Ouse Valley Railway
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The Ouse Valley Railway was built to stop the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway's competitors' from getting a foothold in rural Sussex. The idea was to build the railway as slowly as Parliament would permit, and the "opposition" would look elsewhere when deciding where to build their next railway. There were other legal reasons why once one Company had started to build a line to serve an area then others would find it extremely difficult to get an Act serving the same area passed by Parliament.
It was the failure of the Overend and Gurney and Company Bank in May 1866 that caused a financial crisis in both the banking sector in the UK, and the construction of railways at home and abroad. This bank was used as a source of capital for raising the required finance for big railway construction projects. It was for this reason that the line was never completed but much of it is still discernible on a map and on the ground itself. Work started at the existing railway lines at each end. There are some 3 miles of earthworks at the Western end, with just a mile remaining at the Eastern Uckfield end.
It is interesting to note that had this line been completed and opened the Lewes extension to the London - East Grinstead railway would not have gone ahead. Much of this extension became the first preserved standard gauge railway - the world famous Bluebell Railway!
