Shedding a Light On the Station at Brighton (3)

From Yesterday - Some Post Scripta

The London Road Viaduct at Brighton was bombed during WW2 and a section of the arches was totally destroyed ...

... leaving track hanging in mid air.

Temporary repairs were put in hand immediately and the line was re-opened after ...

... 24 hours! The full rebuild took somewhat longer.

How long would such a major repair take today and for how long would train services be interrupted and replaced by buses?

The locomotive artwork on the former goods line bridge ...

... represents the Jenny Lind.

The locomotive was the first of a class of ten steam locomotives built in 1847 for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway by E. B. Wilson and Company of Leeds, named after Jenny Lind, who was a famous opera singer of the period. The general design proved to be so successful that the manufacturers adopted it for use on other railways, and it became the first mass-produced locomotive type.

And So - Back to Brighton Station

In the two previous blogs, we saw that the Brighton station site was "challenging" as it sloped significantly from west to east.

This is clearly see from the surrounding roads. Terminus Road (on the west) climbs steadily alongside the main building ...

... rising straightaway to above platform level. By the outer end of the trainshed the road is at roof level! From Howard place (a continuation), you look down on the whole area.

Meanwhile, on the opposite, eastern, side, the roads are well below platform level. The original access, Trafalgar Street, is a significant climb up from the present London Road.

We have already met the access door for the more gentle slope withing the station; built to assist gentlemen's carriages ...

... but the whole of the east side of the building, Trafalgar Arches, offered access to a large undercroft used for storing goods.

Indeed, a close examination of the track plan for the station area ...

... shows sidings and wagon turntables leading into the areas under the platforms.

And the Locomotive Works

Viewed from the west, "the works" looks big and black and busy but with little clue as to the huge amount of civil engineering needed to set it in place to the east of the running lines.

But from the east it is a different matter.

A line of pillars on an extension and a long line of arches on the original sections have been necessary to support the track levels. The total size of the edifice is just about comprehendable if we step a little further back.

And some of those pillars on the extended building still stand ...

... supporting the newer buildings that now take the place of the once-busy works.

The Main Station Entrance

The access via Trafalgar Street was bridged by the enlarged porte cochère as the entrance to the station was extended and improved. 

This covered way led over the bridge to the new-build Queen Street where was sited a tram terminus.

Later some of the property on the left was demolished to push a road through alongside the slope of Trafalgar Street, then more was razed to the ground ...

... which opened up the area and created space for a small bus station.

From here, GoAhead Brighton and Hove's service 7 will whisk you "at frequent intervals" down the hill to the city centre, Old Steine and via the Hospital to the Marina.

and "frequent intervals" means what it says on the tin!

Well worth the ride down the hill and, more importantly, back up the hill to catch your train.

Correspondent Alan (now happily resident as this blogs senior rep on the Isle of Wight) was brought up at Rottingdean, just along the coast, and he asked about the old destination display at the station, so, just for Alan, here is a picture of how it was before the present age of clever electronics.

A little man pulled levers to change the displays and re-set the clocks over each column.

Are you really old enough to remember that, Alan?

Whatever, the present version is far less entertaining!

Having taken a look at the bus station outside the railway station, we will be going there to complete our bus ride from Eastbourne to Brighton and back.

 Next Eastbourne blog : Thursday 11th July