A Station Building for Litlington

The Baseboards have been on the back burner since the last update, because the weather has not tended to be at the best when I have had the time (and it isn’t late enough to annoy the neighbours) . It’s not a problem – I’m in no mood to rush things for the sake of it, and anyway, I have been reconsidering my reasons for going with the jigsaw method.

Originally, I wanted to do this because I felt it would be an easy way of making the layout portable – which still applies. However, three 4′ long boards of variable width take up the same space as one 4′ long board of a fixed width. Obviously. Am I just making trouble for myself? Was I told this when I originally mooted the idea? Yes (to the latter, the former is something I’ve been pondering).

To avoid falling into the spiral of ‘problem, wonder how to resolve it, get bored and do something else’, I’ve instead been concentrating on some of the other aspects of the layout.

Firstly rolling stock – Kevin Walsh of the Uckfield Club kindly offered me four Ratio Van kits, which he had started to convert into Poultry Vans. These used to be used on the Cuckoo Line, with Heathfield in particular being a centre for Chicken Fattening. To quote from www.heathfield.net;

In the Victorian age occupations increased in variety and in addition to farming, timber and building work, there was now a widespread industry in chicken-fattening.  Trains would bring in chickens for fattening from all over and take them away when they were ready.  Lots of people did a bit of fattening in their back gardens, putting up lews (shelters made from faggots) to keep out the wind.  Chickens would be put on a cramming machine to fatten them up with a mixture of sour milk, ground oats and rendered down fat.  Men would do the plucking and the women did the stubbing (pinching out the beginnings of new feathers).  As this activity expanded, it spawned a range of related activities such as corn and seed merchants, carriers and suppliers of equipment and machinery, as well as the increase in the production of cereals and hops.  This industry started in the 1860s and finished around 1960 when broilers were introduced.

‘PC’ it ain’t, but a useful rural industry for the layout it is, especially as I’m told it is unlikely that a small rural brewery would send goods out by train, instead focusing on a tightly defined local area – so whilst the brewery will still receive coal and anthracite for the brewing process, I needed another ‘export’ industry, and have now found one. LBSCR/SR Insulated Van suppliers, anyone?. I’ve so far built two of the Ratio vans that Kev supplied, and am in the (slow, it’s been years since I last used transfers) process of lettering them. I have another two more to do, couplings to install, and then they will be ready for the photo plank.

I also mentioned earlier that I have started work on the Station Building. This is based on and inspired by Hailsham station on the Cuckoo Line, but is not an exact copy as it has been flipped (the toilet block moved from one side to the other) to better fit in with the plan. Loads still to do, but a couple of photos are below;

Platform Side

Road Side

This is made from Wills parts and the roof (and windows, for that matter) are just held in place temporarily with Blu Tac – but it is getting there, with nearly all of the major constituent parts cut (apart from the roof). 

How does it look compared with the original? – well, not too bad if you ignore the (thankfully part built!) roof.

Nick Catford has supplied a photo from 1965 to the excellent ‘Disused Stations‘ site which shows the front elevation well – http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/h/hailsham/index7.shtml (And also shows that I have the angle of the roof all wrong. I wondered why it was a pain in the arse to fit… – that’ll be a trip out for some more Wills roof tiles then!)

This is the first time I’ve scratchbuilt to a plan (The A.C Elliott book ‘The Cuckoo Line’ published by Wild Swan has the relevant scale drawings, which I’ve enlarged from 2mm to 4mm on a photocopier), and I have found it a most enjoyable process. Hopefully this will continue! 

 

Starting the Jigsaw

Over the last week I’ve been mostly working on some rolling stock, but today have been able to put together the first of the baseboards.

As has been explained previously, I intend to use the ‘Jigsaw’ method of construction. This has been giving me headaches over the past few days, but today I bit the bullet and got on with it.

The first board is below;

Click image to enlarge

The result? – Not half bad, especially the slabs underneath (photo taken in the garden for natural light) aren’t the most level.

