Brighton railway works - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Brighton railway works was one of the earliest railway-owned locomotive repair works, founded in 1840 by the London and Brighton Railway

London and Brighton Railway

The London and Brighton Railway was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway runs from a junction with the London & Croydon Railway at Norwood - which gives it access from London Bridge, just south of the River Thames in central London...

in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, England

England

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 is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and thus pre-dating the more famous railway works at Crewe

Crewe Works

Crewe railway works is a British railway engineering facility built in 1840 by the Grand Junction Railway. It is located in the town of Crewe, in the county of Cheshire....

, Doncaster

Doncaster Works

Doncaster railway works is in the town of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.Always referred to as "the Plant", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough...

and Swindon

Swindon Works

Swindon railway works were built by the Great Western Railway in 1841 in Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire.-History:In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of a railway between London and Bristol. Its Chief Engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel.From 1836, Brunel had been buying...

. The works grew steadily between 1841 and 1900 but efficient operation was always hampered by the restricted site, and there were several plans to close it and move the facility elsewhere. Nevertheless between 1852 and 1957 more than 1200 steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s as well as prototype diesel electric and electric locomotive

Electric locomotive

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...

s were constructed there, before the eventual closure of the facility in 1962.

After use as a factory for constructing bubble car

Bubble car

Bubble car is a subjective term used for some small, economical automobiles, usually produced in the 1950s and 1960s.- Varieties :The Messerschmitt KR175 and KR200, and the FMR Tg500, had aircraft-style bubble canopies, giving rise to the term bubble car to refer to all these post-war microcars...

s, the facility was demolished and has since been redeveloped as part of the New England Quarter

New England Quarter

The New England Quarter is a mixed-use development in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It was built between 2004 and 2008 on the largest brownfield site in the city, adjacent to Brighton railway station...

of Brighton

London and Brighton Railway

The earliest locomotive servicing facility at Brighton was a small engine shed to the north-west of the station, serving the Brighton - Shoreham line

West Coastway Line

The West Coastway Line is a railway line in England, along the south coast of West Sussex and Hampshire, between Brighton and Southampton, plus the short branches to Littlehampton and Bognor Regis....

of the London and Brighton Railway in May 1840. The following year, with the completion of the London - Brighton main line

Brighton Main Line

The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...

, the railway opened a larger repair facility and motive power depot

Motive power depot

Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...

on the eastern side of the main line adjacent to the Brighton railway station

Brighton railway station

Brighton railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. The station master is Mark Epsom...

. However a new workshop at Horley

Horley railway station

Horley railway station serves the town of Horley in Surrey, England. It is on the Brighton Main Line south of London Victoria, and train services are provided by Southern.There are 4 platforms, all 247 m long, capable of accepting 12 car long trains....

, midway between London and Brighton, also opened in 1841, was then planned to become the principal locomotive and carriage workshop of the new railway.

London Brighton and South Coast Railway

Following his appointment as the Locomotive Superintendent of the successor company, the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) in November 1847, John Chester Craven

John Chester Craven

John Chester Craven was the locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1847 until his resignation in 1870....

changed the plan of moving the works to Horley. Carriage construction began in 1848, having previously been carried out by contractors at New Cross. Craven also set about enlarging and equipping Brighton works for new steam locomotive construction, which began in May 1852. However the situation of the works, close to the main line, on top of a cliff, in what would soon become a built-up area, always imposed restrictions on the space available for its efficient operation.

Expansion 1860–1900

During 1860 and 1861 Craven began the removal of a large chalk hill on the western side of the main line, which had been dumped during the construction of the main line. The space created was used to accommodate a new much enlarged motive power depot in 1861, thereby permitting the closure of the existing facilities and their incorporation into the works proper. Nevertheless, by 1866 consideration was again being given to concentrating repairs at New Cross Gate railway station.

In the 1870s William Stroudley

William Stroudley

William Stroudley was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers of the nineteenth century, working principally for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway...

considered moving the works to the site at Horley once again, but instead moved the carriage repair shed and paint shops to new sites on the western side of the main line, and transferred the marine engineering work undertaken by the works to a new facility in Newhaven

Newhaven, East Sussex

Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...

. This allowed for the further enlargement of the locomotive building and repair facilities, including the addition of an iron foundry in 1873, and a new carriage painting and cleaning shop in 1878, and a coppersmith's shop in 1881. This new construction solved the problem for a while, but did not address the underlying issue of the inadequate site so that by the end of the century the works was again suffering from serious difficulties affecting its efficient operation.

