angle to the high level and it had two platforms to serve the L&EG and CO&EG
11.
National Rail
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The name and the accompanying double arrow symbol are the intellectual property of the Secretary of State for Transport. The National Rail logo was introduced by ATOC in 1999, and was used on the Great Britain public timetable for the first time in the edition valid from 26 September in that year. Rules for its use are set out in the Corporate Identity Style Guidelines published by the Rail Delivery Group, the NR title is sometimes described as a brand. As it was used by British Rail, the operator before franchising, its use also maintains continuity and public familiarity. National Rail should not be confused with Network Rail, the two networks are generally coincident where passenger services are run. Most major Network Rail lines carry traffic and some lines are freight only. About twenty privately owned operating companies, each franchised for a defined term by government. The Rail Delivery Group is the association representing the TOCs and provides core services. It also runs Rail Settlement Plan, which allocates ticket revenue to the various TOCs, and Rail Staff Travel and it does not compile the national timetable, which is the joint responsibility of the Office of Rail Regulation and Network Rail. Since the privatisation of British Rail there is no longer a single approach to design on railways in Great Britain, the look and feel of signage, liveries and marketing material is largely the preserve of the individual TOCs. However, National Rail continues to use BRs famous double-arrow symbol and it has been incorporated in the National Rail logotype and is displayed on tickets, the National Rail website and other publicity. The trademark rights to the arrow symbol remain state-owned, being vested in the Secretary of State for Transport. The double arrow was already prescribed for indicating a railway station, the lettering used in the National Rail logotype is a modified form of the typeface Sassoon Bold. It is a misconception that Rail Alphabet was also used for printed material. The British Rail typefaces of choice from 1965 were Helvetica and Univers, TOCs may use what they like, examples include Futura, Helvetica, Frutiger, Bliss, and a modified version of Precious by London Midland. Several conurbations have their own metro or tram systems, most of which are not part of National Rail, LO now also possesses some infrastructure in its own right, following the reopening of the former East London line of London Underground as the East London Railway of LO. Heathrow Express and Eurostar are also not part of the National Rail network despite sharing of stations, northern Ireland Railways were never part of British Rail, which was always confined to Great Britain, and therefore are not part of the National Rail network. National Rail services have a common ticketing structure inherited from British Rail, through tickets are available between any pair of stations on the network, and can be bought from any station ticket office
12.
Imberhorne Viaduct
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Imberhorne Viaduct is a Grade II listed railway viaduct located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, South-East England. Closed in 1958, the structure was brought back into use as part of the preserved Bluebell Railway heritage line in 2013, allowing trains to continue to East Grinstead railway station. Built to span the lands of Imberhorne Farm, it was designed and engineered by Frederick Banister, then Chief Engineer for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Built as part of the Lewes and East Grinstead Railway and built to allow double-track operations, it is 700 feet in length and spanning the valley at a maximum height of 90 feet. Construction started in 1880, with ten brick arches each with a span of 60 feet reaching a height of 70 feet. The parapets have five panels above each arch, and there are string courses below. A feature of the viaduct is that the imposts are of stone on the face of the piers, opened in 1882, and also known as Hill Place Viaduct, it carried the Lewes and East Grinstead Railway south from East Grinstead to Kingscote, and onwards to Lewes. After the closure of the Lewes and East Grinstead Line south from East Grinstead in 1958, Imberhorne cutting located south of the viaduct was designated as a domestic rubbish dump, and infilled with waste during the 1970s. After various local residents requested the demolition of the decaying viaduct, in 1992, after British Rail had closed the carriage sidings and undertaken required emergency repair work to the whole structure, the viaduct was donated to the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. Further renovation was undertaken subsequently, including waterproofing the deck, brickwork repairs, after reaching Kingscote in 1994, the Bluebell Railway Society undertook renovation of the section to reconnect the line with East Grinstead. On 7 March 2013 the Bluebell Railway was reconnected with East Grinstead, the first scheduled service ran across the viaduct on 23 March 2013, following 55 years of disuse. Imberhorne Viaduct was used during the filming of the Foyles War episode The Russian House, at the beginning of the episode, an escaped prisoner of war is running from the East Grinstead end of the viaduct. Once surrounded, he leaps from the bridge. The Viaduct appears in the Mercedes Benz Smart Forfour advert, the car-train hybrid is shown driving over the viaduct using the rail line, now owned by the Bluebell Railway
13.
Kingscote railway station
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Kingscote railway station is a preserved railway station on the heritage Bluebell Railway, located in West Sussex, England. Designed in the then fashionable Domestic Revival style, located on the westwards facing No, all of this structure was fronted both sides by a timber-supported hipped canopy, which like all of the other buildings carried a hipped slate roof. The station had substantial sidings and a loading dock located just to the north of No.1 platform. The downside No.2 platform was connected to the buildings by a 50 feet glazed footbridge. The signal box was located on the end of No.2 platform. Located in an area remote from any significant residential or commercial development, resultantly, in 1910 the goods shed was moved to Horsted Keynes, and the northern sidings complex greatly simplified. In the 1930s, the Southern Railway removed many of the superfluous LB&SCR decorations, the station closed on 29 May 1955. The tracks were lifted by contractors in 1963, after which the site was sold to the land owner. In the 1970s, the station was redeveloped as a residential house. This gave access to the site at Kingscote, where an initial run-around loop was installed. After reconstruction of the former downside No.2 platform, the station was reopened in 1994, to comply with the extensions planning permission, the station has no public car parking. From its reopening in 1994 to 2013, the station acted as the terminus of the Bluebell Railway. Since reopening the station, it has been adopted by a friends group. This has included the installation of a new box, and lengthening of the loop lengths. During the winter most trains use platform No.1, whilst during the summer season No.2 is used often because it has access to the picnic area. The stations reinstalled small goods yard, in which it is planned to recreate an authentic working 1950s country goods yard complete with Yard Crane, Cattle Pens, list of closed railway stations in Britain
14.
River Medway
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The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, Sussex, and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, about 13 miles of the river lies in Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent. It has a catchment area of 930 square miles, the second largest in southern England after the Thames, the map opposite shows only the major tributaries, a more detailed map shows the extensive network of smaller streams feeding into the main river. Those tributaries rise from points along the North Downs, the Weald, the major tributaries are, River Eden River Bourne, known as the River Shode and River Busty River Teise, major sub tributary River Bewl. The river and its tributaries flow through largely rural areas, Tonbridge, Maidstone, until 1746 the river was not navigable above Maidstone. Up to that point each village on the river had its wharf or wharves, at Halling, Snodland, New Hythe, cargoes included corn, fodder, fruit, stone and timber. In 1746 improvements to the channel meant that barges of 40 long tons could reach East Farleigh, Yalding, in 1828, the channel was further improved up to Leigh. There are eleven locks on the river, the lowest, opened in 1792, is at Allington, and is the tidal limit. The others are at East Farleigh, Teston, Hampstead Lane, Stoneham Old Lock, Sluice Weir Lock, Oak Weir Lock, East Lock, Porters, Eldridges and Town Lock in Tonbridge. The locks will take craft up to 80 feet by 18 feet, the shallowest point is just below Sluice Weir Lock, which is prone to silting after heavy rain. Small craft such as canoes can travel as far as Penshurst. The stretch from Leigh to Allington is known as the Medway Navigation, the Environment Agency is the navigation authority. Until recently the lowest crossing of the Medway was at Rochester, in the 14th century the Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge were instituted by Sir John de Cobham to pay for the rebuilding and upkeep of the bridge. Until 1963 the nearest crossing to Rochester Bridge was the 14th-century bridge at Aylesford,12 miles upstream, since then the following additional crossings have come into use,1963, A viaduct over the river was built south of Rochester to carry the first section of the M2 motorway. In 2003 this was widened to two separate spans, between 1963 and 1996 the M20 was built, with a bridge over the Medway south of Aylesford. 1996, The Medway Tunnel became the rivers lowest crossing, connecting Gillingham to Strood, the four-lane tunnel was constructed using the immersed tube method, and was partially paid for by Rochester Bridge Trust, the successor to the Wardens and Commonalty. 2003, A railway bridge 0.8 miles long, with a span of 498 feet, was constructed for High Speed 1. The railway bridge lies parallel to the M2 motorway bridges,2017, A new road bridge from the A228 between Holborough and Halling across to Hall Road, Wouldham, to facilitate the development of Peters Village
15.
