Volk’s Electric Railway reached 135 years of age on Saturday 4th August 2018. After postponing celebrations until after the Brighton Pride event on the same day, VERA hosted a small event on Saturday 11th August to not only mark the rejuvenated railway’s birthday but also to acknowledge the contribution made by VERA volunteers to keep the…
Work on Cars 6 & 10 electrical control systems have been proceeding quietly in the new sheds over the past few months. Car 6, delivered on 14th February 2018, has been briefly tested out on the line but needs to have some mechanical work done before it can be fully certified for public service. Car…
The long-awaited return to service of Car 4, the railway’s oldest car built in 1892, occurred on Thursday 22nd March when it successfully completed its commissioning trials. Car 4 has been fully restored by Alan Keef Ltd in Ross-on-Wye, a process that took almost 18 months, and the electrical fit-out has taken nearly 2 months. A…
After 16 months since the closure of the railway, the Heritage Lottery-funded renovation project is almost complete. The Aquarium Station and Visitor Centre is operational with just a few minor issues to resolve, the new Conservation Workshop and Depot at Banjo Groyne has a few minor works to be done and the three restored cars…
The month of October 2017 saw an exceptional level of activity on the railway as the Heritage Lottery Project reached 80% completion. On Wednesday 11th October, the first of the three restored cars, No. 4, returned to Brighton. Two days later, on Friday 13th, a special ‘launch event’ took place at the new Aquarium Station…
The month of June has seen great progress being made as the steel skeleton of the new depot reaches roofline and the prefabricated Aquarium Station and Visitor Centre is lowered onto its foundations. The new station buildings travelled on low-loaders from the manufacturer in Newhaven and were lowered into place during the night of 15th/16th…
The prolonged spell of good weather has enabled the main contractor, Cheesmur of Lewes, to push ahead with the preparation of both the Aquarium and Workshop sites prior to the erection of the buildings. Construction of the new undercroft walls at the Aquarium station had, by April 10th, almost reached ground floor level. Part of…
Although the Aquarium Station and Car Sheds were demolished in November 2016, you will probably be aware by now that there seems to have been little progress with construction! The reason is quite simple……it has taken much longer than expected to locate and disconnect the utility services at both sites. During demolition of the Car…
The appointed construction contractor, Messrs Cheesmur of Lewes, took possession of the Volk’s Electric Railway site on Monday 24th October. The two sites, Aquarium Station and Car Sheds, had previously been cleared of track and railway items by Volk’s staff and VERA volunteers and made ready to be formally ‘handed over’ to Cheesmur. The contractor’s office…
