On the Brighton seafront, one of the most well-known and noticeable things is the famous Volk's Railway, the first electric railway in Great Britain. This little railway with its open cars must be one of the best-known rides in the country. The electricity pioneer Magnus Volk (1851-1937) designed the railway. He was born in Brighton and lived in Western Road where his house was the first to be lit by electricity. As well as the railway, Magnus Volk was also responsible for the lighting by electricity of the Royal Pavilion.

When the Volk's Railway was first opened in 1883 it only ran on a very short track that ran from the Aquarium to the Chain Pier, a distance of some quarter of a mile. However it was later extended to the Banjo Groyne and on its initial trip it broke down due to the overloading of Aldermen and other dignitaries. It now runs to Black Rock, a distance of one and a half miles, the length of journey that it has been for many years. The ride in those little open cars was very popular and some 40,000,000 passengers were carried over the first 50 years of its operation. The corporation took over the line when the original lease ran out in 1939 but it retained the name of Volk as indeed it still does to this day.

A further extension was undertaken by Volk and was opened in November 1896; this later development was somewhat different from the previous railway. It ran from Paston Place to Rottingdean, a distance of four miles and the carriage actually ran through the sea with the rails running on concrete blocks laid on the seabed. The single carriage called Pioneer was on stilts some 24 feet above the track, which had a gauge of 18 feet, was capable of carrying one hundred and fifty passengers. This new track was almost destroyed about a week after it started by the same violent storms that destroyed the Chain Pier. The railway that was soon given the very apt name of Daddy Long Legs carried the Red Ensign and had the interior of the carriage decorated like a ship's saloon. It also had to be driven by a ship's captain and carry a lifeboat, thus completing the picture of a sea going vessel.

At high tide the railcar ploughed its way slowly through the sea, while at low tide the railway could achieve a speed of some eight miles an hour. In 1898 the Prince of Wales, who was accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Fife, honoured the Daddy Long Legs railway with his presence as a passenger. The journey terminated at a short pier especially provided at Rottingdean, beneath the pier was situated a small power station that generated power for the railway. As a matter of interest Rudyard Kipling used to fish from the end of the pier, which remained for some time after the Volk's venture ceased to operate in 1901 because of the problem of sand and shingle continually clogging up the rails. However it was an exciting and interesting project even in the eyes of people abroad. The New York Herald (Sept 18th, 1896) stated that "This railway both mechanically and as a seashore novelty beats anything us inventive Yankees have yet done."

Written by Fred Netley.