West Hoathly railway station
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West Hoathly is a closed railway station on what is now the Bluebell Railway. The station was closed in 1958, but was used by contractors demolishing the line in the 1960s to bring equipment in, despite its name the site of West Hoathly station is actually situated in the village of Sharpthorne, half a mile from the village West Hoathly. The station opened in 1882, just north of the 731 yards long Sharpthorne Tunnel, designed in the then fashionable Domestic Revival style, located on the westwards facing No. All of this structure was fronted both sides by a timber-supported hipped canopy, which all of the other buildings carried a hipped slate roof. The station had substantial sidings and a loading dock located just to the north of No.1 platform. The downside No.2 platform was connected to the buildings by a 50 feet glazed footbridge. The signal box was located on the end of No.2 platform. The station layout remained substantially unaltered throughout its operational life, in the 1930s, the Southern Railway removed many of the superfluous LB&SCR decorations, and shortened the downside facilities to what was basically an open-plan shelter located next to the footbridge. A railway-built and owned Railway Hotel opened on the west side of the station forecourt, after closure of the railway, it was sold off by the British Railways Property Board and renamed the Bluebell Inn, reopened as a public house. Closed in 1999, it is now a residence called Bluebell House. The station closed to passengers on 30 May 1955, with the yard closed on 13 June. After legal objections to the closure, the station reopened to passengers on 7 August 1956. To enable their works, the contractors removed the buildings and footbridge in 1964. The main station building was demolished in late 1967, with a truncated line operating between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes, the Bluebell Railway Society purchased the largely levelled and cleared site in 1974. After raising funds to extend the line northwards, the Society was faced with local opposition to the extension, resulting in a public enquiry. If the Society were later to decide to undertake such a station redevelopment, since then, the Society - much like the 1960s railway removal contractors - have used the site to store materials for the extension, which were delivered there by road. This allowed the rebuilding of New Coombe Bridge, and opening of the extension northwards to Kingscote in early 1994, to help meet the cost, Society members agreed to the sale of two plots of land on a former brickworks site to the east of the former station. The Society has a long term ambition but still no plans or timetable to rebuild the station at West Hoathly, West Hoathly Parish Council currently supports the provision of a halt at the site
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Horsted Keynes railway station
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Horsted Keynes railway station is a preserved railway station on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. The station appears in episodes of the television series Downton Abbey and in Jeeves and Wooster. The station was closed by British Railways under the Beeching Axe on 28 October 1963 with the cessation of trains from Seaford via Haywards Heath, however, the first Bluebell Railway trains had run on the last day of the 1962 season using the disused eastern side. Between 1960 and 1962 Bluebell Railway services had terminated at Bluebell Halt - a temporary station about half mile to the south, as a junction station it was the busiest station on the line in terms of services but arguably one of the quieter for passengers. The station lies about 1.5 mi from the village of Horsted Keynes itself, since being taken over by the Bluebell the station has become one of the most popular stations in UK preservation, and has won many awards. It has been restored under a 1930s theme with period newspaper headlines on boards by the buffet, with five platforms it is the largest preserved heritage railway station in the UK. It is the place for services when two trains are operating and hosts many events each year for steam enthusiasts. It is also the home of the lines Carriage and Wagon department, the main station building, the signal box and an engine house to the south of the station are all Grade II Listed buildings. All three were built in or shortly after 1882 to the designs of Thomas Myres, the railway companys staff architect. List of closed stations in Britain Horsted Keynes railway station on Trainspot
17.
Ardingly railway station
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Ardingly was a railway station which served the West Sussex village of Ardingly in England. It was opened on 3 September 1883 by the London, Brighton, the Bluebell Railway owns the trackbed from just east of the station to Horsted Keynes and has long term plans to rebuild the line. The LBSCR opened a 4½-mile link line between Horsted Keynes on its Lewes to East Grinstead Line and Haywards Heath on the Brighton Main Line. From Ardingly, the line continued for a mile to reach Copyhold Junction on the Brighton Line. At first there was no signal box at the junction, with running on an independent line parallel to the Brighton Main Line as far as the north-facing bay platform at Haywards Heath. A box was installed in 1912 which remained in use until 1932 when Haywards Heath was rebuilt with up and down platforms. The line opened without ceremony, with the first service, a train, leaving Haywards Heath at 8. 34am to collect freight at Ardingly. It was later to prove its worth as an alternative to the Brighton Main Line in both wars and for specials to Lingfield Racecourse. Designed by Thomas Harrison Myres, the station building was sited at road level away from the platforms. In common with other Lewes and East Grinstead line stations, it was constructed in a neo-Queen Anne style, the upper storey is decoratively timbered with plaster patterning and projecting slightly, unlike the other stations on the line, Ardingly was never tile-hung. The yard saw considerable traffic in the form of timber for a local sawmill which was subsequently dispatched back out in consignments of prepared boards. The Ardingly branch was closed on Sundays until 1945, and the connection from the up Ardingly line to the up Horsted Keynes main platform was severed. The station was busy at the beginning and end of term at Ardingly College when up to 450 packages of luggage were sent. The branch was closed on 28 October 1963. The lifting, which had commenced on 15 July, had reached Horsted Keynes by 21 September. The Bluebell Railway had been invited to purchase the line in 1962, an Amey Roadstone plant was established in the Ardingly goods yard shortly after closure of the line, and was served by a daily freight working from Haywards Heath using the former down local line. Access to the up main and up local lines at Copyhold Junction has been severed, the new occupant demolished the station platforms. The track in the station was removed and a loop installed at the end of the former goods yard area
18.
Brighton main line
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The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line divided in the north into two sections running from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 51 miles long, and is electrified throughout, nearly all passenger trains are provided by Govia Thameslink Railway which operates the Southern, Gatwick Express and Thameslink brands. A small section has Great Western Railway services, currently sole operator of the line from Gatwick Airport to Reading, the many Sussex services to Central London use the line and generally its branches as do south London, East Surrey and Tonbridge, Kent services. There were six original proposals to build a railway between London and Brighton, a condition required by Parliament was that the railway should share its line between Croydon and Redhill with the South Eastern Railway main line to Dover. This clause gave rise to 60 years of disputes between the two companies, land use between London and Brighton was largely rural. The line was planned to traverse the North Downs, the Wealden ridge, due to the difficult terrain and relatively sparse population between Croydon and Brighton, the line by-passed several towns and villages on the London-Brighton road, such as Reigate and Crawley. Even so, it required substantial earthworks, notably through the North Downs at Merstham, with one of the largest cuttings in Britain, seven tunnels, to avoid steep gradients or detours, the 1, 475-foot-long, maximum 96-foot-high Ouse Valley Viaduct was built near Balcombe. The line opened in two stages,12 July 1841, Norwood Junction to Haywards Heath, the branch line from Brighton to Shoreham-by-Sea was finished on 12 May 1840, before the main line, as it did not involve significant civil engineering works. The Newhaven section did not materialise until 1846, when the Brighton - Hastings line was opened by the Brighton Lewes, a few weeks later the L&CR, the L&BR and other railways in Sussex amalgamated to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. A branch line from Norwood to Crystal Palace was built in 1851, extending to Sydenham in 1854, Balham and Wandsworth in 1856, Battersea in 1858, a cut-off line reducing the distance between East Croydon and Balham opened in 1862. There were frequent disputes resulting from the sharing of the busy section between East Croydon and Redhill. The LB&SCR owned the section between East Croydon and Coulsdon North, and the SER from Coulsdon South to Redhill, eventually the LB&SCR built the Quarry Line, a by-pass for express trains between Coulsdon North and Earlswood, avoiding Redhill. It opened on 8 November 1899, the line was the first UK main line to be electrified throughout. In 1921 plans were drawn up to overhead electrification to Brighton. In 1928/29 the lines conversion to third-rail operation. The third rail is electrified at 750 V DC, and in the part of the 21st century had its power supply upgraded for the introduction of Electrostar stock by Southern. Traction current supply is supervised by Lewisham, Selhurst and Brighton electrical control rooms which will be superseded by the Three Bridges ROC, on 25 August 1862, a passenger train passed a signal at danger and collided with another in Clayton Tunnel. 23 passengers were killed and 176 injured, on 8 March 1965, a freight train was derailed at Streatham Common
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Haywards Heath railway station
