Volks Car No.1

Most readers will be familiar with the Volks Electric Railway in Brighton. I was recently reviewing Volk's News, the journal of the Volks Electric Railway Association, for MREmag.com in which there is a fascinating account by historian Barrie McFarlane of the original car number 1 from the line.

Apparently it was replaced very early on in the lines history by a larger capacity vehicle. Electric motors being rare beasts in 1883, Volk transferred the one in Car 1 to the new car leaving the old carriage powerless.

At this point, it seems that instead of being scrapped, it might have been moved to a short-lived line at Aston Hall in Birmingham running in 1885.

As part of the review, I naturally linked to the Association website, and what do I find there? Only a free-downloadable model of car no.1.

The model should be printed on to card and makes up to a roughly 7mm scale version. However, I'm thinking bigger. If you wanted something a bit different in the garden, as a 2ft gauge prototype, you could re-create it in 7/8th scale and run the car on LGB track. Construction would be in wood as per the prototype, with a single axle drive.

Now, I don't need any more projects, but if this sparks (pun intended) anyone off, then do let me know. As a starting point, get hold of Volk's News 48 (Summer 2008) which apparently has the most detailed drawings and description.

Update: For some excellent photos of the Volks Railway as it is today (well, a week or so ago), head over to the Wood End and Beyond blog.