Framing is blocks of 2″ x 1″, pinned to the ply ‘top’. Another thing to consider is that this was just placed together for the photo – there will be catches holding the boards together. You can see the lines of each ‘piece’ a little more than I would like, because the jigsaw (power tool, not baseboard design – confusing stuff) made the edges a little rough. I intend to cover the boards in cork to make it a little neater (and hide the pins).

I am though pleased with it so far – I am by no means a master craftsman – but the three sections ‘mesh’ nicely together already, before adding the catches. For this photo, in order to expose the joints to scrutiny, I took the full-scale plan off, but a quick glimpse of the layout plan below shows that these three boards are numbers 1, 2 and 5.

Comments and questions are, as always, welcome and appreciated.

Boot Sale Bargains

The usual Sunday morning trip round one of the local Car Boot Sales revealed some interesting bits. Firstly – an old Hornby Sheep Wagon. I believe this is nothing like the prototype, but at a solitary pound, with no broken bits (I have a spare wheelset!) , it will do as a placeholder and something in the right livery to shunt around whilst I am building kits.

The books both caught my eye on the same stall (£2 the pair). The H.P White ‘Regional History of the Railways’ book has already thrown up some interesting snippets on a very quick first glance through earlier, and this edition was published in 1964. As well as plenty of text, there are a few interesting pictures, and a lovely pullout Map (in perfect condition, despite the somewhat tatty dust jacket) of the area.

Finally, and with a nod to the always thought-provoking Neil Rushby, I picked up ‘Sussex’ by John Burke (1974). This is immaculate, and will hopefully prove enlightening reading whether or not it throws up anything which can be incorporated into the layout. Neil mentioned on his Rushby’s Railways blog, a few weeks ago , that modellers sometimes struggle to get what is outside the railway boundary as correct as they do inside, and suggested the Country Life volumes from the 50’s as a useful resource. A quick squint on Amazon shows up some interesting potential books for a matter of pence (one on Alfriston and one on Alfriston and the Cuckmere Valley), which may well follow these two onto the shelves.

Moving to the layout, it has been a quiet weekend with the wonderful weather allowing plenty of time to get the garden looking good – although I have waved the jigsaw at some plywood. The first of the boards is now cut into three sections, awaiting the cutting of side panels – then we’ll see if the jigsaw idea works…

Beginnings

Tonight has seen the first real tangible progress on the layout – although there isn’t a lot to show for it.

What I have done is to print out the XtrkCad plan in 1.1 scale, and tape it on the board. Now that I’ve worked out that the gap in the middle was down to the printer rather than any fault of mine, I’m pretty pleased with it – the layout flows nicely, with something that I had previously only seen on screen now taking physical shape.

This though is the easy part – what comes next is something I’m a little apprehensive about. For the Baseboards, I’m planning something completely new to me. I mentioned way back at the start that I am a big fan of Iain Rice’s writings, and in his 1990 book ‘An Approach to Model Railway Layout Design – Finescale in Small Spaces’ he introduced the concept of Jigsaw Baseboards. 

“As you may have gathered by now, baseboard joints are a ‘bete noire’ of mine, and I have long sought ways of making them far less obvious than the usual regular interval ruler-straight geological faults. The ‘jigsaw’ baseboard design is the most radical way I have yet come up with of achieving this, although the notion at present exists in three basic variations”

Iain Rice, Model Railway Layout Design Finescale in Small Spaces, Pg 20

Iain then goes on to discuss the first two – but it was the third that caught my eye – that of splitting the whole baseboard into ‘chunks’, which connect, jigsaw-like, to form the whole layout.

Putting that in the concept of Litlington…

Apologies for the ugly red lines, but it is the best way of demonstrating. The layout will be physically divided (and I mean completely divided, the individual parts will be held together with dowels (as in flat pack furniture) and over-centre catches when in use, but otherwise totally separate) into 6 sections as shown above. 

Looking at each one in turn, you can see that Sections 1, 3, 5 and 6 are purely scenic. Sections 2 and 4 carry the track – with the wiring run along the front of the battens (I’m planning on using the glued ply method of ply-softwood block-ply. Dowels will locate into the softwood block, with the catches on the ends of each section to join it to its neighbour). The main reason for going with this method is to try to avoid obvious joins, but also to enable the layout to be split easily for transport (Sections 2 and 4 joined together electronically by plugs and sockets) – as I’ll be using DCC, there will be a main bus, with droppers to each individual piece of track. 

