Hellingly Railway station opened in 1880, this was the only station on the line that was sited on the upside of the line. A small goods yard with two sidings and a 5 ton capacity crane was accessed from the south with the sidings running behind the platform. At this time the yard only handles small goods and parcels. By 1920 a third siding had been added. This passed through an unusual goods shed without any walls and consisting of a pitched corrugated iron roof supported on metal pillars and then passed a dock. With the expansion of the yard a full range of goods traffic was handled until goods traffic was withdrawn in 1964.
The station features in the 1964 film "Smokescreen" starring Peter Vaughan and John Carson. The film was shot almost entirely in the Brighton area. The two investigators visit the station and meet the stationmaster who tells them the station is about to close, as is the whole line. The line did, in fact, close about a year after the film was made !
Just south of the station there was a siding that led to the nearby Hellingly Mental Hospital. It had no connection with the main line except that a small wooden platformwas constructed opposite Hellingly's only platform. Traffic to the hospital could use it between the hours of 6am & 6pm and then provided due notice was given to the railway company. The railway was used to convey building materials, stores and so forthto the hospital and occasionally visitors and staff. For this there was a 12 seater four wheeled tramcar.
In 1903 the mile length line was electrified using the hospital's own general current at 500 volts DC. The wire was suspended on metal posts along the side of the track.
This line was closed to passenger traffic in 1931 and the platform removed in 1932. By 1954 goods traffic was down to about one a day, but the line lingered on until 1959 when it was finally abandoned.
Hellingly station finally closed on the 14.6.1965, the station building itself has little changed since the closure and is now a private residence and the line itself is now part of the Cuckoo trail.
http://www.sidetrackedseries.info