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Haywards Heath railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving the town of Haywards Heath, West Sussex. It is 37 miles 59 chains down-line from London Victoria and is situated between Balcombe and Wivelsfield on the main line, trains calling at Haywards Heath are operated by Southern and Thameslink. Until 2008 a small number of CrossCountry services also stopped here, the remainder of the line to Brighton opened shortly after on 21 September of the same year. The original station was designed by the architect David Mocatta and included a passing line. The station retained its importance as a following the construction of the line to Lewes from Keymer 3 miles to the south. From 1846 the railway became the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, there was an intermediate station at Ardingly. As a result, Haywards Heath station was enlarged by the provision of two bay platforms, once the connection was made, it provided a relief route for the congested Brighton main line from Croydon to Brighton via Oxted, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath. This double-track branch line was closed to passengers on 28 October 1963, Haywards Heath station was the site of the first use of the practice of slipping coaches from the rear of express trains, at intermediate junctions, for onward transmission to smaller stations. The earliest recorded example was in February 1858, when coaches for Hastings were slipped from a London Bridge to Brighton express and this practice was a regular feature at the station until the electrification of the line during 1932/3. The station and surrounding structures such as bridges were also rebuilt at this time. A single signal box, alongside Platform 4, replaced the former North and South boxes, the work is scheduled for completion in 2017. On Sundays there are 3tph to Brighton, 1tph to Ore and 1tph to Portsmouth Harbour, trains to Ore and to Portsmouth and Littlehampton run separately. They were intended to enable trains to overtake slower freight traffic. Just south of the station there is a 249-yard tunnel through Folly Hill, there was an accident during the construction of this tunnel on 2 January 1841, causing a roof fall and killing three men, which prevented the railway from opening through to Brighton in the July. Train times and station information for Haywards Heath railway station from National Rail
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Wivelsfield railway station
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Wivelsfield railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in England, serving the northern parts of Burgess Hill including Worlds End, in West Sussex. Despite the stations name, the village of Wivelsfield actually lies approximately 2 miles to the northeast and it is 40 miles 52 chains down-line from London Victoria and is situated between Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill on the main line. Trains calling at Wivelsfield are operated by Southern and Thameslink, the station is just north of Keymer Junction, where the East Coastway Line via Plumpton diverges from the main line. The station was closed on 1 November 1883 to allow for the remodelling of the junction. However, when the railway later sought Parliamentary authority to abandon their planned changes, the second Keymer Junction station was opened on 1 August 1886 and retained that name until 1 July 1896 when it was renamed Wivelsfield. Construction of the new station involved widening a narrow, high embankment, just over two months after it opened, heavy rain caused a landslip which caused a long section of the Up platform, and the waiting room building, to collapse and fall down the embankment. On 23 December 1899, an accident happened here, when a red signal was obscured by thick fog. A train from Brighton collided with a train from Newhaven Harbour at 40 miles per hour. The accident resulted in improvements made to the signalling at Keymer Junction, train services are provided by Southern and Thameslink. Option 1 is the option and creates a new platform 0 on the west side of the station served by a 3rd track from the new flyover line from Lewes. Option 2 is much more ambitious and builds on option 1 by adding an additional 4th platform on the east side of the station as well, train times and station information for Wivelsfield railway station from National Rail
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River Ouse, Sussex
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The River Ouse is a river in the counties of West and East Sussex in England. The river rises near Lower Beeding and runs eastwards into East Sussex, meandering narrowly, just north of this, the Anchor Inn is on the banks of the river, and canoes can be hired from here. Then the river flows through the town of Lewes, where it has been converted considerably over history, three bridges cross it at Lewes, Willeys Bridge, the Phoenix Causeway, and Cliffe Bridge. After Cliffe the Winterbourne stream flows into the Ouse and the river is banked on the west by the Heart of Reeds. It then flows into the English Channel, surrounded on either side by two long breakwater piers, Ouse is a very common name for rivers in England, stemming from a Celtic word for water. The Ouse is one of the four rivers that cut through the South Downs. It is presumed that its valley was cut during a glacial period, in the warmer interglacials the lower valley would have flooded, there are raised beaches 40 metres and 8 metres above present sea level. The offshore topography indicates that the current coastline was also the coastline before the final deglaciation, the behaviour of the Ouse and the conditions in its valley have been determined by its exit to the English Channel between Seaford and Newhaven. Eastwards longshore drift has built up and continuously replenished a shingle spit at the mouth of the Ouse, in periods when the Ouse has been relatively unimpeded the river has drained the Lewes Levels. In periods when the spit has obstructed the mouth of the river, at Domesday, the Ouse valley was probably a tidal inlet with a string of settlements located at its margins. In later centuries the Ouse was draining the valley sufficiently well for some of the marshland to be reclaimed as highly prized meadow land, the outlet of the Ouse at Seaford provided a natural harbour behind the shingle bar. However, by the 14th century the Ouse valley was regularly flooding in winter, prior Crowham of Lewes Priory sailed to Flanders and returned with two drainage experts. In 1537 a water-rate was levied on all lands on the Levels to fund the cutting of a channel through the bar at the mouth of the Ouse to allow the river to drain the Levels. This canalisation created access to a harbour, Newhaven, which succeeded Seaford as the port at the mouth of the Ouse. The new channel drained the Levels and much of the floor was reclaimed for pasture. However, shingle continued to accumulate and so the mouth of the Ouse began to migrate eastwards again, in 1648 the Ouse was reported to be unfit either to drain the levels or for navigation. By the 18th century the valley was inundated in winter. In 1787, William Jessop was asked to survey the river with a view to extending navigation right up to Slaugham, three years later the Upper Ouse Navigation Act was passed, enabling construction upon the navigation to begin
22.
Newick and Chailey railway station
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Newick and Chailey was a railway station located about halfway between the villages of Newick and Chailey in East Sussex, England. It was part of the East Grinstead to Lewes line, more known as the Bluebell Railway. The station was located on the line, but consisted of two side platforms on a loop line. There were substantial station buildings on each platform with a footbridge connecting the two. The old Up platform had a restaurant facility and toilets until rationalisation in the 1930s which removed all the buildings on this platform, british Railways responded by running the most meagre timetable possible, the so-called Sulky Service. Parliament did eventually repeal the original Acts and the closed in 1958. The track was removed in 1960 and the buildings were demolished in the mid 1960s. The site of the platforms in a cutting was subsequently infilled and covered by housing. Their site is identified in a road still today called Lower Station Road, despite the reopening of part of the line by the Bluebell Railway, an extension south now seems improbable, although the possibility has not been ruled out. Media related to Newick and Chailey railway station at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Barcombe railway station
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Barcombe was a railway station serving the village of Barcombe in East Sussex. It was part of the East Grinstead to Lewes line, more known as the Bluebell Railway. The station was opened as New Barcombe to distinguish it from the nearby station of Barcombe Mills and was changed to its more usual name on 1 January 1885. In 1897 goods sidings were installed at a cost of £1450 and it was planned to close the line and the station on 13 June 1955, although they actually closed on 29 May due to a railway strike. The line closure was found to be illegal under the original acts authorising construction of the railway, however the station was not reopened as it was not mentioned in the legislation. Subsequently Barcombe station building was sold and was converted into a private house, the platform edge is still visible but the trackbed has been infilled up to about one foot below platform level. Bernard Holden, former president of the Bluebell Railway was born in Barcombe Station in 1908 and his father was the station master at the time
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Wealden Line
