Adam Trimingham's article on Volk’s Electric Railway (The Argus, March 19) brought back happy memories of holidays in Brighton as a child in the mid-1930s.
In those days the line ran from Palace Pier to Black Rock. The stations and cars were in tip-top condition and there were enclosed cars in which you could ride on wet days. One of these enclosed cars was painted blue for some reason.
Other things I can remember are the controller switch over the driver’s head which he operated with his right hand and the clouds of sparks if there was a short circuit in the regulator.
I remember a very tall driver who had to stoop while he was driving the car. He had a long pointed moustache and looked like a German general from the First World War.
Adam is right that our council doesn’t have the money to restore the railway to its former glory and modernise it, but I am sure a group of businessmen could finance renovations.
Then the ramshackle stations could be restored, the line opened at weekends, some enclosed carriages restored and money spent on publicity and promotion.
John Webster, Wilfrid Road, Hove
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