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London, Brighton & South Coast Railway

Cross-Channel Ferry Service

Marseilles (1864-1887, sold)
Paris (1875-1888, sold)
Brighton (1878-1894, sold)
Victoria (1878-1887, wrecked)

Marseilles
Built in 1864 by C Lungley & Co of London
Length 213.9 ft  :  425 GRT
Engine : 2 x 1 cyl. oscillating 52 x 57 in

Paris
Built in 1875 by John Elder & Co, Govan, Scotland
Length  220 ft : 483 GRT
Engine : Twin cylinder oscillating : 41 and 72 in x 60 in

Brighton
Built in 1878 by John Elder & Co, Govan
Length : 221.3 ft : 531 GRT
Engine : Compound  48 and 83 in x 60 in

Victoria
Built in 1878 by John Elder & Co, Govan
Length : 221.3 : 534 GRT
Engine : Inverted Compound  48 and 83 in x 60 in



From 1880  : South Western and Brighton Railway Companies Steam Packet Service
in conjunction with the London & South Western Railway

Operated cross channel services primarily between Newhaven and Dieppe (in conjunction with the Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest with onward rail connection to Paris - Gare St Lazare), but also out of Littlehampton, Shoreham and Honfleur

Victoria : wrecked off French coast with loss of life in 1887
Marseilles : Sold in 1887 for further use. Scrapped in 1891
Paris : Sold for further use in 1888
Brighton : Sold for further use in 1894

New Build :

Brittany (1882-1904)
Normandy (1882-1902)
Rouen (1888-1903)
Paris (1888-1912)

Brittany and Normandy
Built by John Elder & Co of Govan (Fairfield yard)
231 ft x 27.7 ft : 605 GRT
Engine :  Compound diagonal  46 and 83 in x 60 in
Brittany was withdrawn and broken up in 1904
Normandy was sold in 1902 to Liverpool and came to the Bristol Channel in 1904 for John Richards of Swansea. Broken up in 1909 

Rouen and Paris
Built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering of Govan 
250.6 ft x 29.1 ft  :  838 GRT
Engine : Compound diagonal  46 and 83 in x 72 in
Rouen was sold in 1903 for service between Barrow and the Isle of Man for the Barrow Steam Navigation Company and was renamed Duchess of Buccleugh and served until late 1909
Paris was sold to Shipping Federation Ltd of Newhaven. Saw wartime service as a minsweeper named HMS Verdun (later Verdun II). Scrapped in 1924

ex- Portsmouth-Ryde ferry

Heather Bell
Built in 1871 by Blackwood & Gordon of Port Glasgow
207.7 ft : 268 GT
Engine : single diagonal
Built for service from Ayrshire to the Isle of Arran for the Duke of Hamilton
On the Portsmouth-Ryde railway ferry service for the Portsmouth & Ryde United Steam Packet Co from 1876 until 1880
From 1880 was the London & South Western Railway in association with the Lonson, Brighton & South Coast Railway
Sold for scrapping in 1899
Scrapped in 1900 after briefly being chartered out by TW Ward 

Railway Ferry

Carrier (1886-1893)
Built in 1858 by Scott & Co of Greenock
124.4 ft : 243 GRT
Engine : Oscillating 42 and 42 x 37 in
Built for the Edinburgh, Perth & Dundee Railway Co (North British Railway from 1861) for Firth of Forth crossing
At the Isle of Wight from 1884 to 1885 for the Isle of Wight Marine Transit Co
From 1886 with the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway
Scrapped in Sweden in 1893


Return to:
Southern Railway
South Coast
Historical Database