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The Wealden Line is a partly abandoned double track railway line in East Sussex and Kent that connected Lewes with Tunbridge Wells, a distance of 25.25 miles. The line takes its name from its route through the hills of the North and South Downs of the Weald. The northern section has partly re-opened under the auspices of the Spa Valley Railway, there has been a concerted campaign since 1986 led by the Wealden Line Campaign to have the whole line re-opened to passengers, but a 2008 study concluded that it would be economically unviable. The line, much of it through low-lying meadows, was easy to build, the initial service consisted of five trains each way on weekdays and three on Sundays. A four-horse coach service ran between Tunbridge Wells and Uckfield and this struck out at a right angle from the Uckfield line about a quarter of a mile east of Hamsey, and approached Lewes from a northerly direction. Designed by the LBSCRs Chief Engineer Frederick Banister, it was more heavily engineered requiring embankments and it enabled trains to be heading in the direction for Brighton, and obviated the need for locomotives to be turned. This section opened on 1 October 1868, part of the connection to Uckfield Junction closing as a consequence. The rights to construct this line had been granted to the Brighton, Uckfield & Tunbridge Wells Railway in 1861, construction had already commenced in 1863 on the single track from Tunbridge Wells West to the new Groombridge Junction, and this was opened on 1 October 1866. The completion of the south to Uckfield had to wait until 3 August 1868 due to the major structural work involved. A single line link to the South Eastern Railways Tunbridge Wells station was opened to passengers in 1876, however, little use was made until 1914. The spur completed what was called the Outer Circle line, which provided a route between Brighton and London via Oxted. Continuing on an embankment, Lewes Viaduct carried the line over the River Ouse, the river and its tributaries were crossed a further seven times before the line reached Uckfield. This station was popular with anglers, who descended in large numbers on the nearby River Ouse during bank holidays. The line continued to Isfield before reaching Uckfield, the LBSCR had once planned to construct a further line through Uckfield, the Ouse Valley Railway, which would have connected Balcombe with Hailsham. The plan was abandoned in 1868 due to a lack of funds, departing Uckfield, the line continues to Buxted and then passes over Greenhurst Viaduct (10 brick arches,185 yards, followed by Sleeches Viaduct one mile further on. The line rises sharply on a 1,75 gradient and enters Crowborough Tunnel, reaching Crowborough, the line reaches its highest point, more than 300 ft above sea level. Descending on a 1,75 gradient, it reaches Redgate Mill Junction, at Birchden Junction, it heads east passing Groombridge Junction and Groombridge, rising gradually to Tunbridge Wells West. There was also a daily service linking with Brighton, Maidstone and Chatham in the east and Redhill
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Uckfield railway station
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Uckfield railway station is the southern terminus of a branch of the Oxted Line in England, serving the town of Uckfield, East Sussex. It is 46 miles 8 chains down-line from London Bridge, the station is Buxted. The station and all trains that call are operated by Southern, the line used to continue to Lewes and Brighton until 1969. The first station was opened in 1858 by the Lewes and Uckfield Railway Company and was situated south of the High Street level crossing and it became a through station when the line was extended to Tunbridge Wells West in 1868. The decision was made to close the original station and to open a new station on the other side of the High Street level crossing. As part of Network Rails national stations improvement programme, Uckfield received a new building to replace the 1991 portakabin-type structure which was deemed not fit for purpose. The new building was built to Network Rails modular, pre-fabricated design used at Mitcham Eastfields, the new building, which cost £750,000, was opened for passenger use on 16 March 2010. The typical off-peak service is one train per hour to London Bridge, calling at Buxted, Crowborough, Eridge, Ashurst, Cowden, Hever, Edenbridge Town, Hurst Green, Oxted, on Sundays this is reduced to an hourly shuttle to Oxted calling at all stations. Previously, most off peak trains from Uckfield only went as far as Oxted, in December 2010 a new later evening service from London Bridge was introduced allowing passengers for the first time in recent years to travel home from London in the late evening. Platforms on the Uckfield branch of the Oxted Line were extended in 2016 to hold ten carriage trains to allow services to run during peak hours. The extension of services to ten coaches has caused Southern to acquire four Class 170 turbostars from ScotRail, the Class 170s will be converted to Class 171s to allow full compatibility with Southerns existing Class 171 fleet. Whereas the neighbouring East Grinstead line has 750 V DC electric traction and it has been proposed many times that the line be electrified, but this is considered too expensive for the amount of passenger traffic. Rail usage figures published in March 2010 showed that journeys from the station had increased by 179% in the five years to 2008/09. Since 1986 there had been a campaign to re-open the line south of Uckfield through to Lewes, known as the Wealden Line, train times and station information for Uckfield railway station from National Rail
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East Coastway line
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The East Coastway line is a railway line along the south coast of Sussex and Kent to the east of Brighton, England. Trains to the West of Brighton operate on the West Coastway line, the train operating company Southern refers to the routes on this line as East Coastway or Coastway East. The trains running under the East Coastway name serve stations between Brighton, Lewes, Eastbourne, Hastings, Ore and Ashford, together with the line to Seaford. The long-closed branch to Kemptown used to diverge just east of London Road Station, not included here, but having their own articles, are the Newhaven & Seaford branch and Kemp Town branch. The route has ELRs, BTL, KJE1, KJE2, KJE3, WJB, also formerly PSC between Polegate and Stone Cross Junctions. The Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway was formed 7 February 1844 and this section opened on 8 June 1846. By 27 June 1846 a single line extension was opened to just outside Hastings at Bulverhythe with a station at Polegate to serve Eastbourne. The following month the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway, along with railways, merged to form the London, Brighton. In November 1846 the bridge over the River Asten was completed and Bulverhythe station was replaced with Hastings and St Leonards station, later renamed St Leonards West Marina station. For almost a year all services from London travelled via Brighton until a spur off the Brighton main line was constructed from Keymer Junction to Lewes and opened on 2 October 1847. On 14 May 1849, two branches from Polegate opened, one southwards to Eastbourne and one northwards to Hailsham making Polegate an important junction, Lewes has had its fair share of stations. When the rail first arrived at Lewes, a station was built in Friars Walk. Trains running from Brighton to Hastings first visited Lewes Friars Walk station then reversed out before continuing east, serving Brighton, London, Uckfield, Newhaven, Eastbourne and Hastings, the station was rebuilt and re-aligned 32 years later with the original route leading to the freight yards. Another junction station on the line was at Polegate, Eastbourne station also increased in size as a terminal station. The present station is the station in the town, built in 1880 and which once boasted four platforms, a locomotive shed. A branch line was built just north of the station heading east to the towns gas works and to the Crumbles. The next station in the area was Hampden Park, built in 1888 as Willingdon, the junction north of Hampden Park is called Willingdon Junction, where the route diverges either east or west. This three-mile branch, constructed in 1862, led to a shingle bank known locally as The Crumbles
27.
Lewes railway station
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Lewes railway station serves the town of Lewes in East Sussex, England. It has five platforms and is on the East Coastway Line, train services are provided by Southern. The station has a café and there is an office on the main forecourt. There is a taxi rank outside. The station platforms are arranged in a V shape, with a courtyard in between, which is bound by the tracks on two sides and the station building on the third side. The two-floor building, with the entrance from the top floor, is accompanied with a gallery, there have been many changes during the lifetime of the station. This station became inconvenient after extra tracks were laid to Hastings, meeting the Brighton line at a junction just west of Lewes Station, capacity increases also became desirable because of new direct links to London. This first station was replaced, the original booking hall with grand classical columns outside survived until the 1960s but was then demolished. A second station was opened in 1857 and closed in 1889, the present station opened in 1889 in connection with a new track alignment to ease the curve east of the station. The old alignment became goods lines serving the goods depot until circa 1968, not all of the lines serving Lewes Station survived the 20th century. The Wealden Line had headed north to Uckfield and on to London via Eridge — this line also had trains to Tunbridge Wells West and this line has been closed and lifted between Lewes and Uckfield. Branching off the Lewes to Uckfield section at Culver Junction was the portion of the Bluebell Railway. 8 June 1846 Line from Brighton opened A terminus was provided in Friars Walk for services arriving from Brighton,27 June 1846 Line is extended from Lewes to Hastings A platform is provided, called Ham, slightly west of the divergence for the Hastings line. 2 October 1847 Keymer Junction to Lewes line opened Platforms are built opposite the Terminus, west of the Hasting line divergence, serving trains to and from the Hasting direction. 1857 A new station is built at the divergence of the Keymer line This was the first station at this site, until this date the Wealden line joined the Keymer line at a junction between the north portal of Lewes Tunnel and Cooksbridge Station. 17 June 1889 Current station opened, the 1857 station is totally rebuilt and the track layout changed, this new station is the one still in use today. On 5 November 1960, Lewes suffered severe flooding, legend has it that the Borough Surveyor requested that the London Platforms be blown up to flood water to escape via the railway track-bed. The British Railways district Engineer declined to co-operate, in the 1960s, the original 1846 terminus building fronting the public street, was demolished
28.
