| Whilst the little 2ft gauge car was adequate for the original
demonstration line the new 2' 8½" gauge line was going to need something
altogether more substantial. Two new cars were ordered - from whom is unknown -
with the first being delivered in 1884 in time for the opening of the extended
line. |
 |
Although
Volk's original sketch showed a two-window design Car No.1 was delivered as a
four windowed vehicle. The wider gauge meant that Magnus could build a greater
capacity car so car width was now set at 5' 6", overall length at 20' 8" and
height of 7' 8½". The enclosed saloon, which was just over 12' in length
and was accessed by doors set centrally in each bulkhead, seated 18 persons on
two long bench seats. 12 others could be accommodated on the open platforms.
Car 2 was delivered in
summer 1885 and was of similar dimensions but was fitted with the two-window
option. Sometime before 1905 No.1 was modified to this design but other than
that both cars remained very much as they were built for the rest of their
working life. |
Each of
these cars was fitted with a Siemens D2, series wound 6hp electric motor
driving one axle through a belt driven countershaft. Within this train there
was a simple clutch operated epicyclic two-speed gear change for assistance
with the gradients encountered when passing under the Chain Pier. Open stud
controllers of the type used by the railway until the 1960s were fitted in the
roof above the driving position, with reversing achieved by use of a detachable
handle at each end of the car. Braking was effected by use of a tram type
handwheel.
The cars
weighed about 2 tons and were finished in polished mahogany. Some fairly ornate
lining was applied to the sides and dashboards of the cars along with the words
'Volks Electric Railway' - possibly in gold. |
 |
| These cars provided sterling service between the opening of the
line in 1884 and the wartime closure in 1940 when all of the cars were taken to
the tramway depot at Lewes Road for storage. When this space was needed for
something else - and with the threat of invasion no longer imminent - all of
the cars were shipped back to the seafront and stored in an open compound under
the arches along Madeira Drive. At the end of hostilities the cars returned to
Lewes Road Depot for refurbishment but unfortunately Cars 1 & 2 were
considered to be beyond economic restoration and these important pieces of
history were scrapped in June 1948. |
