Brighton Belle

[MichaelM]

Hi.  I intend modelling at least a part of Brighton Works.  Just wondered if anyone knows if Hornby intend re releasing the Belle, or is it a case of trawling ebay? 

 

Ta

[Hilux5972]

EBay would be your best bet. Plenty on there last time I searched 

[Nearholmer]

Did the Belle go into the works, assuming you mean you’re modelling the inside?

[Oldddudders]

I think the Belle would have spent most of its time at Lovers Walk, surely, where the Pullman Car Co was located?

[Nearholmer]

And, I think it went to Lancing for mechanical work, and after that closed possibly to Selhurst, but I think there was a basic EMU servicing facility in what had previously been a carriage painting shop at the loco works, so maybe it went there for very routine attention and brake-block replacement. [No, the carriage paint shop referred to was at Lover’s Walk …… I was reading from a Railway Magazine article written in 1953 which made it sound as if it was part of the loco works. So, I’m going to be bold and say that Belle cars didn’t go to the loco works at all, until proven wrong.]

Edited November 21, 2023 by Nearholmer

[Oldddudders]

6 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

And, I think it went to Lancing for mechanical work, and after that closed possibly to Selhurst, but I think there was a basic EMU servicing facility in what had previously been a carriage painting shop at the loco works, so maybe it went there for very routine attention and brake-block replacement.

But Lovers Walk did servicing and repairs, as the Major Main Line stock depot on Central. There was a daily Q trip from Selhurst. And a well-respected RMwebber was Depot Engineer there, albeit more than a decade after the Belle had hung up her crinolines. The Pullman Car Shops were at the Preston Park end of the Lovers Walk site. 

[Nearholmer]

Did Lovers Walk have a lifting shop etc from 1932 then? I don’t think it did. Did it get one as Lancing closed?

 

(I understand what you mean though: the Belle cars didn’t go to Selhurst.)

[Oldddudders]

3 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

Did Lovers Walk have a lifting shop etc from 1932 then? I don’t think it did. Did it get one as Lancing closed?

 

(I understand what you mean though: the Belle cars didn’t go to Selhurst.)

Possibly not. I tend only to be aware of things from the late '60s onwards. The depots used to feed off each others' expertises and facilities. So Selhurst had a daily 10Q32 trip to Durnsford Road, which reversed at Streatham and Wimbledon, and an 11Q05 to Slade Green, presumably via London Bridge, using the Tattenham Crossovers. 

[C126]

14 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

... more than a decade after the Belle had hung up her crinolines ...

 

Alas, Worth of Paris consigned the crinoline to fashion history in 1863, I think.  The best that could be seen aboard would have been the 1930's A-line skirts, and Dior's return in the mid-'50's..

 

Ladies!  Support your local steel works: wear crinolines!!

 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by C126
Add Dior ref.

[Oldddudders]

Over 30 years ago I was in the lift at Euston House with a colleague, a statuesque girl with whose father I had worked when he was T&RS Engineer on the South Eastern. The lift stopped at an intermediate floor, and there was a loud rattling noise from a messenger trolley being pushed vigorously along. "Are those your stays rattling, Karen?" I asked, and she giggled. As did the other occupant of the lift - the Board Member for Finance!