Crisis at Brighton

From 1905 Brighton works was unable to keep pace with the locomotives requiring to be serviced, and backlogs began to build up. As a result the LB&SCR established concentrations of locomotives awaiting entry to the works or else scrapping at East Grinstead

East Grinstead railway station

East Grinstead railway station serves the town of East Grinstead in West Sussex. The station was formerly divided into two levels: the higher level platforms serving the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells Central Line, whilst the lower level platforms received services from the Oxted Line 49 km ...

, Horsted Keynes

Horsted Keynes railway station

Horsted Keynes railway station is a railway station in Sussex. It was closed by British Railways Beeching Axe on 28 October 1963 with the cessation of trains from Seaford via Haywards Heath...

and Horley

Horley railway station

. An outside investigation in 1908, conducted by Robert Urie

Robert Urie

Robert Wallace Urie was a Scottish locomotive engineer who was the last chief mechanical engineer of the London and South Western Railway....

, then Works Manager of Nine Elms Works

Nine Elms Locomotive Works

Nine Elms locomotive works were built in 1839 by the London and South Western Railway adjoining their passenger terminus near the Vauxhall end of Nine Elms Lane, in the district of Nine Elms in the London Borough of Battersea. They were rebuilt in 1841 and remained the principal locomotive...

found 108 of the LB&SCR's 541 locomotives (20%) were awaiting or under repair, and that a general overhaul at Brighton took 43 days, compared with 7.2% of the locomotives of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway

South Eastern and Chatham Railway

The South Eastern and Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee , known by its shorter name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway was a working union of two neighbouring rival railways, the South Eastern Railway and London, Chatham and Dover Railway , that operated services between...

under repair and 21 days taken by Ashford Works. By 1910 30% of the locomotive stock was unusable due to delays and inefficiencies at Brighton works.

Lawson Billinton, the District Locomotive Superintendent at New Cross depot had sought to alleviate the situation by executing repairs and boiler changes, but this had little impact on the problem. The LB&SCR Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent D.E. Marsh received much of the blame for the problem, which had been developing for some years, and he was granted leave of absence due to sickness in 1910, followed by his resignation in July 1911. Billinton had been invited to take over on a temporary basis during Marsh's sickness, and promptly set about re-organising the works and reducing the backlog by using emerging Time and motion study

Time and motion study

A time and motion study is a business efficiency technique combining the Time Study work of Frederick Winslow Taylor with the Motion Study work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth . It is a major part of scientific management...

techniques.

Plans to move the works

The LB&SCR directors recognised that part of the problem at Brighton was that the works was overwhelmed with work. In 1910 they purchased land at Lancing

Lancing Carriage Works

Lancing carriage and wagon works was a railway carriage and wagon building and maintenance facility in the village of Lancing in the county of West Sussex in England from 1911 until 1965.-History under the LB&SCR:...

for a new carriage and wagon works, which was opened in 1912. This allowed Stroudley's carriage shed to be used as an overflow 'stock shed' by the locomotive works and the motive power depot. Locomotives repaired at Brighton were also sometimes taken to Lancing for their final painting.

Once confirmed in his post as Locomotive Superintendent in 1913 Billinton presented proposals to the LB&SCR board to close Brighton works and concentrate all locomotive building and repair at a new facility adjacent to the carriage works at Lancing

Lancing

Lancing may refer to:*Lancing *Lancing , a manufacturing procedure*Lancing, West Sussex*Lancing College*Lancing railway station*Lancing Carriage Works...

. However the advent of the First World War in 1914 put an end to this plan.

Locomotive building was severely curtailed at Brighton after 1916 and the works became involved in munitions production. After the war there was again a substantial backlog of repairs and new construction did not resume until late 1920.

Grouping & impending closure

Following the grouping

Railways Act 1921

The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

of the LB&SCR and other railways in southern England

England

to form the Southern Railway, in 1923, much of the new locomotive construction for the new railway was transferred to the more modern facilities at Eastleigh Works

Eastleigh Works

Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh in the county of Hampshire in England.-History under the LSWR:...

. After mid-1931, with the impending electrification of the Brighton main line

Brighton Main Line

, the locomotive works once again seemed likely to close. Many of the skilled workmen and much of the equipment were transferred to Eastleigh

Eastleigh Works

Eastleigh Works is a locomotive, carriage and wagon building and repair facility in the town of Eastleigh in the county of Hampshire in England.-History under the LSWR:...

and Ashford

Ashford railway works

Ashford railway works was in the town of Ashford in the county of Kent in England.-South Eastern Railway:Ashford locomotive works was built by the South Eastern Railway on a new site in 1847, replacing an earlier locomotive repair facility at New Cross in London...