Brighton railway station
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Brighton railway station is the southern terminus of the Brighton Main Line in England, and the principal station serving the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is 50 miles 49 chains down-line from London Victoria, the station is Preston Park. The station is managed by Southern, which operates many of the trains. Thameslink and Great Western Railway also operate trains from Brighton. In 1846, the became the London Brighton and South Coast Railway following mergers with other railways with lines between Portsmouth and Hastings. With almost 16.1 million passenger entries and exits in 2011/12, the London and Brighton Railway built a passenger station, goods station, locomotive depot and railway works on a difficult site on the northern edge of Brighton. This site was 0.5 miles from, and 70 feet above the sea shore, the passenger station was a three-storey building in an Italianate style, designed by David Mocatta in 1839–40 which incorporated the head office of the railway company. The station is said to have similarities to the Nine Elms railway station of the London and Southampton Railway designed by Sir William Tite. Baker & Son were paid £9766 15s for the building between May and August 1841. The platform accommodation was built by John Urpeth Rastrick and consisted of four pitched roofs each 250 ft long and it opened for trains to Shoreham on 11 May 1840, and in September 1841 for trains to London. The station site was extended for the opening of the Brighton Lewes, in July 1846, the L&BR merged with other railways to form the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Further extensions to the station occurred during the century but only a limited number of additional platforms could be added because of the awkward sloping site. The station currently has a large double-spanned curved glass and iron roof covering the platforms, at the front of the station is a taxi rank and a bus station. The cab run was covered when the station above was extended over it on cast iron columns, the cab run remains in situ but has been sealed at the station end. The site of the yard has since been redeveloped. Thereafter Isetta cars were built in a part of the works. The space created was used to accommodate a new much enlarged motive power depot in 1861, during the early 1930s, following the electrification of the lines the steam motive power depot was rebuilt and reduced in size. It was closed 15 June 1961, but remained in use for stabling steam locomotives until 1964, Brighton station was listed at Grade II* on 30 April 1973
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Eastbourne railway station
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Eastbourne railway station serves the seaside town of Eastbourne in East Sussex, England. It is on the East Coastway Line, the station is managed by Southern, who operate all trains serving it. It is one of two stations in the town, the other being Hampden Park Station. There are also two stations in the Eastbourne area, one being Pevensey & Westham, in nearby Westham. Most passenger services along the coast served the station, as they do today, trains reverse at the station to continue their journey along the East Coastway by using a junction north of Hampden Park railway station, services run either east or west via Lewes from the station. The single track line to Eastbourne from Polegate on the Brighton to Hastings line was opened by the London Brighton. As the town became a more popular seaside resort two further stations followed, the first in 1866 and the present station, designed by F. D. There was a rarely used triangular junction between Polegate and the now-closed Stone Cross which allowed trains to bypass the Branch, the track for this has now been lifted. The location of the first station was said to be in Upperton Road, there is no record known on how many platforms the first station had. D. Which a vaulted canopy and lantern roof, similar to Lewes, the station had 4 platforms which increased in length over the years. There was also two run around loops between platforms 2 and 3, over the years one of the runaround loops was lost as platforms 1 and 2 was built wider. On 12 April 1977 platform 4 was shortened from a 12 coach to an 8 coach length to make way for the road construction. Also to the north of the station was a coal depot. The goods shed survives today as the Enterprise Shopping Centre. The coal sidings to the north of the station is now on the site of a car dealer, the LB&SCR opened a small engine shed in 1849 which was demolished in 1876. It was replaced by a semi-roundhouse in 1876, but this was demolished in 1912, a larger seven-road shed was opened in 1911, but this was badly damaged by bombing in the Second World War and was never repaired. It closed in 1952, but the continued to be used as a store for locomotives awaiting scrapping. Until 1965 when diesel locomotives were stored here until 1968 the shed was demolished in 1969
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Hastings railway station
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Hastings railway station is in Hastings in East Sussex, England. It is situated on the Hastings Line to Tunbridge Wells, the East Coastway Line to Brighton and it was formerly operated by the South Eastern Railway and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and was the scene of bitter rivalry between those companies. The first train arrived at Hastings station in 1851 and with it began Hastings’ heyday, the whole station was reconstructed in a neo-Georgian style in 1931 by the architect James Robb Scott and only the goods shed remained unchanged. All trains now ran through the two new platforms and a huge central booking hall welcomed travellers. The station building was re-built in 2004, with the booking hall demolished and replaced with a modernist building. The southernmost loop platform has been curtailed into an Ashford facing bay, the station contains a small police post manned by British Transport Police, although this is a satellite of the Ashford International police station. Services at the station are operated by either Southeastern Trains via the Hastings Line or by Southern Trains via the East Coastway Line, Southeastern services use Class 375 electric multiple units. Southern services use Class 377 electric multiple units and Class 171 diesel multiple units, the station provides a ticket office, waiting room and toilets. Retail facilities include a shop and newsagent. Outside the station there are a bus station, taxi rank, St Leonards Warrior Square, St Leonards. Ore Railway Station, small station in Ore. Train times and station information for Hastings railway station from National Rail
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Seaford branch line
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The Seaford branch line is a rural railway line in East Sussex constructed in 1864 primarily to serve the port of Newhaven and the town of Seaford. It now sees fairly regular trains across the line except for the Newhaven Marine branch, engineered by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railways Chief Engineer Frederick Banister, the first section of the line was opened in 1847 to aid the transport of goods to and from Newhaven. The line was extended in 1864 to serve the town of Seaford. There used to be extensive sidings at Newhaven Docks and even a railway swing bridge over the River Ouse to connect to the other side. These have now been removed or have become overgrown, as has the defunct Newhaven Marine station, once a thriving station serving ferries to and from France, the walk of just under 1/4 mile to Newhaven Harbour station and the cessation of winter ferries forced its closure. The line was electrified by the Southern Railway in 1935, the line between Newhaven Harbour and Seaford was reduced to single track to save costs in 1975. Class 313s and Class 377 Electrostars are used on the line to passengers to Lewes. The normal off peak service on the line is two trains per hour between Brighton and Seaford calling at London Road, Moulsecoomb, Falmer, Lewes and then all stations on the branch line. Occasional peak hour services continue towards London Victoria via Haywards Heath, Gatwick Airport, at off peak times, connections with services towards London can be made at Lewes. Comparing the number of passengers in year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2010, Southease has increased by 96%, Newhaven Town by 45%, Bishopstone by 58%, Newhaven Harbour has declined by 51%
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Seaford (Sussex) railway station
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Seaford Railway Station is in Seaford, East Sussex, England. It is the terminus of the Seaford Branch Line of the East Coastway Line, the station has been reduced to single track and only one platform remains in use. The remaining platform is referred to as Platform 2. Train services from the station are provided by Southern, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway opened Seaford station on 1 June 1864. It was designed as a station for a proposed extension to Eastbourne that was never built. A working model of Seaford Station as it appeared in the 1920s is displayed at Seaford Museum, as of May 2011 the typical off-peak service is two trains per hour to Brighton with direct trains to and from London Victoria at peak hours. Train times and station information for Seaford railway station from National Rail
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Heritage railway
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A heritage railway is a railway kept to carry living history rail traffic in order to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Often heritage railways are old railway lines preserved in a state which depicts a certain period, or periods, Heritage railway lines contain historic rail infrastructure that has been substituted or made obsolete in modern railway transit systems. Historical installations, such as hand operated points, water cranes, due to the lack of modern technology, or to a desire for historical accuracy, railway operations can be handled with traditional practices, such as the use of physical tokens. Use of heritage infrastructure and operations often calls for assigning roles based on historical occupations to the railway staff, station masters and signalmen, sometimes wearing period-appropriate attire, can be seen on some heritage railways. Most heritage railways carry heritage rolling stock, but modern rail vehicles can be used to showcase railway scenes with historical line infrastructure, still other heritage railways offer a viable public transit option and can therefore sustain operations with a sufficient amount of revenue from regular riders or government subsidies. Childrens railways are extracurricular educational institutions, where children and teenagers learn railway professions, often they are fully functional, passenger-carrying narrow gauge rail lines. This phenomenon originated in the USSR and was developed in Soviet times. Many sites were called pioneer railways, after the communist youth organisation, the first childrens railway was opened Moscow in 1932, and at the breakup of the USSR,52 childrens