You’ll also see that those big red lines run straight through two of the buildings – they will be demountable, for safety’s sake (I’m going to be scratchbuilding both, so this would have been a sensible option anyway).

As for the other joints, the lineside fence should take care of the one along the back, whilst the one running through the goods yard should be taken care of with the usual gunk and ash that forms the ‘ballast’ in this area. The only one that is a slight concern is the (unavoidable, whatever method of baseboard) join in the track in the middle (sections 2-4) – hopefully I’ll be able to hide this from normal viewing angles with some careful placement of greenery – as the layout is intended to be viewed at close to eye level, hopefully it won’t be too obvious in any case. 

 

 

Litlington – The Layout

What follows is an amalgamation of several posts. If you would like to see the various versions of the trackplan, have a look at the RMWeb Version of the Blog here 

Now that I’ve written the history and dreamt up the rationale, it’s now time to think about the layout.

It is pretty much as per the ‘Route Guide’ published recently, except I’ve decided that the brewery entrance would be better ‘offstage’ – it just seems to suit the open feel of the place a little more. There is room for a few changes – I’d quite like to fit a flint-built cottage on there somewhere – but I’m quite happy with what I’ve come up with so far.

‘Fits’, of course, is a bit subjective – there is ‘no room at the inn’ for an 8′ long lump – and of late I’ve been erring towards the smaller, portable (who said exhibitable, quiet there, the Mrs is watching!) layout as my ‘weapon of choice’. On that note – I have been reading of the ‘Jigsaw’ design principle, which sounds ideal, particularly as I’ve always had an aversion to the (often unavoidable!) ‘baseboard join chasm’ often seen, and the plan has been designed with this in mind.

After many revisions of trackplans, and the growing realisation that drawing pretty pen and ink plans isn’t for me, the final (final!) plan is below;

Buildings

One thing I want to do is have a definite ‘LBSCR Flavour’ – so instead of using kit built buildings, I plan to build four of the five structures shown in the plan above from scratch (The odd one out being the coaling stage). I may live to regret this!

One of my biggest sources of inspiration for the project has been the Wild Swan book ‘The Cuckoo Line’ by A.C Elliott. At the back are drawings (to 2mm/foot scale) of various buildings along the line.

Starting with the Station Building, I think that of Hailsham (pg 142) suits it well. A quick Google reveals this photo from John Law on Flickr;http://www.flickr.co…cat/5631935654/

The Engine Shed will also be that from Hailsham (Page 144)- the real thing was demolished in the 1880’s, but as I’ve moved it to another location, I felt it only fair to give the old thing an extended lease of life!

The Water Tower will be that of Heathfield ( http://www.flickr.co…N03/6466195117/ from ‘heffle-senior’ on Flickr), but without the hoist (described as unusual on the excellent http://www.lbscr.org website – http://www.lbscr.org…htm#Water_Tower ) . (Page 152)

Finally, the Goods Shed – this is the Goods Warehouse from Rotherfield (First picture on http://www.disused-s…oss/index.shtml)

 

A Journey Down The Line….

Isfield

The Cuckmere Valley Line began at Isfield, with services departing from Platform 3. Facilities at Isfield were shared with the Wealden (Lewes-Uckfield) Line Station, with A.E Lavender the local coal merchant, also involved with sand, granite and the shingle extracted from Cuckmere Haven. Whilst most passenger trains terminated at Isfield, a few ran onto the Wealden Line, pausing at Platform 1 before continuing towards Uckfield, Eridge (for connections to Hailsham and Polegate via the Cuckoo Line) and Tunbridge Wells West (for connections to London). Leaving Isfield, the line turned quite sharply away from the course of the section of the Wealden line which continued towards Lewes, skirting the ancient Plashett Wood. Crossing farmland, the line then curved gently round before running close to Shortgate Lane to enter Laughton.

Laughton

After entering the village, the line crossed Laughton Road before entering the station, just off the present day Church Road. At Laughton a single platform was provided with a loop, small goods shed (similar to that at Horam on the Cuckoo Line), small livestock holding pen, and a seperate siding to serve the various brickworks.