, the Paint Shop was converted into an Electric multiple unit

Electric multiple unit

An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...

maintenance facility, and the former carriage shed was converted for use by the Southern Railway's new Road Motor Engineers Department. Similarly the steam motive power depot was rebuilt and reduced in size.

The Second World War and Revival

Fears of possible air attacks on Ashford and Eastleigh together with the need for more steam locomotive and armaments construction during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

brought about the re-opening and re-equipment of the workshops in 1941. Throughout the remaining years of the war Brighton works was used for locomotive construction, initially for the Southern Railway, but also later for the War Department

War Department (UK)

The War Department was the United Kingdom government department responsible for the supply of equipment to the armed forces of the United Kingdom and the pursuance of military activity. In 1857 it became the War Office...

, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

and the London and North Eastern Railway

London and North Eastern Railway

The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...

. It also manufactured component parts for tanks and anti-aircraft guns. The workshops were damaged during the "Brighton Blitz

Brighton Blitz

The term Brighton Blitz refers to German air raids on the British town of Brighton during World War II.The beaches were closed at 5:00 p.m. on 2 July 1940 and were mined and guarded with barbed wire. Both the Palace Pier and West Pier had sections of their decking removed to prevent their use as...

" in May 1943 but soon repaired.

British Railways and closure

In the decade after the nationalisation of British Rail

British Rail

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 gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways(BR) in 1948 Brighton works was again used for new locomotive construction, being responsible for both design work and construction of several of the new BR Standard classes. At the time of the centenary of locomotive building in 1952 the works covered 9 acres (36,421.7 m²) and employed about 650 staff. However, under the modernisation plan for BR announced in 1954, Brighton Works was once again passed over. Locomotive building ceased in 1957, and locomotive repairs ceased the following year. The buildings were closed in 1962 and demolished in 1969. The motive power depot was officially closed 15 June 1961, but remained in use for stabling steam locomotives until 1964, and was demolished in 1966.

Later uses of the site

After the closure of the main works, part of the workshop was used for the building of Isetta

Isetta

The Isetta is an Italian-designed microcar built in a number of different countries, including Spain, Belgium, France, Brazil, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Produced in the post-World War II years, a time when cheap short-distance transportation was most needed, it became one of the most...

microcars between 1957 and 1964 and some of the land remained in railway use, associated with the stabling of electric multiple unit

Electric multiple unit

trains and other maintenance functions. Much of the land later became a large open car park, and was used for a popular market every Sunday morning. Some land on the eastern side was given over to an assortment of retail units including a number of car dealers with temporary structures being the predominant building type, and a strip below the yard was used for retail premises; behind these remained the stone and brick columns over which the yard had been extended when space was at a premium. Much of the land which was not suitable for use either by lock-up traders or for car parking or still in use by British Rail was left derelict. The final traces of the locomotive works vanished with the demolition of the elevated 1930s Southern Railway signal box in the mid 1980s, the signal box having used part of the main locomotive erecting-shop wall as support.

In the early years of the 21st Century the site has finally seen redevelopment begin, and it lies at the heart of the New England Quarter

New England Quarter

Locomotive construction at Brighton

The first locomotive to be constructed at Brighton was a 2-2-2

2-2-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangement both provided more stability and enabled a larger firebox...

, No.14. Thereafter Brighton works was responsible for the design and construction of a large proportion of the locomotives operated by the LB&SCR under the engineers Craven

John Chester Craven

John Chester Craven was the locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1847 until his resignation in 1870....

, William Stroudley

William Stroudley

William Stroudley was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers of the nineteenth century, working principally for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway...

, R. J. Billinton

R. J. Billinton

Robert John Billinton was the Locomotive, Carriage, Wagon and Marine Superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1890 until his death.-Early career:...

, D. E. Marsh

D. E. Marsh

Douglas Earle Marsh was the Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from November 1904 until his early retirement on health grounds in July 1911.-Early career:...

and L. B. Billinton

L. B. Billinton

Lawson Boskovsky Billinton was the locomotive engineer of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway from 1912 for ten years until his retirement in 1922....

London Brighton and South Coast Railway

Notable locomotive types constructed at Brighton included the A1 "Terrier" class

LB&SCR A1 Class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class have received several nicknames, initially being known as...