railways existed in the country. Even though the fall of communist governments has led to closures of these railways, many preserved childrens railways are still functioning in post-Soviet states, many childrens railways were built on parklands in urban areas. Unlike many industrial areas, typically served by a gauge railway. Child volunteers and socialist fiscal policy enabled stagnant existence for many of these railways, the old childrens railways, which still carry traffic, have often retained their original infrastructure and rolling stock, including vintage steam locomotives. Some have also acquired heritage vehicles from other railways, creating passages for trains up steep hills and through mountain regions offers many obstacles which call for special technical solutions. Special steep grade railway -technologies and extensive tunneling may be employed, the use of narrow gauge allows tighter curves in the track and offers a smaller structure gauge and tunnel size. Pit railways have been an important part of operating an underground mine all over the world, small rail vehicles offer effective transportation of ore and waste rock, as well as workers, through narrow tunnels. Sometimes the trains were the mode of transport in the passages between the work sites and the mine entrance. Often the loading gauge of the railway dictated the cross-section of the passages to be dug, and the tunnel, on many mining sites, pit railways have been abandoned due to mine closure or adoption of new kinds of transportation equipment. Nowadays some show mines exhibit a vintage pit railway and offer a chance to experience a mantrip into the mine, Millennium Underground Railway or M1, built from 1894 to 1896, is the oldest line of the Budapest Metro system and the second oldest underground railway in the world. In the 1980s and 1990s, M1 underwent major reconstruction, the original appearance of the old stations has been preserved
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West Sussex
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West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering East Sussex to the east, Hampshire to the west and Surrey to the north, and to the south the English Channel. Chichester in the southwest is the county town and only city in West Sussex, with the largest towns being Crawley, Worthing, West Sussex has a range of scenery, including wealden, downland and coastal. The highest point of the county is Blackdown, at 280 metres and it has a number of stately homes including Goodwood, Petworth House and Uppark and also castles such as Arundel Castle and Bramber Castle. Over half the county is protected countryside, offering walking, cycling, although the name Sussex, derived from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is from the Saxon period between AD477 to 1066, the history of human habitation in Sussex goes back to the Old Stone Age. The oldest hominin remains known in Britain were found at Eartham Pit, Sussex has been occupied since those times and has succumbed to various invasions and migrations throughout its long history. Prehistoric monuments include the Devils Jumps, a group of Bronze Age burial mounds, the Romans used the Weald for iron production on an industrial scale. The foundation story is regarded as somewhat of a myth by most historians, the Kingdom of Sussex was absorbed into Wessex as an earldom and became the county of Sussex. With its origins in the kingdom of Sussex, the county of Sussex was traditionally divided into six units known as rapes. By the 16th century, the three western rapes were grouped together informally, having their own separate Quarter Sessions and these were administered by a separate county council from 1888, the county of Sussex being divided for administrative purposes into the administrative counties of East and West Sussex. In 1974, West Sussex was made a ceremonial county with the coming into force of the Local Government Act 1972. At the same time a part of the eastern rape of Lewes was transferred into West Sussex. Until 1834 provision for the poor and destitute in West Sussex was made at parish level, from 1835 until 1948 eleven Poor Law Unions, each catering for several parishes, took on the job. Most settlements in West Sussex are either along the south coast or in Mid Sussex, the town of Crawley is the largest in the county with an estimated population of 106,600. The coastal settlement of Worthing closely follows with a population of 104,600, the seaside resort of Bognor Regis and market town Horsham are both large towns. Chichester, the county town, has a cathedral and city status, much of the coastal town population is part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. Rustington and Southwater are the next largest settlements in the county, there are several more towns in West Sussex, although they are of similar size to other villages. The smaller towns of the county are Arundel, Midhurst, Petworth, Selsey, the larger villages are Billingshurst, Copthorne, Crawley Down, Cuckfield, Henfield, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Lindfield, Pulborough and Storrington. The current total population of the county makes up 1. 53% of Englands population, West Sussex is bordered by Hampshire to the west, Surrey to the north and East Sussex to the east
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England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
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East Sussex
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East Sussex /ˈsʌsᵻks/ is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent to the north and east, Surrey to the north west and West Sussex to the west, archaeological remains are plentiful, especially in the upland areas. The areas position on the coast has also meant that there were invaders, including the Romans. Earlier industries have included fishing, iron-making, and the trade, all of which have declined. Sussex is traditionally sub-divided into six rapes, from the 12th century the three eastern rapes together and the three western rapes together had separate quarter sessions, with the county town of the three eastern rapes being Lewes. This situation was formalised by Parliament in 1865, and the two parts were made into administrative counties, each with distinct elected county councils in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, in East Sussex there were also three self-administered county boroughs, Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. In 1974 East Sussex was made a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county, at the same time the western boundary was altered, so that the Mid Sussex region was transferred to the county of West Sussex. In 1997, Brighton and Hove became a unitary authority, it was granted city status in 2000. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts, three are larger, rural, districts are, Lewes, Wealden, and Rother. Eastbourne and Hastings are mainly urban areas, the rural districts are further subdivided into civil parishes. To the north lie parallel valleys and ridges, the highest of which is the Weald itself, the sandstones and clays meet the sea at Hastings, the Downs, at Beachy Head. East Sussex, like most counties by the south coast, has an average total of around 1,750 hours of sunshine per year. This is much higher than the UKs average of about 1,340 hours of sunshine a year, the relief of the county reflects the geology. The chalk uplands of the South Downs occupies the coastal strip between Brighton and Eastbourne, there are two river gaps, the Rivers Ouse and Cuckmere. The Seven Sisters, where the Downs meet the sea, are the remnants of dry valleys cut into the chalk, to the east of Beachy Head lie the marshlands of the Pevensey Levels, formerly flooded by the sea but now enclosed within a deposited beach. At Bexhill the land begins to rise again where the sands and clays of the Weald meet the sea, further east are the Pett Levels, more marshland, beyond which is the estuary of the River Rother. On the far side of the estuary are the dunes of Camber Sands, the highest point of the Downs within the county is Ditchling Beacon, at 814 feet, it is termed a Marilyn. The Weald occupies the northern borderlands of the county, between the Downs and Weald is a narrow stretch of lower lying land, many of the rivers and streams occupying this area originate in the Weald
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Lewes
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Lewes /ˈluːᵻs/ is the county town of the administrative county of East Sussex, in England, and historically all of Sussex. It is a parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a point and as a market town. The town was the site of the Battle of Lewes in 1264, the town has landmarks including Lewes Castle and a 15th-century bookshop. At the 2001 census it had a population of 15,988, Archaeological evidence points to prehistoric dwellers in the area. Scholars think that the Roman settlement of Mutuantonis was here, as quantities of artefacts have been discovered in the area, the Saxons built a castle, having first constructed its motte as a defensive point over the river, they gave the town its name. After the Norman invasion, William the Conqueror rewarded William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, with the Rape of Lewes, a swathe of land along the River Ouse from the coast to the Surrey boundary. He built Lewes Castle on the Saxon site, and he and his wife, Gundred also founded the Priory of St Pancras, Lewes was the site of a mint during the Late Anglo-Saxon period and thereafter a mint during the early years after the Norman invasion. In 1148 the town was granted a charter by King Stephen, the town became a port with docks along the Ouse River. The town was the site of the Battle of Lewes between the forces of Henry III and Simon de Montfort in the Second Barons War in 1264, the battle took place in fields now just west of Landport. At the time of the Marian Persecutions of 1555–1557, Lewes was the site of the execution of seventeen Protestant martyrs and this structure is now the Town Hall. A memorial to the martyrs was unveiled on Cliffe Hill in 1901, through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Lewes developed as the county town of East Sussex, expanding beyond the line of the town wall. It was a port and developed related iron, brewing. In 1846 the town became a junction, with lines constructed from the north, south. The development of Newhaven ended Lewess period as a major port, during the Crimean War, some 300 Finns serving in the Russian army captured at Bomarsund were imprisoned at Lewes. Lewes became a borough in 1881, the name Lewes is also the name of the parliamentary constituency and the local district council as well as Lewes Town Council. Lewes is also where the East Sussex County Council has its main offices, Lewes District Council is administered from offices in Southover House on Southover Road. Lewes Town Council is based in the Town Hall on Lewes High Street, for many years, Lewes was dominated by the Conservatives, both at local and national levels
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British Railways
