The West Sussex Railway was a
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
light railway
A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...
between
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
to
Selsey
Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...
, in West Sussex. The line, which opened in 1897, was also known as Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway. It was opened as a rail tramway in order to avoid having to comply with regulations that managed
conventional railways in the United Kingdom. The line was built under the auspices of the light railway entrepreneur,
Colonel Stephens, who would later manage the line as the West Sussex Railway (Tramway Section).
In December 1910 the line was inundated (flooded by seawater) when an embankment failed at
Pagham Harbour
Pagham Harbour is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts of Bognor Regis in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site, a Nature Conservation Review site, a Ramsar site, a Special ...
. It was not reinstated so work had to be carried out to raise the line above the waters. Although the line was successful in the decades before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, it suffered financially as road transport increased in the 1920s. Despite attempts to be more efficient through modernisations, such as the introduction of petroleum driven rail car services, the railway closed to all traffic in January 1935. Very little remains of the railway's infrastructure because of land redevelopment and urban expansion along its
permanent way
A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...
.
Origins
![Selsey Tramway Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Selsey_Tramway_Station.jpg)
The passing of the
Light Railways Act 1896
The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
History
Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be ob ...
prompted local businessmen to consider whether a light railway connection to Selsey could be made. The town lies on the coast about 8 miles south of the City of Chichester. As they prepared their scheme, they found that it would be possible to get authorisation much more simply under the
Railway Construction Facilities Act 1864
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
. By structuring the line as a tramway, the numerous public road level crossings would not require the special safety arrangements required for railway operation, and accordingly they formed the ''Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway''. The company was incorporated on 29 April 1896.
[E F Carter, ''An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles'', Cassell, London, 1959]
![Liftup bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Liftup_bridge.jpg)
H. F. Stephens
Colonel Holman Fred Stephens (31 October 1868 – 23 October 1931) was a British light railway civil engineer and manager. He was engaged in engineering and building, and later managing, 16 light railways in England and Wales.
Biography
Stephen ...
was appointed as engineer to design the line and supervise construction; this was his second such role, after the
Rye and Camber Tramway
The Rye and Camber Tramway was an English railway in East Sussex. It was of narrow gauge, relatively unusual amongst British narrow gauge railways. It operated from 1895 until 1939, connecting Rye to the coast. It was about in len ...
. His subsequent career pursued several very local lines often run on minimal finance; during war service he became (Lieutenant-) Colonel Stephens, by which he is better known.
![Liftup bridge2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Liftup_bridge2.jpg)
The land was acquired from co-operative landowners without the need for compulsory powers, although this forced a slightly indirect route. It started from a point a little to the south of the
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...
(LB&SCR) station at Chichester; it left westwards and immediately turned south, running broadly southwards to Selsey itself, a distance of 7¼ miles (11.7 km). Just south of Chichester, the line crossed the Chichester Canal, which still had some small traffic volume passing, and a simple manually operated lifting bridge was provided there.
The contractor for the construction needed a locomotive for the work, and the locomotive was moved on the public road to get to the line south of the Chichester Canal. It was hauled by a traction engine, and it ran on rails placed on their sides in the roadway; workmen progressively moved the rails to the front of the engine as it made its slow movement. The locomotive was later named ''Chichester''.
[
]
Whitechurch describes the event; referring to the ''Chichester and Birdham Canal'' (i.e. the Chichester Canal), he says:
I am able to supply a unique photograph of an incident that happened during the construction of the line owing to this canal. The engine had been brought down to Chichester and was much wanted on the other side of the canal, but as the bridge was not completed for traffic it was impossible to cross. The little locomotive, therefore, had to perform a slow and circuitous journey ''by road'' of over three miles, being hauled by a traction engine on rails, simply placed down on the road in front of the railway engine and taken up from behind it alternately.