, awarded a Gold medal at the 1870 Paris Exhibition, the B1

LB&SCR B1 Class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway B1 Class is a class of 0-4-2 express passenger steam locomotives, known from the name of the first, No. 214, as the "Gladstones".-History:...

"Gladstone" class 0-4-2

0-4-2

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement with no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

(awarded a Gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exhibition

Exposition Universelle (1889)

The Exposition Universelle of 1889 was a World's Fair held in Paris, France from 6 May to 31 October 1889.It was held during the year of the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, an event traditionally considered as the symbol for the beginning of the French Revolution...

), the D1

LB&SCR D1 class

The LB&SCR D1 class were powerful 0-4-2 suburban passenger tank locomotives, designed by William Stroudley of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1873. They were originally known as "D-tanks" but later reclassified as class D1...

0-4-2T, the Billinton B4

LB&SCR B4 Class

The B4 class were 4-4-0 steam locomotives for express passenger work on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. They were designed by R. J. Billinton and were either built at Brighton works 1899–1902 or else by Messrs Sharp, Stewart and Company in 1901. Twelve members of the class were...

4-4-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...

, and D3

LB&SCR D3 class

LB&SCR D3 class was a 0-4-4T tank locomotive design, by Robert J. Billinton, built for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway between 1892 and 1896...

0-4-4T

0-4-4

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles...

classes, the Marsh H2 class

LB&SCR H2 class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway H2 class was a class of 4-4-2 steam locomotives for express passenger work. They were designed when D. E. Marsh was officially Locomotive Superintendent, and were built at Brighton Works in 1911 and 1912...

4-4-2

4-4-2 (locomotive)

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...

, and L Class

LB&SCR L class

The LB&SCR L Class was a class of 4-6-4 steam tank locomotives designed by L. B. Billinton for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. They were known as the "Brighton Baltics", Baltic being the European name for the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement...

4-6-4

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification:...

T. Locomotive building at Brighton ceased at the end of 1916 with the building of the last E2

LB&SCR E2 Class

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway E2 Class was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives designed by Lawson Billinton, intended for shunting and short distance freight trains...

0-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels...

tank, and five K

LB&SCR K class

London Brighton and South Coast Railway Class K were powerful 2-6-0 mixed traffic locomotives designed by L. B. Billinton for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1913. They appeared shortly before the First World War and the first ten examples of the class did prodigious work during...

class 2-6-0

2-6-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...

, and did not resume until late 1920, with further members of the K and L classes. The last locomotive to be build at the works by the LB&SCR was L class No. 333 Remembrance.

Southern Railway

For the first three years of Southern Railway ownership no new locomotives were built at Brighton, although rebuilding of the B4 class into virtually new locomotives took place. During 1926 the works was responsible for building ten examples of Maunsell's

Richard Maunsell

Richard Edward Lloyd Maunsell held the post of Chief Mechanical Engineer of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1913 until the 1923 Grouping and then the post of CME of the Southern Railway in England until 1937....

"River class"

Southern Railway U Class

The SR U class were 2-6-0 steam locomotives designed by Richard Maunsell for passenger duties on the Southern Railway . The class represented the penultimate stage in the development of the Southern Railway’s mogul "family", which improved upon the basic principles established by GWR Chief...

and then rebuilding of six of them into "U class"

Southern Railway U Class

2-6-0

tender locomotives two years later. The works also built a further ten "U" class in 1928. The following year the works constructed all of the designer's Z class

SR Z Class

The SR Z class was an 0-8-0T 3-cylinder tank engine designed by Richard Maunsell and intended for heavy shunting on the Southern Railway, the first eight entering into service in 1929...

0-8-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...

T locomotives, before locomotive construction again ceased.

During the war years Brighton works built more than half of Bulleid's

Oliver Bulleid

Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid was a British railway and mechanical engineer best known as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway between 1937 and the 1948 nationalisation, developing many well-known locomotives.- Early life and Great Northern Railway :He was born in Invercargill,...

Q1 class

SR Class Q1

The SR Q1 class is a type of austerity steam locomotive constructed during the Second World War. The class was designed by Oliver Bulleid for use on the intensive freight turns experienced during wartime on the Southern Railway network. A total of 40 locomotives were built. Bulleid...

0-6-0 freight locomotives, and the drawing office was primarily responsible for the detailed designs of his revolutionary Merchant Navy

SR Merchant Navy class

The SR Merchant Navy class , was a class of air-smoothed 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotives designed for the Southern Railway of the United Kingdom by Oliver Bulleid...

