Volks Electric Railway Association

Volks Electric Railway Association The Volk's Electric Railway Association was set up to provide volunteer assistance to the world's oldest surviving electric railway.

The association provides volunteers labour, promotional activities and has become the keeper of many historic artifacts.

Time now to take a quick look at the last week of May - a time before the rains struck again. We start with a few pictur...
05/06/2026

Time now to take a quick look at the last week of May - a time before the rains struck again. We start with a few pictures of the evening running (and the hours leading up to it) on the 23rd and those are followed by a few taken on the 26th.

The 23rd saw 7 VERA members (Adrian, Brian 1, Brian 2, Chris, Ian, Les and Mick) turned out in the heat for the VERA late running evening with cars 4, 6 & 10 in service. Although not over busy it still provided some welcome income to the VERA 'fighting fund'.

On the 26th it was Chris 1's last day at the Railway before packing up and shipping out to his new home on the Isle of Bute. The Works train on this special occasion included Car 9 which took Chris, Tim & Phil up to the East loop where some tamping took place - Eric & David walked!
There was a delay returning for coffee and cake break whilst Car 8 was out on test with Ed & Les.
Maurice & Barry went off westward to paint the web of the rails at the West loop to try to reduce overheating and the risk of possible expansion in the somewhat extreme temperatures of the time.
Mick & Chris 2 were busy cutting back vegetation to the East of the sheds, whilst Ruth was assisting Ken in the South shed.
At coffee, Chris was presented with a leaving card and supplied some very tasty cakes. Then Tim went on to relief driving duties.
Pictures from Les and Phil.

Never a dull moment as a volunteer at the 'Seaside Line'......

It is with much sadness we have to report the passing of the Association's archivist and historian, Barrie McFarlane at ...
02/06/2026

It is with much sadness we have to report the passing of the Association's archivist and historian, Barrie McFarlane at age 93 after a short illness. Barrie was also a trustee of VERA and took his role very seriously. He was always willing to share his knowledge of the railway's history, and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him. I'm afraid the picture is not the best but it shows Barrie at the 140th celebrations when the wind was a little bit fresh. RIP Barrie, and thanks for everything.

Tuesday the 19th was a dull and wet day - well it was until a brief clear-up in the afternoon when Brian 2 & Les were dr...
24/05/2026

Tuesday the 19th was a dull and wet day - well it was until a brief clear-up in the afternoon when Brian 2 & Les were driving.

First thing the Track Gang - Chris 1, David, Eric, Phil, Simon & Tim - were tidying up the basement where a lot of useful and not so useful items are stored. There was a bit of shuffling things around, until Ben arrived and identified the stuff to keep and the stuff to dispose of.

Ken & Brian 1 were in the South shed where Brian varnished the diesel panels with the No1 applied, then started preparing another panel for painting. Ken vacuumed and tidied various items of rolling stock. Hopefull the weather this coming week is due to be better......

A few pictures from last weeks volunteer working. Several jobs were undertaken by the volunteers.Brain 1 & Ken completed...
16/05/2026

A few pictures from last weeks volunteer working.
Several jobs were undertaken by the volunteers.
Brain 1 & Ken completed the part cosmetic restoration of the Diesel - two panels repainted and numbered '1'.
Phil checked all the crossing lights between Halfway and Black Rock, hence all the pictures from that area.
Eric, Ruth, David & Chris 3 removed the first screen between the running line and the South shed in preparation for the fitting of the new roller shutter door to replace the sticking one.
Maurice, Tim & Phil went to the Western Loop to make the adjustments to change the direction of travel - two springs were removed and placed on the opposite sides of the points and fishplates transposed - tested by running the diesel and then a train over the loop - all okay.
Meanwhile, Mick & Chris 2 continued their never-ending vegetation clearance.
After coffee break, Tim, Mick & Phil went to Aquarium for the bi-monthly Trustees' Meeting.

Way back in time the railway operated using both loops as passing places. In theory this should give a 10 minute departu...
08/05/2026

Way back in time the railway operated using both loops as passing places. In theory this should give a 10 minute departure gap from Aquarium and Black Rock. On May Bank Holiday Sunday it was decided to return, for one day, to 4 train operation for the first time in 40 years
This was very much a joint operation featuring VERA volunteers, and VER staff including James the Manager driving and acting as support staff.
VERA's Tim Steven reported that records kept by Jude show that from 10:15 to 18:20 there were 58 departures from Aquarium, the average service interval being 8.5 minutes. On the normal 2-train service there would be 33 departures.
The event coincided with the annual Historic Commercial VEhicle Rally so there were certainly some interesting vehicles trackside. Enjoy the pictures, which I've captioned as usual.

Just a couple of pictures from the 14th thanks to Les showing Car 8 being lifted to have the defective wheelset removed....
18/04/2026

Just a couple of pictures from the 14th thanks to Les showing Car 8 being lifted to have the defective wheelset removed. Thanks Les

A round-up from last week - 7th April for you to enjoy.Due to a problem with the South sheds roller shutter door the eng...
14/04/2026

A round-up from last week - 7th April for you to enjoy.

Due to a problem with the South sheds roller shutter door the engineers wagons were trapped inside the shed so local tasks were undertaken, including moving the green jacks into the north shed before the service started. The jacks will be used next week to lift car 8, so that it's defective westend wheelset can be replaced.

Brian 2 and Les (The Selhurst depot reunion Engineers gang) worked on car 4 refitting the two doors which had to be removed to allow the motor to be removed as part of the wheelset change. The other sliding doors were maintained as well as some cleaning of the car which has not been used since the middle of last season.

Mid morning car 4 was driven over to the inspection pit to allow the final checks to be carried out before it can go out on test runs before re entering service again shortly

Thanks to Les and Phil for the pictures

With the start of daily running and Easter now confined to the history books it's time to take a peep at the two volunte...
07/04/2026

With the start of daily running and Easter now confined to the history books it's time to take a peep at the two volunteer days that bracketed the events, starting with March 24th and work on Car 4.....
It was all hands to the jacks preparing for the new wheelset for car 4 to be fitted.
Tal, Ben & Moz led Ruth, Charlotte, David, Tim, Chris 3, Mick, Simon & Phil and the 'set was successfully united with the car and secured in time for the usual coffee break at 11am.
It now remains for all the technical engineering stuff and testing to be completed.
It was also congratulations to both Simon & Brian 2 who passed out as VER drivers following several weeks attendance to complete their 20 hours of volunteering and absorbing all the theory work that goes with the training!

Turning now to the 31st March we had a bumper turnout of volunteers - 15 in all!
Ruth went on a massive litter pick. Mick & Chris 2 were on vegetation clearance to the East of the Sheds. Les & Brian 2 - carefully reinstated Car 4's motor. Ken was out and about dealing with infrastructure. Brian 1 was preparing one of the diesel's panels for its special number.
Barry, Tim, Eric & Chris 1 dismantled the box containing old car parts for saving or disposal. While Maurice loaded up two trucks with ballast which were then propelled to site near the East loop where the Track Gang, Chris 1 & 3, Simon, Phil, Tim, Eric, Barry & David made short work of building up the levels.

Thanks to Les, Simon and Phil for the pictures

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Madeira Drive
Brighton And Hove
BN21EN

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