The line was built to standard gauge, 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm), with Vignoles (flat-bottom) rails spiked to light transverse sleepers, "the whole of the line being ballasted with gravel, and, if I mistake not, a goodly bulk of sea shingle mixed therewith".[Victor L Whitechurch, ''A Trip on the H. of M. and S. T.'', in the ''Railway Magazine'', 1897, p329 et seq]
The line opened to Selsey Town station on 27 August 1897 and it was extended to Selsey Beach in 1898. The construction and land purchase had cost £21,570 and rolling stock had cost £3,268.[Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, ''Branch Line to Selsey'', Middleton Press, Midhurst, 1983, ]
Operation
The first passenger coaches were newly built bogie vehicles with open verandas at the end; one was built by Hurst Nelson, and three by Falcon of Loughborough. About 1900 another new coach of similar design was acquired from Hurst Nelson.[
]
The stations on the line were:
* Chichester; the station was a short distance south of the LB&SCR station
* Hunston, where there was a level crossing and a short siding; there was also a brickworks with an independent loop siding north of the station for some years;
* Hoe Farm alt
Alt or ALT may refer to:
Abbreviations for words
* Alt account, an alternative online identity also known as a sock puppet account
* Alternate character, in online gaming
* Alternate route, type of highway designation
* Alternating group, mathema ...
this was a private halt for the farm owner;
* Chalder ; the access was over a private farm road, and the Company paid the landowner £2 per annum for the wayleave;
* Mill Pond Halt;this was the closest station to Sidlesham village; opened 15 October 1910 and closed May 1911; reopened 9 July 1928;
* Sidlesham; the station name seems to have been spelt ''Siddlesham'' at first; this was a variant spelling of the village name, although the 1880 Ordnance Survey Map uses the modern spelling;[Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 map, 1880] the station was some distance south of the village. Suffering from the 1910 inundation, the station was closed from 15 December 1910 until June 1911; the track level was raised by about four feet (1.2 m) at the station level crossing; there was a loop siding here;
* Ferry; Butt[R V J Butt, ''The Directory of Railway Stations'', Patrick Stephens Limited, Sparkford, 1995, ] names this ''Ferry Siding Halt''; Cobb[Col M H Cobb, ''The Railways of Great Britain -- A Historical Atlas'', Ian Allan Publishing Limited, Shepperton, 2003, ] says ''Ferry Siding'' at first and renamed ''Ferry'' in 1911;
* Golf Club Halt; this was private
* Selsey Bridge ; the main road crossed the line here, the only road bridge on the line; there was a short siding and, some time after 1911 a brick works had a private siding;
* Selsey Town; renamed ''Selsey'' from 1911; the engine shed was located here, with a goods siding and run-round loop;
* Selsey Beach; opened 1 August 1898 and closed October 1904; the train service may have operated in summer only; there was a simple run-round loop and single platform.[
In 1910 there were seven trains each way on weekdays (one extra on Mondays) and three on Sundays. Journey time for the 7¼ miles was 30 minutes.
Whitechurch gave a description of a trip on the line in 1897:
]One car stood by the little platform, ready to start. ... This was a third class car. A first class stood in a siding. ... Another car of which I caught a glimpse at Selsey completes, I believe, the "passenger rolling stock" of the little railway. ... The Company own two engines, the "Selsey" and the "Chichester", the former for "passenger" and the latter, a "six-wheels coupled" for "goods" traffic. The "Selsey", a trim-looking little side-tank locomotive, is painted dark blue with a red lining ... The boiler is surmounted with a handsome brass dome on which are two spring balances or the safety valves while a neat copper ring is an adornment to the chimney.
Before we got away on the journey, a very remarkable operation in shunting had to be performed, albeit it was commenced two minutes after the time for starting. Two trucks were brought in from a siding, and so manipulated with engine and by hand, that finally one was attached in rear of the car, and the other in front of the locomotive!
ater we cameto Hunston Station, a tiny iron building with a little platform, but a most important point of the line, in that it is the coaling and water depôt, and supplies of both were taken in by the engine, the train backing to allow this to be done, so that our car stood right across the main road during the operation. ... Chalder, another little station was reached at 10.58. We left our rear truck in the siding here ... t Siddleshamwe performed some marvellous shunting operations, which occupied six minutes, and which resulted in our entering on the last stage of our journey, with three trucks in front of the engine and two behind our carriage—the very best example of a ''mixed'' train it has ever been my fortune to behold! ... Just before reaching Selsey we passed through the only cutting and under the only road-bridge the line possesses, pausing a few minutes to get rid of our five trucks at a siding.
