London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway
The London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway or LB&SCR was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1923. It was more commonly known as "the Brighton line". It was formed in July 1846 by the amalgamation of the London & Brighton Railway and the London & Croydon Railway
Following various further mergers, the LB&SCR network formed a triangle with its base along the south coast of England from Portsmouth to Hastings and with its apex in London. The company's London terminuses were at Victoria and London Bridge
From 1st January 1923, the company's lines were grouped along with those of the London and South Western Railway and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway to form the Southern Railway.
There is still nostalgia for the LB&SCR's attractive Victorian yellow ochre locomotive livery. Several of these locomotives have been preserved and some are still running today on heritage railways.
The LB&SCR ran some of the earliest luxury Pullman cars in Britain on its "Brighton Belle" services between London and Brighton.
The company was also a pioneer of railway electrification in Britain. Some suburban services had overhead power from 1909. However, the Southern Railway adopted the rival third rail system used by the London and South Western Railway and most of the LB&SCR network was subsequently converted to this system, although diesel working continues on the services to Uckfield