Leaving Laughton, the line passed close behind the village school and All Saints Church, built in the 13th Century and containing the remains of two 18th Century Prime Ministers, both members of the important Pelham family, continuing on the gentle curve to head for Ripe.

Ripe

A short time after leaving Laughton, the line ran into the western side of the small hamlet of Ripe. Here, a basic halt was provided with a single siding for coal and ‘smalls’ traffic, dealt with by a small ‘booking in’ office staffed by a part-time Clerk.

Berwick

Leaving Ripe, the line crossed the main Lewes-Eastbourne ‘East Coastway’ line by means of a simple overbridge, passing the outskirts of the village of Selmeston, with the station opposite the Church (St Michaels & All Angels). At Berwick, another loop was provided, with a single siding for freight for the village (larger facilities being provided off the East Coastway line at the station which, upon opening of the Cuckmere Valley line, had been renamed Berwick & Selmeston. A headshunt from this siding ran to a loading dock, adjacent to which was the 2-Foot Narrow Gauge siding of the Ludlay Brick and Tile Company.

Alfriston

Shortly after leaving Berwick the line changed direction, curving over the Alfriston Road before running alongside the River Cuckmere, from which it would take it’s name. Alfriston Station occupied a pretty location, built on a gentle curve just off North Street, close to the centre of the village, and boasted a goods store as well as livestock pens.

Litlington

Leaving Alfriston, the line curved to cross the Cuckmere, before running into Litlington, the terminus of passenger operation on the line. Here a loop is provided, as well as basic goods facilities and a siding running to the Long Man Brewery. Litlington, as with Isfield, is also the location of a coaling stage with water tower (fed from the river), to enable locomotives to be refueled prior to the journey either down to the coast, or back northwards.

Following Litlington, the line takes a reasonably straight path alongside the river, crossing again at Exceat, before terminating close to the shore – a loop is also provided. The East Sussex Transport & Trading Company also maintains a small siding for stabling a shunting locomotive, which although plated to work over LBSC metals as far as Litlington Station, is primarily used to shunt loaded wagons into the opposite track of the loop, to enable empties to be delivered straight to the loading platform.

Sources; All information on Narrow Gauge Lines from http://cambrianmodel…k/eastsxng.html .

1948 to Beeching and Beyond

British Railways was formed from the Big Four in 1948, with, again, little except signage and numbers on rolling stock changing for the Cuckmere Valley Railway. During the 1950’s, the tourists began to drift away – tempted by other parts of the network, with the era of the Holiday Camp in full swing.

Still the little railway soldiered on – but in 1963 came a double whammy which the railway would not recover from – firstly the famous and feared report of Dr Richard Beeching recommended the line for closure to passenger traffic – declining receipts blamed despite a local campaign to save the line, with some of the descendants of the original backers involved in an at-times bitter campaign. Freight too was on the decline, but the appetite of the construction industry for ballast – ironically to increase the road-building programme to replace railways all over the country – kept the gravel and shingle extraction going, which would have been enough to preserve the branch as a freight only line.

It was not to be. A year after the withdrawal of passenger service, the East Sussex Transport And Trading Company ceased trading (1), cutting the need for the line dramatically. This time it was the end, and full closure was complete by January 1965. Perhaps as a result of their main transportation method ending, the Ludlay Brick and Tile Company at Berwick closed in 1965 (2). Of the Stations, Litlington, Alfriston, Laughton and Berwick passed quickly into private ownership, following demolition and removal of track, whilst the halt at Ripe, a wooden structure, quickly became derelict and was dismantled in early 1970. The trackbed, too, was sold off piecemeal, mostly to local farmers who re-incorporated it into the same fields that their ancestors had seen severed a hundred years previously, whilst new housing at Alfriston, Berwick and Laughton removed all but the faintest traces of the line in those villages. The freight-only section from Litlington to the coast also reverted to its natural state – with the Cuckmere Haven becoming a popular tourist attraction in its own right.

