Kemp Town railway branch line.

[stadler]

Does anyone know if any Drivers Eye View videos of this line have been made? Did anyone record any before the 1971 closure and if do are they available to purchase anywhere? I know filming was not as easy back then in 1971 but i have seen a couple of Drivers Eye View videos from the British Rail era so i would be surprised if nothing like this was made before the line closed. I would be very interested to see a video showing what the full line looked like.

Also does anyone know what the timetable was like before the 1933 closure to passenger services? What was the frequency of the trains on this branch? I understand passengers services stopped in 1933 but freight continued until 1971 when the line was demolished. I would also be interested in the timetable for the final day as i remember it reopened to passengers in 1971 for one day before it was closed and demolished.

Many thanks for any information about this.

 

[rf_ioliver]

Would be very interested too. When I lived in Brighton my bedroom window overlooked Lewes Road Station, albeit the loading area for Sainsbury's as it was then (and still is).

I found two pictures of the Kemp Town tunnel here: https://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/places/placetrans-2/kemp-town-branch/kemp-town-branch-2

 

[30907]

The latest timetable I can find online is for 1920 (Bradshaw p185d in www.timetableworld.com) - there was hasically a half-hourly rail motor (ie pull and push by then) all day till 10pm and on Sundays; a couple of weekday evening peak trains are shown as having 1st class, meaning they would have been formed of ordinary stock. Whether that survived until closure I don't know.

As for the final day, my scrapbook has turned up the details: 10.00 and hourly to 21.00 from Brighton, xx30 back.

Our school railway society went down after Saturday morning school on the Belle; there is a photo online which shows lads in school uniform so might be evidence

 

[Gloster]

One of Peter Harding‘s booklets was on the branch. They are slim volumes, but really quite good for their size.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Also does anyone know what the timetable was like before the 1933 closure to passenger services? What was the frequency of the trains on this branch? I understand passengers services stopped in 1933 but freight continued until 1971 when the line was demolished. I would also be interested in the timetable for the final day as i remember it reopened to passengers in 1971 for one day before it was closed and demolished.

"South Coast Railways - Brighton to Eastbourne" (Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith) (Middleton Press) (2004 reprint) has an extract from Bradshaw's of the weekday timetable from 1890 showing a typical end-to-end journey time of just 11 minutes with two intermediate stops and a broadly hourly, but by no means clockface, frequency,

17 trains each way throughout the day, with only half a dozen or so running on Sundays.

Believe the 1971 closure day diesel-electric special service operating on Saturday 26th June 1971 was hourly.

 

[Howardh]

Although I'm not local to it, I'm fascinated by the old line, and reading Wiki it was closed to regular pax between the wars. But what was the purpose of it? I can understand goods if there was industry there, but even in the early days would people use it to get from Kemptown to Brighton? It's a bit of a "U" and I can understand if you have a connection at Brighton station it's use, but for anyone getting to the old centre of Brighton - looks quicker to walk, certainly a horse-drawn bus (and eventually a tram?)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Although I'm not local to it, I'm fascinated by the old line, and reading Wiki it was closed to regular pax between the wars. But what was the purpose of it?

The V. Mitchell and K. Smith (Middleton Press) book that was referenced upthread in post #5 suggests that the mile-and-a-quarter Kemp Town branch *may* have been built in the late 1860s to prevent or block a possible rival railway company from accessing the east of Brighton.

 

[30907]

"South Coast Railways - Brighton to Eastbourne" (Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith) (Middleton Press) (2004 reprint) has an extract from Bradshaw's of the weekday timetable from 1890 showing a typical end-to-end journey time of just 11 minutes with two intermediate stops and a broadly hourly, but by no means clockface, frequency,

17 trains each way throughout the day, with only half a dozen or so running on Sundays.

Slightly increased in 1896 and doubled by 1906 (Bradshaws online).

It's a bit of a "U" and I can understand if you have a connection at Brighton station it's use, but for anyone getting to the old centre of Brighton - looks quicker to walk, certainly a horse-drawn bus (and eventually a tram?)

I assume the improved service in 1920 (and 1906!) was part of the LBSC response to competition, and a single "Balloon" trailer with a Terrier would have been cheap to run.
(In terms of circuitous routes, the inner London suburbs had plenty pre WW1, though none quite so short, so presumably people used them.)

Believe the 1971 closure day diesel-electric special service operating on Saturday 26th June 1971 was hourly.

It was, as post #3 shows (not very legibly).

 

[Howardh]

The V. Mitchell and K. Smith (Middleton Press) book that was referenced upthread in post #5 suggests that the mile-and-a-quarter Kemp Town branch *may* have been built in the late 1860s to prevent or block a possible rival railway company from accessing the east of Brighton.

Thanks for that - must have been some money around if they built that and the tunnels simply to prevent someone else doing it!

 

[Gloster]

The Monday to Saturday service from March 3 1929 is roughly half-hourly 06.00-22.00, with a few extras in the peaks. The Sunday service started on May 5 was similar, but with no extras and a later start and earlier finish.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jul 2024 ==

A caption in Middlemass’ Stroudley and his ‘Terriers’ (Pendragon, 1995) says that motor working ended on the branch in early 1928. It also suggests that the branch was worked by Rooters from the mid-1870s on and that Sunday School Excursions continued until 1939.

EDIT: Corrected stated to started in second sentence.

 

[30907]

The Monday to Saturday service from March 3 1929 is roughly half-hourly 06.00-22.00, with a few extras in the peaks. The Sunday service stated on May 5 was similar, but with no extras and a later start and earlier finish.

Thanks - so very likely stayed that way till closure.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Jul 2024 ==

A caption in Middlemass’ Stroudley and his ‘Terriers’ (Pendragon, 1995) says that motor working ended on the branch in early 1928.

Interesting - I wonder what worked the line after that? Conventional working on that frequency would have required a turnover engine at Brighton.
.

 

[Rescars]

Thanks for that - must have been some money around if they built that and the tunnels simply to prevent someone else doing it!

Probably a good investment to prevent the London, Chatham and Dover (and its associates) from siphoning off a significant chunk of Brighton traffic. Dendy Marshall states that the branch was one of several lines promoted by the LBSC to keep the LCD out of Brighton, including the Ouse Valley line which was only partly constructed. Apparently the LCD's plans for a line from Beckenham to Lewes and Brighton were under parliamentary consideration for 25 days before being rejected.