Two of Britain’s greatest railway engineers put forward plans for a rail link between London and Brighton in the 1830s.

Robert Stephenson, son of the even more celebrated George, proposed what he called the natural line running through Shoreham and Horsham. It avoided most of the steep slopes and hills.

But Sir John Rennie presented what he called his direct line, a shorter route but one involving tremendous engineering work.

There was a lengthy public inquiry and a Government report before it was decided that Rennie’s plan was the better bet and a good decision it was.

Rennie’s line was designed so that trains could run at speed from the capital to the coast.

There were lengthy tunnels on the route at Merstham, Balcombe and Clayton. They were all remarkable feats of engineering with Clayton the most impressive.

More than a mile long, it went deep under the South Downs and had a castellated cottage at its northern entrance.

There was also the tremendous Balcombe viaduct over the River Ouse, a handsome structure containing more than 14 million bricks.

Rennie also made a good choice for the station, cut into chalk cliffs near the town centre instead of being tucked away in Hove as the natural line’s proponents had suggested.

Another shrewd move was that John Rastrick was appointed as chief engineer and David Mocatta was the architect. The two men worked together on the viaduct while Mocatta designed the handsome station building at Brighton.

Labourers, many of them from Ireland, were called in to do the mighty manual work needed in that era. They were prodigious workers and drinkers.

They helped complete the 50-mile long line in less than three years and the little branch line to Shoreham was finished even earlier in 1840.

The opening of the main line in 1841 was a signal for celebration in Brighton with vast crowds ready to see the first train arrive from London.

Church bells at St Nicholas rang in the morning and there was a big show of fireworks near the Level in the evening.

It cost £2 million to build the line, a large sum in those days. But it changed Brighton from a fashionable resort into one for all the people.

Trains took less than two hours to make the journey and there were plenty of them. Conditions were not good for all but the first class passengers.

But steam trains were far more reliable and speedy than the stage coaches which swiftly disappeared.

Brighton also became a notable town fir the building of locomotives and they were well known for being durable. The railway works was a main employer until its demise in the 1960s.

It was a thirsty task being a fireman and when trains arrived at Brighton, many of these men rivalled the labourers in downing beer in the Trafalgar Street pubs.

Brighton boomed with the railway’s arrival and even today it is one of the best used lines in Britain/The Victorians choose wisely and well.