Isfield, however, after initially facing a similar fate, had a far happier ending – the Wealden Line had been closed in 1969 after another, more drawn out battle between local residents and what had now become British Rail (3). The station was purchased at auction by Dave and Gwen Millham (4), and restoration to former glory began immediately afterwards, with track relaid along the route of the line towards Uckfield. What had now became known as the Lavender Line passed into the ownership of the Lavender Line Preservation Society in 1991, with remaining artifacts, including original Station nameboards, of several Cuckmere Valley Line stations displayed in a small museum in the restored Signal Box. Things would come full circle in November 2011, when ‘Rileys Railway’ opened to the public alongside Platform 3 at Isfield (5) – meaning that once again, and although much smaller, trains run along a tiny part of the route of the Cuckmere Valley Railway.

 

(‘Rileys Railway’ at the Lavender Line, Isfield – my photo, taken April 2013)

Sources;

1 – http://en.wikipedia….e_Haven#History
2 – http://en.wikipedia….erwick_industry
3 – http://en.wikipedia….#Public_enquiry
4 – http://en.wikipedia….ine#Restoration
5 – http://www.lavender-…ive/news-20.htm

The Southern Era – 1923-1948

‘The Grouping’ as it came to be known saw The LBSCR merge with the South Eastern & Chatham Railway and the London & South Western Railway, as well as several smaller companies, to form the Southern Railway, one of the Big Four. For a while, little changed, although gradually LBSC fixtures and fittings began to disapear to be replaced by the roundel of the Southern. At Litlington, a new ‘White Horse’ was cut in 1924 to replace the original which had become overgrown (1), whilst the Brickworks at Laughton reached their peak of production.

The Grouping also saw new stock work the line – with former SECR locomotives, particularly James Stirling’s O Class and Harry Wainwright’s 0-4-4T H Class becoming common, the latter continuing the ‘Motor Train’ trend of the early part of the century, with Push-Pull working dominating on the route. Coaching stock too changed – one of the main policies of Robert Maunsell, the first Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Southern Railway, early in his tenure, was to standardise the wide variety of coaching stock he had inherited, which would eventually lead to stock originating from the former rivals of the LBSC featuring regularly on the line. Late in the 1920’s, with further suburban electrification, came the first regular ‘standard’ services, rather than Push-Pull workings, with Billinton’s E4 Class 0-6-2 Tanks, as well as former SECR ‘Birdcage’ Coaching stock, to accomodate the growing tourist visitors to Alfriston and Litlington in particular, with the locomotive using the loop at Litlington, previously the main preserve of the Ballast and Gravel workings, to run around – locomotive 2562, once named Laughton, performing the first run.

Things, however, would not be so rosy for ever – a change in policy resulted in the shingle no longer being used for ballast from 1932 (3) although extraction continued for use in construction, including new Coastal defences at the Haven, whilst the Great Depression also saw the end of the Brickworks at Laughton (4), although it did not bite as hard in the South East as in other areas. The 30’s soon gave way to war again – with troop and munitions trains again operating down the branch towards the coast – this time with the added problems caused by the Luftwaffe, with Laughton struck by a Doodlebug with tragic consqeunces and Berwick suffering bomb damage – many of the windows in the church were blown out (5) and the Cuckmere Line station also damaged in the blast.

Repairs were completed soon after the end of the war, whilst the line also enjoyed troop trains again, with the returning soldiers retracing the route they had taken years earlier on their way to demobilisation. By the end of 1947, things were again back to normal – only for the formation of British Railways to bring further changes.

Sources;

1 – http://www.hows.org….ing/littlin.htm
2 – http://en.wikipedia….uthern_Railway_(UK)#Carriages
3 – http://en.wikipedia….Crumbles_Branch
4 – http://sussex.villag…uk/laughton.php
5 – http://sussex.villag….uk/berwick.php

History 2 – Opening Day To The Grouping

Following the somewhat fractious planning and construction of the line, the route settled down quickly to return a modest profit over the first few years of operation, with the shingle and brickworks especially profitable traffic. For a short time, there were two ‘Berwick’ stations – before the one serving the main line was renamed Berwick & Selmeston. Services were operated by the LBSCR, who had regained their financial stability by the middle of the 1870’s (1), with Stroudley’s A1 Terrier, D1 and later D3 Classes regular performers, alongside of the last of the Craven-designed engines in the earliest days. As with many similar routes, passenger services were mostly in the hands of motor trains, whilst the pretty G Class 2-2-2 Singles were tested on the line following their withdrawal from the main Portsmouth route after the introduction of Robert Billinton’s B2 Class (2), one of which, Number 346, was named Alfriston (3). 