About midway on the journey home, I, who was seated in the front compartment of the car, saw a red flag being violently waved a few hundred yards ahead. ... as the train slowed down, the individual in question, a stalwart, gaitered farmer, removed the danger signal from his stick, and calmly came aboard the car, doubtless thanking his lucky stars for the little railway that ran within a few feet of the garden of his house.
There were no signals on the line; the train control system was '' train staff and ticket'' with two sections, broken at Sidlesham.
Inundation of 1910
A fierce and prolonged storm took place in December 1910, culminating in a breach of the sea wall during the night of 15 December. 2,000 acres (800 hA) of land were flooded, including the railway line north of Ferry. Part of the line was said to be under 12 feet of water.
During the inundation, trains ran from each end of the line, and a horse bus operated in the gap, from Mill Pond Halt to Ferry station. At this time the company was relatively prosperous, and had the resources to raise the line by up to ten feet (3 m) over a considerable length.[
]
After 1919
Following the end of the First World War, independent operators of road lorries, and, gradually, road passenger vehicles, became numerous, and the inconvenience of using the tramway became prominent: agricultural produce and supplies needed to be carted to and from the tramway station, and the thinly distributed population were more easily serviced by a road vehicle, especially when that could run to the centre of Chichester or direct to the LB&SCR station there. Traffic declined seriously in the 1920s.
In 1924 the company changed its name to ''West Sussex Railway (Tramway Section)'' in 1924.[ Mitchell and Smith suggest that this was a preliminary to securing a takeover by the Southern Railway, the successor to the LB&SCR.][ The Southern Railway considered the matter but declined to proceed. ]Southdown Motor Services
Southdown Motors Services Ltd (although this was the legal name of the company (until 1992) it was normally referred to as Southdown Motor Services) was a bus and coach operator in East and West Sussex and parts of Hampshire, in southern Engl ...
had been formed in 1915 and was running timetabled bus services locally, and increasingly passengers preferred to take the bus—at a higher fare—and passenger receipts declined further.
During this period freight traffic remained relatively steady at about £2,000 a year.
Steam locomotives
The following steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s were used on the line:
Sources for the above table include Kidner Woodcock. and Mitchell and Smith [
''Hesperus'' had come from the ]Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway
The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PD&SWJR) was an English railway company. It constructed a main line railway between Lydford and Devonport, in Devon, England, enabling the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to reac ...
and was originally 3 ft 6 in gauge.
The first ''Chichester'' arrived with the name ''Wembley'' having worked there previously, and the engine continued to be known by that name for some time.
''Ringing Rock'' was so named because Stephens transferred the name plate from a locomotive on the Kent and East Sussex Railway
The Kent and East Sussex Railway (K&ESR) refers to both a historical private railway company in Kent and East Sussex in England, as well as a heritage railway currently running on part of the route of the historical company.
Historical compa ...
that had previously worked on the Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway
The Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway was a Welsh light railway company in Pembrokeshire. Services started in January 1876.
Route
The line ran from Clynderwen (formerly Narberth Road) on the Great Western Railway via Maenclochog to Rosebu ...
; Ringing Rock is the English translation of Maenclochog.[
]
Railcars
In 1921, Stephens was seeking means of reducing operating expenses, and a trial was made of a Wolseley-Siddeley petrol railcar on the line; this did not immediately lead to adoption, but in 1924, acquired two railcars built on Ford Model T chassis, with bodies by Edmunds of Thetford. They operated together, back-to-back with a truck for luggage and parcels between them; they had rails on the roof to contain additional parcels stowed there.
The ''Steam and Things'' model making company has good original photographs of the cars a
Two more railcars were acquired from the Shefflex Motor Company of Tinsley in 1928; they too operated as a unit with a truck between. The railcars were provided with a crude timber buffer beam
A headstock of a rail vehicle is a transverse structural member located at the extreme end of the vehicle's underframe. The headstock supports the coupling at that end of the vehicle, and may also support buffers, in which case it may also be k ...
in front of the radiator, as protection.[ These are depicted by ''Steam and Things'' a]
See also ''Further Reading'', below.
Coaching stock
The initial coaching stock fleet consisted of three bogie saloon coaches from Falcons, acquired in 1897. A similar coach was purchased from Hurst Nelson about 1900.
