Brighton was a railway town as well as a resort soon after the line to London opened in 1841.

It quickly became one of the top destinations for people living in the capital with millions of passengers every year.

And it also became a place where almost 3,000 men were employed at the locomotive works next to the station.

Some of the engines designed by the great Victorian engineer William Stroudley are still in working order today.

Although the number of employees dwindled over the years, the railway works was still a large industry right up to its closure in the 1960s.

The future of this large central site became a major issue for the next 40 years while politicians and planners argued over it.

British Rail proposed a multi-million pound scheme in 1972 with the property company Peachey. It involved demolishing the handsome train shed and replacing it with shops and offices over a new station below ground level.

There was enormous opposition leading to the formation of the Brighton Society which ever since has been led by the redoubtable Selma Montford.

Peachey ran into financial problems and the scheme was abandoned. But there was such strong feeling against it that no-one ever suggested demolishing the train shed again.

More developers were invited to put forward plans but they had to leave room for the proposed Preston Circus relief road. This would have created a new road access from Preston Park crossing the A27 on a bridge.

The choice was eventually between Chesterfield, which proposed a large office development, and MEPC, which planned shops including a John Lewis department store.

Chesterfield won the day but East Sussex County Council, then in charge of transport, suddenly decided to abandon the relief road. Brighton never got its John Lewis although the retail giant is now planning a store near the Clock Tower.

It wasn’t until the early years of this century that a fresh scheme was put forward for the land by a local developer Chris Gilbert.

The most contentious part of the plan was the building of a new Sainsbury’s store which opponents said would take trade away from London Road.

Chris Gilbert claimed it would revitalise the existing shopping centre but eventually the store that emerged was so small it did neither.

Housing, offices and a hotel completed what is now known as the New England Quarter. The architecture was a little disappointing but the development brought life to an area which had been largelyderelict for half a lifetime

It also provided some affordable housing and great views from many homes of either the railway or much of central Brighton.

Instead of having a relief road, people were able to use a walkway which went over New England Road on a restored bridge.

And there were echoes of the past in some of the new street names which included Stroudley Way. It’s half a century since the works closed but the railway is still a vital part of the city.