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British Railways, which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies and lasted until the privatisation of British Rail. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, the period of nationalisation saw sweeping changes in the national railway network. A process of dieselisation and electrification took place, and by 1968 steam locomotion had been replaced by diesel and electric traction. Passengers replaced freight as the source of business, and one-third of the network was closed by the Beeching Axe of the 1960s in an effort to reduce rail subsidies. On privatisation, responsibility for track, signalling and stations was transferred to Railtrack, the British Rail double arrow logo is formed of two interlocked arrows showing the direction of travel on a double track railway and was nicknamed the arrow of indecision. The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century, during World War I the railways were under state control, which continued until 1921. Complete nationalisation had been considered, and the Railways Act 1921 is sometimes considered as a precursor to that, nationalisation was subsequently carried out after World War II, under the Transport Act 1947. This Act made provision for the nationalisation of the network, as part of a policy of nationalising public services by Clement Attlees Labour Government. British Railways came into existence as the name of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission on 1 January 1948 when it took over the assets of the Big Four. There were also joint railways between the Big Four and a few railways to consider. Excluded from nationalisation were industrial lines like the Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway, the London Underground – publicly owned since 1933 – was also nationalised, becoming the London Transport Executive of the British Transport Commission. The Bicester Military Railway was already run by the government, the electric Liverpool Overhead Railway was also excluded from nationalisation. The Railway Executive was conscious that some lines on the network were unprofitable and hard to justify socially, however, the general financial position of BR became gradually poorer, until an operating loss was recorded in 1955. The Executive itself had abolished in 1953 by the Conservative government. Other changes to the British Transport Commission at the time included the return of road haulage to the private sector. British Railways was divided into regions which were based on the areas the former Big Four operated in, later. Western Region of British Railways, former Great Western Railway lines, London Midland Region of British Railways, former London Midland and Scottish Railway lines in England
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National Railway Museum
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The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British Science Museum Group of National Museums and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It has won awards, including the European Museum of the Year Award in 2001. It is the home of the collection of historically significant railway vehicles, as well as a collection of other artefacts. It is the largest museum of its type in Britain, attracting 727,000 visitors during the 2014/15 financial year, the museum is a short walk from the railway station in York, either on the road or via a staircase from the rear of the platforms. A roadtrain runs from the city centre to the museum on Leeman Road during half term, holidays, York Park and Ride also serve the museum from the car park entrance, on Line 2. Admission to the museum has been free since 2001 and it is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm from February to November and 10am to 5pm during the winter months. Locomotion – the National Railway Museum in Shildon, County Durham was opened in October 2004 and is operated by the NRM in conjunction with Durham County Council, the earliest are wagonway vehicles of about 1815. Flying Scotsman is among the intended for operation on the National Rail network from time to time. Rail vehicles on display are exchanged from time to time with other organisations, other physically large exhibits are the Stockton and Darlington Railway Gaunless Bridge and several stationary winding engines used on railway inclines. The National Railway Museum holds an open library and archive of railway related material. This includes a significant collection of locomotive and rolling stock engineering drawings from railway works. Copies of many of these drawings are sold to the heritage railway movement to assist with their new build locomotive. They are also sold to modellers who can use the drawing to produce accurate scale models, the library holds more than 20,000 books and 800 journals of which around 300 are active. The archive also holds a collection of technical and test records. The archives also hold some 1.75 million photographs covering the earliest era of photography to the modern day and these include official collections from railway companies and collections from enthusiasts like Eric Treacy and H. Gordon Tidey. In 1999/2000 the Museum began to collect recordings of former railway staff for a National Archive of Railway Oral History and it also holds the archive of steam train recordings by Peter Handford. In 2009 The Forsythe Collection of travel and transport ephemera was acquired for the collection, the Search Engine facility opened in late 2007 and is open from 10,00 to 17,30 Wednesday to Saturday. The archive and library collections can be viewed by anyone without an appointment although the website recommends pre-booking archive materials at least 24 hours in advance, the majority of its collections have been listed on its website for people to view what materials are available prior to their visit
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Act of Parliament
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Acts of Parliament, also called primary legislation, are statutes passed by a parliament. Act of the Oireachtas is an equivalent term used in the Republic of Ireland where the legislature is known by its Irish name. It is also comparable to an Act of Congress in the United States, a draft Act of Parliament is known as a bill. In territories with a Westminster system, most bills that have any possibility of becoming law are introduced into parliament by the government. This will usually happen following the publication of a paper, setting out the issues. A bill may also be introduced into parliament without formal government backing, in territories with a multicameral parliament, most bills may be first introduced in any chamber. However, certain types of legislation are required, either by convention or by law. For example, bills imposing a tax, or involving public expenditure, are introduced into the House of Commons in the United Kingdom, Canadas House of Commons, conversely, bills proposed by the Law Commission and consolidation bills traditionally start in the House of Lords. Once introduced, a bill must go through a number of stages before it can become law, in theory, this allows the bills provisions to be debated in detail, and for amendments to the original bill to also be introduced, debated, and agreed to. In bicameral parliaments, a bill that has been approved by the chamber into which it was introduced then sends the bill to the other chamber, broadly speaking, each chamber must separately agree to the same version of the bill. Finally, the bill receives assent, in most territories this is merely a formality. In some countries, such as in Spain and Portugal, the term for a bill differs depending on whether it is initiated by the government, again, the second reading of a Government bill is usually approved. A defeat for a Government bill on this reading signifies a major loss, if the bill is read a second time, it is then considered in detail Consideration in detail, This usually takes place on the floor of the House. Generally, committees sit on the floor of the House and consider the bill in detail, third reading, A debate on the final text of the bill, as amended. Very rarely do debates occur during this stage, passage, The bill is then sent to the other House, which may amend it. If the other House amends the bill, the bill and amendments are posted back to the original House for a further stage, the State of Queenslands Parliament is unicameral and skips this and the rest of the stages. Consideration of Senate/Representatives amendments, The House in which the bill originated considers the amendments made in the other House and it may agree to them, amend them, propose other amendments in lieu, or reject them. However, the Senate may not amend money bills, though it can request the House to make amendments, a bill may pass backwards and forwards several times at this stage, as each House amends or rejects changes proposed by the other
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Samuel Laing (science writer)
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Samuel Laing, was a British railway administrator, politician, and writer on science and religion during the Victorian era. Samuel Laing was born on 12 December 1810 in Edinburgh, Scotland and he was the nephew of Malcolm Laing, the historian of Scotland, and his father, also called Samuel Laing, was a well-known author, whose books on Norway and Sweden attracted much attention. Samuel Laing the younger entered St Johns College, Cambridge in 1827 and he remained at Cambridge temporarily as a coach, before being called to the bar in 1837. He became private secretary to Henry Labouchere, later 1st Baron Taunton, in 1842, he was made secretary to the railway department, and retained this post until 1847. He had by then become an authority on railways, and had been a member of the Dalhousie Railway Commission, it was at his suggestion that the parliamentary rate of a penny a mile was instituted. In 1848, he was appointed chairman and managing director of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and he also became chairman of The Crystal Palace Company, but retired from both posts in 1855. In 1852, he was elected to Parliament as a Liberal Party candidate in Wick Burghs, after losing his seat in 1857, he was re-elected in 1859, and appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury, in 1860 he was made finance minister in India. On returning from India, he was re-elected to parliament for Wick in 1865 and he was defeated in 1868, but in 1873 he was returned for Orkney and Shetland, and retained his seat till 1885. Meanwhile, he had been reappointed chairman of the Brighton line in 1867 and he continued in that post until 1896, and gradually restored the company to financial health. He was also chairman of the Railway Debenture Trust and the Railway Share Trust, although often claimed to have been the father of the novelist Mary Eliza Kennard, this is incorrect. In later life, he well known as an author, his Modern Science and Modern Thought, Problems of the Future. Laings attitude was generally positive towards new developments in science, and his book A Modern Zoroastrian argued that the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism was more consistent with modern scientific thought than was traditional Christianity. He died on 6 August 1897 in Sydenham, England and was buried in the Brighton Extra Mural Cemetery
42.