By the time the Cuckoo Line had been completed and a spur installed connecting Tunbridge Wells West with Tunbridge Wells Central (and therefore, on to London), timings were changed so that trains arrived at Isfield in time for smoother connections with onward services. By the late 19th Century, tourism was beginning to come to the Valley – in 1896 the fledgling National Trust had purchased Alfriston Clergy House for £10 (4), whilst Tea Gardens at Litlington (5) added to the nearby attractions. Consideration was also given to constructing a further branch from Laughton through to meet with the Cuckoo Line at Hellingly – serving the hamlets of Upper & Lower Dicker, the successful Dicker Pottery industry (6) and the McDougalls Flour Mill at Horsebridge, although this would never take place, despite some preliminary earthworks being dug at both ends of the line – instead, the company sought to placate the owner, Uriah Clark, by offering reduced rates on horse-drawn transport to instead distribute the Potteries wares from Laughton whilst by 1921, the Flour traffic had become important enough to warrant a shelter at Hellingly. 

 

Map Data Copyright Google Maps 2013. Original Source; http://goo.gl/maps/YJbdC

The early years of the 20th Century were more fraught – especially after the summer of 1914, with the dark clouds of World War One looming over Sussex, as well as the rest of Europe. The war brought extra traffic to the line, with troops, munitions and stores travelling down to Cuckmere Haven as an alternative to the very congested Brighton Main Line route (7), before being marched to the port and the waiting ships, whilst material excavated from the beach was also widely used throughout Sussex in the hasty construction of defences. During the war the LBSCR, as well as other railways, came under Government control, but this had little impact on the line, although there were few families in the area not touched by the conflict. 

By 1923, when the LBSCR was merged with others to form the Southern Railway, the line had begun to recover, with the tourists again beginning to return to the area – with the addition of tea rooms, known as Drusillas at Alfriston ( 8 ), as well as the resurrection of a Medieval ‘Brew House Chamber’ in Litlington, which quickly became known as the Long Man Brewery (9) . On the motive power front, the continuing electrification of the LBSCR’s suburban lines in and around London had seen further cascading, with at least one member of the very attractive B1 Class locomotives (10) undertaking duties on the line. 

Sources;

1; http://en.wikipedia….eteenth_century
2; http://en.wikipedia…./LB&SCR_G_class
3; http://www.semgonlin…-single_01.html
4; http://www.nationalt…-house/history/
5; http://www.litlingto…dens/4555501499
6; http://www.decorativ…ries/dicker.htm
7; http://en.wikipedia….First_World_War
8; http://www.drusillas…bout-drusillas-
9; http://www.longmanbr….com/our-story/
10; http://en.wikipedia….LB&SCR_B1_Class

History – 1

What follows is my ‘factional’ history of the Cuckmere Valley Railway. Spot the deviations from what you call reality… 

1; Early History

The Cuckmere Valley Railway had a curious history – born from the aspirations of Victorian entrepreneurs in the trying circumstances of the 1860’s and the battles between two companies, and ended, like so many rural routes, by the ex-Technical Director of ICI.

The story begins some 20 years earlier. The Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway built a line from Brighton to Lewes which opened in June 1846. Three years later, this was extended to serve Eastbourne, with the line opening on the 14th May 1849 (1), now operated by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR), which itself had been formed from the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway, amongst others, some weeks after the initial line had been opened.

For some years, the residents and businessmen of what would become the Cuckmere Valley line would have to travel some way afield in order to reach the routes of the Iron Horse – during 1858, the LBSCR opened a branch from Lewes to Uckfield, with intermediate stations at Barcombe Mills and, most importantly for the line, Isfield, whilst thirteen years previously the LBSCR had also provided a station – often erroneously thought to be for the benefit of a certain Horatio Bottomley (2) – at Berwick, whilst in the other direction the LBSCR had extended their Newhaven branch to Seaford in 1864.