In 1910 three four-wheel coaches were acquired from the Lambourn Valley Railway
The Lambourn Valley Railway (LVR) was a branch railway line running from the town of Newbury, Berkshire north-west to the village of Lambourn. It was opened in 1898. Fulfilling a local need, it was in financial difficulties throughout its ind ...
.
In 1916 a further four four-wheelers were obtained second hand from the London, Chatham and Dover Railway
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and nor ...
(LC&DR).
Finally, in 1931 two six-wheel coaches were acquired from the Southern Railway, probably for summer Saturdays when the railcars would be inadequate; they had been built for the LC&DR.[
Between the World Wars a number of life-expired main line railway coaches were acquired by private individuals for the purpose of converting them to dwellings on the shore at Selsey. In many cases these vehicles made their final railway journey over the West Sussex Railway to Selsey.][ A few of these remain in situ, often as part of enlarged buildings, but most have been replaced. There remains one recognisable wooden-bodied Pullman car.
]
Closure
The half mile of track from Selsey Town to Selsey Beach was out of use by the end of 1908.[ (Butt says October 1904.)][
The line was closed in January 1935.][
]
Archaeology
For the modern railway explorer this is one of the least rewarding lines to trace as the formation was almost completely at ground level, and almost nothing remains except a half mile section alongside Pagham harbour where the track was raised following the inundation of 1910. A section of about a quarter of a mile, now a farm track between Pagham Harbour and the Selsey Golf Club and a quarter of a mile section (now a public footpath) west of Hunston Village can be traced. The northern end of the latter ends at the abutments of the now defunct Tramway bridge across the Chichester Canal. A short section of trackbed is now a footpath from north of the Chichester Canal to Stockbridge Road, Chichester. The platforms of Hunston and Chalder station can also still be located in fields although badly overgrown.
Failed proposals
In 1913 the directors proposed a light railway extension from Hunston to West Itchenor and East Wittering. However the First World War put paid to the idea.[
This line was surveyed by the builders of the ]Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romney ...
in the early 1920s when they were looking for somewhere to build their miniature line which now runs in Kent. Apparently, despite being otherwise ideal for their purposes, the line was discounted because of the number of road crossings which would have been prohibitively expensive to either gate or bridge. The Southern Railway also surveyed it for takeover and improvement in the early 1930s but decided against both.
Local colour
It was known locally as the Selsey Tram. It was also sometimes called "The Siddlesham Snail" after one of the villages having a station of that name. Sidlesham station's nameboard originally perpetuated the old spelling "Siddlesham". A song was written criticising the line which verse went
Accidents
On 3 September 1923, the 8:15 a.m. train to Chichester derailed near Golf Club Halt, killing the fireman, H. Barnes, and injuring the driver, C. C. Stewart. None of the few passengers were injured. The locomotive, ''Wembley'' and the three coaches left the track. The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death, but the jury expressed the opinion that the Chief Engineer of the Company was indirectly to blame, as there was evidence of neglect in the upkeep of the track.[Edward C Griffith, ''The Hundred of Manhood and Selsey Tramway, Later Known as the West Sussex Railway, 1897-1935'', Langham Press, 1948]
Modelling
Model kits for the Shefflex railcar (in several scales) are available from ''Steam and Things''.Steam and Things, modellers' website
/ref>
References
Further reading
* {{cite book , last=Scott-Morgan , first=John , title=The Colonel Stephens Railways: A Pictorial Survey , year=1978 , publisher=David & Charles
David & Charles Ltd is an English publishing company. It is the owner of the David & Charles imprint, which specialises in craft and lifestyle publishing.
David and Charles Ltd acts as distributor for all David and Charles Ltd books and cont ...
, location= Newton Abbot , isbn=0 7153 7544 X
External links
The line's early steam years, via ''Gravel Roots''
* ttp://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=50.8290&lon=-0.7795&layers=156 The line on a contemporary navigable map, via ''National Library of Scotland''
The line, via ''Colonel Stephens Society''
Rail transport in West Sussex
History of West Sussex
Railway lines opened in 1897
Railway lines closed in 1935
Closed railway lines in South East England
Minor British railway companies
HF Stephens