St Giles' Church, Horsted Keynes
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St Giles Church is an Anglican church in the village of Horsted Keynes in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. Serving an extensive rural parish in the Sussex Weald, it stands at the end of its village on the site of an ancient pagan place of worship. Long established local families have been important in the life of the church for centuries, as indicated by the range of memorials and fittings in the building. The village got its name from the de Cahaignes family, one of ancestors is apparently commemorated by the rare 13th-century heart shrine in the chancel. Another family with more recent connections to the parish is the Macmillan publishing dynasty, various changes have been made to the Norman church, mostly in the 13th and 14th centuries, and some Victorian restoration was undertaken. Nevertheless, the building retains its original cruciform shape and its central tower topped by a landmark broach spire. The church continues to play a part in parish life, maintaining links to the local school. English Heritage has listed it at Grade I for its architectural and historical importance, Horsted Keynes is an ancient parish in the centre of Sussex, covering about 5,000 acres of heavily forested, mostly rural land which forms part of the Weald. Nearly 480 acres was part of the ancient Forest of Anderida. The village stands on one of these, at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, the parish of Horstede was in the Hundred of Ristone and the Rape of Pevensey. Sir William de Cahaignes held all the land in the parish, the name, derived from the Old English for place where horses are kept, was later recorded as Orsteda and Horsestud. To distinguish it from another parish called Horsted in the Rape of Pevensey, many Sussex churches stand on high ground overlooking their village, but at Horsted Keynes the church was built in a deep dip to the north. Although the timber church would have existed at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, it was not recorded in it, the absence of church records from the survey was common, though, as its main purpose was to record landholdings for taxation purposes. By this time, a stone-built Saxon church would have been in place, after the Norman conquest, many Sussex churches were rebuilt in Norman style, although Saxon fabric was sometimes retained, and this happened at Horsted Keynes. One doorway and the foot of the tower survive from the Saxon era, the four arms of the cross were formed by the nave, the chancel and a north and south transept. The chancel had an apse and a chancel arch. In about 1220 many changes were made, the apse was removed and the chancel was completely rebuilt with a square end and a longer floorplan. Lancet windows were installed, including a triple window in the new east end
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Beeching cuts
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The 1963 report also recommended some less well publicised changes, including a switch to containerisation for rail freight. After growing rapidly in the 19th century during the Railway Mania, after the First World War the railways faced increasing competition from a growing road transport network, which led to the closure of some 1,300 miles of passenger railway between 1923 and 1939. Some of these lines had never been profitable and were not subject to loss of traffic in that period. The railways were busy during World War II, but at the end of the war they were in a state of repair. The Branch Lines Committee of the British Transport Commission was formed in 1949 with a brief to close the branch lines,3,318 miles of railway were closed between 1948 and 1962. This period saw the beginning of a closures protest movement led by the Railway Development Association and they went on to be a significant force resisting the Beeching proposals. Economic recovery and the end of petrol rationing led to growth in car ownership. Vehicle mileage grew at an annual rate of 10% between 1948 and 1964. By 1955 income no longer covered operating costs, and things got steadily worse, instead losses mounted, from £68 million in 1960 to £87 million in 1961, and £104 million in 1962. The BTC could no longer pay the interest on its loans, the government lost patience and looked for radical solutions. The report The Reshaping of British Railways was published on 27 March 1963, the report starts by quoting the brief provided by the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, from 1960, First, the industry must be of a size and pattern suited to modern conditions and prospects. Beeching first studied traffic flows on all lines to identify the good, the bad, finally there was the service from Hull to York via Beverley. The line covered 80% of its costs but he calculated that it could be closed because there was an alternative. A total of 2,363 stations were to close, including 435 already under threat and this was eventually adopted with Freightliner. He recommended further electrification of the West Coast Main Line from Crewe to Glasgow in 1974, staff terms and conditions were to be improved over time. On 16 February 1965, Beeching announced the stage of his reorganisation of the railways. In The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes, in this report he set out his conclusion that of the 7,500 miles of trunk railway only 3,000 miles should be selected for future development and invested in. This policy would result in traffic being routed along nine lines, of the 7,500 miles of trunk route,3,700 miles involves a choice between two routes,700 miles a choice of three, and over a further 700 miles a choice of four
44.
Diesel multiple unit
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A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages and they may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country. Diesel-powered units may be classified by their transmission type, diesel-electric. The diesel engine may be located above the frame in a bay or under the floor. Driving controls can be at both ends, on one end, or none, DMUs are usually classified by the method of transmitting motive power to their wheels. In a diesel-mechanical multiple unit the rotating energy of the engine is transmitted via a gearbox and driveshaft directly to the wheels of the train, like a car. The transmissions can be shifted manually by the driver, as in the majority of first-generation British Rail DMUs. In a diesel-hydraulic multiple unit, a torque converter, a type of fluid coupling. Some units feature a mix of hydraulic and mechanical transmissions, usually reverting to the latter at higher operating speeds as this decreases engine RPM. In a diesel-electric multiple unit a diesel engine drives a generator or an alternator which produces electrical energy. The generated current is fed to electric traction motors on the wheels or bogies in the same way as a conventional diesel electric locomotive. In modern DEMUs, such as the Bombardier Voyager family, each car is entirely self-contained and has its own engine, generator, a train composed of DMU cars scales well, as it allows extra passenger capacity to be added at the same time as motive power. It also permits passenger capacity to be matched to demand, and for trains to be split and it is not necessary to match the power available to the size and weight of the train, as each unit is capable of moving itself. As units are added, the power available to move the train increases by the necessary amount, distribution of the propulsion among the cars also results in a system that is less vulnerable to single-point-of-failure outages. Many classes of DMU are capable of operating with faulty units still in the consist, because of the self-contained nature of diesel engines, there is no need to run overhead electric lines or electrified track, which can result in lower system construction costs. Such advantages must be weighed against the noise and vibration that may be an issue with this type of train. DMUs were first introduced to Australia in the late mid-20th century for use on branch lines that could not justify a locomotive hauled service. Today, DMUs are widely used throughout Australias southern states, Adelaide Metro uses a variety of DMUs on their suburban network, NSW TrainLink use Xplorer DMUs on services from Sydney to Canberra, Griffith, Broken Hill, Armidale and Moree
45.
Sheffield Park Garden
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See also Sheffield Park for the district of Sheffield. Sheffield Park Garden is a landscape garden five miles east of Haywards Heath, in East Sussex. It was originally out in the 18th century by Capability Brown. It is now owned by the National Trust, the gardens originally formed part of the estate of the adjacent Sheffield Park House, a gothic country house, which is still in private ownership. Sheffield Park as an estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book, in August 1538, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, entertained Henry VIII here. By 1700, the Deer Park had been formalised by Lord De La Warr who planted avenues of trees radiating from the house. In the late 1700s, James Wyatt remodelled the house in the fashionable Gothic style, the original four lakes form the centrepiece. Humphry Repton followed Brown in 1789–1790, in 1796, the estate was sold to John Holroyd, created Baron Sheffield in 1781. It is particularly noted for its plantings of trees selected for autumn colour, by 1885, an arboretum was being established, consisting of both exotic and native trees. After Arthur Gilstrap Soames purchased the estate in 1910, he continued large-scale planting, during World War II the house and garden became the headquarters for a Canadian armoured division, and Nissen huts were sited in the garden and woods. The estate was split up and sold in lots in 1953, the National Trust purchased approximately 40 ha in 1954, now up to 80 ha with subsequent additions. It is home to the National Collection of Ghent azaleas, in 1876 the third Earl of Sheffield laid out a cricket pitch. It was used on 12 May 1884 for the first cricket match between England and Australia, the Australian team won by an innings and 6 runs. Sheffield Park is a station on the heritage Bluebell Railway. Sheffield Park, Uckfield, the cricket ground, Sheffield Park Garden information at the National Trust
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Horsted Keynes
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Horsted Keynes is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The village is about 5 miles north east of Haywards Heath, the civil parish is largely rural, covering 1,581 hectares, and has a population of 1,586. The Prime Meridian passes about 1 mile to the east of the village of Horsted Keynes, the place name is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village has been twinned with the Normandy village of Cahagnes since 1971. The Horsted Cahagnes Society promotes social and cultural links, and organises annual exchange visits between the two places, on Saturday,28 August 1624, Horsted Keynes hosted what is believed to be the earliest known organised cricket match in Sussex. Knowledge of it stems from the thirteen days later of Jasper Vinall. He had suffered an injury during the game when accidentally hit by the bat. As Vinall came from West Hoathly, it is assumed that the event was a cricket match between the two parish teams. Two months before being assassinated, U. S. President John F. Kennedy slept in the parish when he stayed one Saturday night at Birch Grove, the American Secret Service closed the village that night, siting their communication hub in the Lounge Bar of The Crown Inn. On 1 July 2003 a lightning struck the electricity pole beside The Crown public house on the village green which has stood there for at least 300 years. The roof and much of the building were destroyed in one of the largest fires in the area for many years, fortunately the fire did not spread to the petrol storage tanks of the adjacent Crown Garage. In May 2007 a telephone pole was struck, removing communications from much of the village, several homes in Lewes Road were left without a telephone service for over one month whilst permission was sought to dig on private land to relay a cable. This part of Sussex was known for its iron industry long before the industrial revolution, little remains of this now, except for the hammer ponds and other traces of this activity dotted around the surrounding countryside, although iron working is remembered in many local place names. Horsted Keynes is centred on a green with pubs, Post Office. The Post Office was to be closed down for lack of use but was bought up by a group of villagers who invested in its use for the community. It now serves a rural area. Like many other English villages Horsted Keynes is losing businesses that have been there for many years, after the closure of the main village store in 1992, and the more recent loss of the butcher, village hairdresser and photographer, the village garage closed down in June 2007. It was only 20 years ago that the village had two garages, but now it has none, leaving the nearest petrol retailer more than 6 miles away, planning permission was granted and the garage site has now been turned into residential accommodation
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