32 chains in length, it was to be costly as land in the high-amenity area was expensive, and both a tunnel and a 14-arch viaduct (crossing Lewes Road) would be required. Capital required for the line was £75,000. The engineer for the work was Frederick Dale Banister of the LBSCR, and the contractors were William and Jonathan Pickering; they hired a 0-6-0 tender engine from the LBSCR for the construction work, which started on 17 February 1866. Opening Col Yolland of the Board of Trade inspected the completed work on 9 July 1869, and approved it. The line opened to traffic on 2 August 1869. There was a formal ceremonial opening on 6 August. The first locomotive intended to work trains on the line was a 2-4-0 from Sharp, Stewart and Company, but it was not delivered in time for the opening, so a locomotive was borrowed from the LBSCR. Although the line was constructed as a single line, and the terminus had only one platform, extensive land was acquired around the Kemp Town terminus for future development. Development As suburban development progressed, there was demand for an intermediate stop, and Lewes Road station was opened on 1 September 1873. London Road station, nearby on the Brighton to Lewes line opened on 1 October 1877 and was served by branch passenger trains. In the first decade of the twentieth century, railways were exploring ways to provide more frequent, lower-cost ways of providing local passenger facilities, and the LBSCR introduced petrol-engined railcars in the early 1900s. They had 48 seats and were acquired from Dick Kerr. A new halt for residents and to serve the local cemetery was opened on 1 January 1906; it was named Hartington Road Halt. However the Company had neglected to obtain Board of Trade approval for the new station, and when the opening was announced in the trade press, the Board of Trade wrote requiring an explanation. The Company was rebuked, and an inspection was carried out by Col von Donop on 5 January 1906; the facilities were found to be satisfactory. At this time there were 29 passenger train journeys each way on weekdays, and 26 on Sundays instead of the former seventeen and six respectively with steam operation. However the petrol railcars were very unreliable mechanically, and a disastrous breakdown resulted in their withdrawal and the introduction of steam-powered push and pull trains. Hartington