4-6-2

4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...

express passenger locomotives, although the locomotives were built at Eastleigh Works

Eastleigh

Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...

. From 1943 they built 93 of the LMS

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

Stanier

William Stanier

Sir William Arthur Stanier, FRS was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.- Biography :...

type 2-8-0

2-8-0

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...

freight locomotives for the War Department

War Department (UK)

, at the incredible rate of one every 4.5 days.

The heyday of locomotive building at the works was during the decade after the war, when Brighton built more than 100 Bulleid

Oliver Bulleid

light pacifics of the West Country

SR West Country Class

The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as Light Pacifics or informally as Spam Cans, are classes of air-smoothed 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive designed for the Southern Railway by its Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid...

and Battle of Britain classes. The works also constructed the boilers and tenders for the final batch of ten Merchant Navy class, although the locomotives were constructed at Eastleigh. The thousandth locomotive to be constructed at the works was 21C164 "Fighter Command" in June 1947. This figure did not take into account 12 B4X class

LB&SCR B4 Class

4-4-0

from 1922-24 which were officially classified as rebuilds rather than new locomotives.

British Railways

During the early years of British Railways Brighton works constructed two further batches of "West Country" pacifics and would have been responsible for the entire class of 110 locomotives, had not the works become overstretched due to its involvement in the design and construction of Bulleid's

Oliver Bulleid

problematic and ultimately ill-fated Leader class

SR Leader Class

The Leader was a class of experimental 0-6-6-0T articulated steam locomotive, produced in the United Kingdom to the design of the innovative engineer Oliver Bulleid. The Leader was an attempt to extend the life of steam traction by eliminating many of the operational drawbacks associated with...

in 1949. Thereafter it was responsible for building 41 examples of the LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T

LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T

The London Midland and Scottish Railway Fairburn Tank 2-6-4T steam locomotives are a class of steam locomotive. They were designed by Charles E. Fairburn for the London Midland and Scottish Railway...

for use on the Southern Region.

In addition to the Leader class, other prototype locomotives constructed at Brighton included the third 3rd rail Co-Co electric locomotive

Electric locomotive

An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device...

, numbered 20003

British Rail Class 70

The British Rail Class 70 was a class of three 3rd rail Co-Co electric locomotives. The initial two were built by the Southern Railway at Ashford Works in 1941 and 1945 and were numbered CC1 and CC2. Electrical equipment was designed by Alfred Raworth and the body by Oliver Bulleid. CC2 was...

in 1948, and the third 1Co-Co1 diesel electric locomotive numbered 10203

British Rail Class D16/2

British Railways Class D16/2 was a class of prototype diesel locomotive built by BR at Ashford Works and introduced in 1950-1951, with a third example being introduced in 1954. They had been designed by Oliver Bulleid for the Southern Railway before the 1948 nationalisation but did not appear until...

in 1954.

Brighton staff were involved in the design of three of the most successful BR standard classes – the class 4 4-6-0 tender

BR standard class 4 4-6-0

The British Railways Standard Class 4 4-6-0 is a class of steam locomotives, 80 of which were built during the 1950s. Six have been preserved.-Background:...

, and class 4 2-6-4 tank

BR standard class 4 tank

The British Railways Standard Class 4 tank was a class of steam locomotive, one of the BR standard classes built during the 1950s. They were used primarily on commuter and outer suburban services.- Background :...

classes together with the 9F

BR standard class 9F

The British Railways BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, and was intended for use on fast, heavy freight...

2-10-0 class – and the works built 130 examples of the class 4 tank locomotives after 1951. New locomotive construction ceased in 1957 with the construction of BR standard class 4 tank

BR standard class 4 tank

80154, which was the 1,211th locomotive to be constructed there.

Other engineering work undertaken at Brighton works

As mentioned above, the works undertook marine engineering for the railway until the mid 1870s and carriage construction until the opening of Lancing Carriage Works

Lancing Carriage Works

. In addition it constructed turntables and other heavy equipment for the railway.

London and Brighton Railway

London Brighton and South Coast Railway

Expansion 1860–1900

Crisis at Brighton

Plans to move the works

Grouping & impending closure

The Second World War and Revival

British Railways and closure

Later uses of the site

Locomotive construction at Brighton

London Brighton and South Coast Railway

Southern Railway

British Railways

Other engineering work undertaken at Brighton works

Further reading