The Brighton Daddy Longlegs was a clanking steampunk Victorian walking rolling platform that shuttled back and forth between two piers in the seaside resort town of Brighton. It was run by a real sea-captain and crashed along at 2mph.
The Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Elecric Railway, the so-called Daddy Longlegs railway, was built in 1896. This was a proposal by Magnus Volk for a railway that ran along on rails underneath the sea for about 50 to 100 yards offshore, from where his existing electric railway finished all the way to Rottingdean, where it was connected to a pier. The tramcar ran on stilts that were about 24 feet above the sea bed.
The single car, called the Pioneer, was essentially an open deck, above which was an inside car which was quite luxurious and had leather upholstered seats. Above this was an outside deck with slatted seating, rather like you'll find on a liner. The power lines then came down from above that.
(via Out of Ambit)
Update: Opps. Already blogged this last July.