That may well have been that – but for inter-railway rivalry. Dating back many years, the LBSCR – and her original constituent railways – had a difficult relationship with the South Eastern Railway. An agreement back in 1848 had strove to normalise relations and begin sensible, harmonious co-existence, but when the SER Chairman and Secretary reported to shareholders in 1863, they included a list of the difficulties between the two companies with reasons that they considered the original agreement breached (3).

With local businesses in the area thriving – prime agricultural land throughout with plentiful produce, a brewery, as well as brickworks at Laughton and the growing needs of the railways for ballast, several entrepreneurs sensed an opportunity. They had a trump card too – one which would eventually prove vital. During late 1862 and early 1863, the businessmen and landowners petitioned, on more than one occasion, the Chairman of the LBSCR, Leo Schuster for a railway. Schuster’s uncharacteristic initial hesitancy caused the main backers to switch tactics – as they began to speak to the SER, who were very keen to reach the East Sussex coast, with the potential for access to the rapidly expanding seaside resorts of Brighton and Eastbourne, themselves. This threat to the dominance of the ‘Brighton’ on the Sussex Coast forced Schuster’s hand, with Chief Engineer of the LBSCR, Frederick Banister, quickly taking charge of planning the route. Banister had men in place by August of 1863, with the first train departing Isfield along the new route eighteen months later. The timing, for the original promoters, could not have been more – or less, if you were a shareholder of the LBSC – fortuitous. In May 1866 London bankers Overend, Gurney & Company collapsed, plunging the UK into a financial crisis (4), causing the abandonment of several, and the postponement of other (5) lines, with Schuster departing as a result.

The line itself, operated by the LBSCR, began at Isfield, with trains using Platform 3 of Isfield station on the ‘Wealden Line’ – a simple walk across either the platform or level crossing to the west of the station (6) to connect with services to Lewes in one direction or Tunbridge Wells in the other. From Isfield, the single track skirted the Ancient Plashett Park Wood, before pausing first at Laughton, home of two of the promoters of the line, both engaged in the brick industry, with Laughton an important producer (7). From Laughton, the line ran to the tiny Hamlet of Ripe, deep in the agricultural heartland of Sussex and very much a farming community ( 8 , before heading towards Berwick. Berwick, as mentioned earlier, had been connected to the rail network as long ago as 1846, with a station on the Brighton-Eastbourne line of the LBSCR. This station however was in a place more convenient to the railway than the local population, being around two miles from the centre of the Village (9). Another Brickworks, with another of the main backers of the line behind it is found here – the Cuckmere Valley line bridging the Brighton-Eastbourne line with a station in the centre of the village perhaps of more use to the locals than the original. After Berwick, the line turned to run alongside the recently-straightened River Cuckmere that would give the line its name, stopping next at Alfriston, the largest of the villages served. This had previously been smuggling country, with the notorious Collins Gang effectively running the town until the transportation of their leader in 1830, with the backers keen to turn the fortunes of the village around (10). Leaving Alfriston and continuing towards the mouth of the river, the railway terminated – for passengers, at least – at Litlington, the location of a Horse cut into the chalk hillside to mark the coronation of Queen Victoria (11). Freight, however, continued southwards, right to the mouth of the river where shingle was extracted from the estuary for use in construction, and indeed ballast on the railway itself (12), by the East Sussex Transport and Trading Company, the owner of which was another of the original backers of the line.

Sources;

1 – http://en.wikipedia….station#History
2 – http://www.geograph…./photo/2441539
3 – http://en.wikipedia….ns_with_the_SER
4 – http://en.wikipedia….eer.2C_LB.26SCR
5 – http://en.wikipedia…._and_its_impact
6 – http://en.wikipedia….railway_station
7 – http://sussex.villag…uk/laughton.php
8 – http://sussex.villag….co.uk/ripe.php
9 – http://en.wikipedia….Berwick_Station
10 – http://en.wikipedia….friston#History
11 – http://www.hows.org….ost/littlin.htm
12 – http://en.wikipedia….e_Haven#History