Pullman train (UK)
Pullman trains in
Origins
The first Pullman Railway Coach to enter service in the UK was in 1874 from
The PCC was formed in 1882 and named after the Pullman concept pioneered in the United States by the American railroader George Pullman.[1] The company entered into contracts with the railway companies to operate Pullman services over their lines.
Pullman trains offered more luxurious accommodation than ordinary mainline trains. The PCC had its own workshops at
As Mr Smail recounts:
"...In 1906 the LBSCR introduced three new thirty-five ton twelve-wheelers Princess Ena, Princess Patricia, and Duchess of Norfolk. These last three cars were the first Pullmans to be painted in the now familiar umber and cream livery. Hitherto the Brighton Pullmans had been painted dark mahogany brown with gold lining and scrollwork. Some of the older cars had the name in an oval panel on the side. In 1903 Mr. Billinton changed the colour of the ordinary L.B. & S.C.R. coaches to umber brown with white or cream upper panels, and in 1906 this colour scheme was also adopted by the Pullman Car Co., with the name of the car in large gilt letters..."
This was the beginning of the tradition of PCC services operating with a brown-and-cream livery and named carriages, which continues to the present day. Pullman trains were mostly locomotive-hauled, although from 1932 the electrified Southern Railway and its successors operated electric multiple units, the Class 403 as the Brighton Belle.
The
During World War II all Pullman services were suspended. They resumed operation shortly after the end of the war. The Pullman agreements were continued by British Railways upon nationalisation in 1948, while the Pullman company remained privately owned. The company acquired the lease on the former Taff Vale Railway carriage and wagon works in Cathays, Cardiff, which then maintained both Pullman stock as well as BR rolling stock, and residual private owner wagons. By the late 1950s the image of Pullman trains remained luxurious, but the rolling stock was increasingly outdated.
Nationalisation
The PCC was bought by the
Despite new rolling stock, the Pullman company was experiencing difficulties. Although its equity was wholly owned by the BTC, its separate staffing and operations became an anomaly on the state-owned railway system, and staffing of the new Blue Pullmans had created some union disputes.[
Despite this investment in new carriages, use of Pullman services declined. In part this was due to the development of the British motorway network and increasing competition from domestic air travel for the passengers who could afford the Pullman surcharge, but improvements to British Rail's normal first-class service also had an impact. For example, the Mark 1 Pullmans lacked air-conditioning, while later batches of ordinary Mark 2 stock had this feature as standard in both first and second class.
The Southern Region had not modernised its Pullman rolling stock, and was first to discontinue its Pullman trains. The Bournemouth Belle ceased in 1967, with the Brighton Belle and Golden Arrow following in 1972, by which time most of the coaches used on those trains were at least 40 years old. The Blue Pullman diesels used on the Western Region were a non-standard design which suffered from poor reliability, and were withdrawn when the Bristol Pullman and South Wales Pullman services ceased in 1973. The advent of much faster InterCity 125 trains with new Mark 3 coaches resulted in the demise of the Mark 1 Pullman services on the East Coast Main Line in 1978. By this time the Liverpool Pullman on the West Coast Main Line had also been discontinued, leaving just the Manchester Pullman. This was finally dropped in 1985, being replaced by increased first-class accommodation on ordinary West Coast Main Line services. A new batch of Mark 3b carriages built for this purpose initially carried Intercity Pullman branding and individual carriage names, but they were ordinary Open Firsts in otherwise standard InterCity livery. Subsequently, a number of named trains have used the word Pullman in their titles, but these have been normal trains with increased first-class accommodation.[citation needed]
Continuation
The
In 2006 the Blue Pullman was recreated with locomotive-hauled Mark 2 rolling stock (since none of the original Blue Pullman DEMUs were preserved) by FM Rail's Hertfordshire Rail Tours subsidiary and then after its demise, by Cotswold Rail.[7][8]
In February 2008, the
In 2009, the 5BEL Trust commenced a project to return a five-car Class 403 Brighton Belle train to mainline operation. This represents the first time that a heritage electric traction unit will return to the mainline. The class 403 bodies are being fitted to class 421 frames.[11] As at June 2019, testing is planned for spring 2020 so that charter and public runs might commence a few months after.[12]
Pullman train preservation
The Pullman cars have been very popular on preserved railways and museums around Britain, with longer lines hosting regular dining services with the restored sets. Please note the list below is of the railways that have or once had a pullman coach.
- Bluebell Railway - Sheffield Park
- Colne Valley Railway - Castle Hedingham
- Churnet Valley Railway - Cheddleton
- Dartmouth Steam Railway - Paignton
- Ecclesbourne Valley Railway - Wirksworth
- East Somerset Railway - Cranmore
- Keighley and Worth Valley Railway- Haworth
- Kent and East Sussex Railway - Tenterden
- Lavender Line - Isfield
- National Railway Museum - York
- North Yorkshire Moors Railway - Pickering
- Shepperton railway station
- South Devon Railway - Buckfastleigh
- Swanage Railway - Swanage
- Swindon & Cricklade Railway- Blunsdon
- Watercress Line - Alresford
- West Somerset Railway - Minehead
Notable Pullman trains
East Coast Main Line
- Harrogate Pullman (London Kings Cross - Harrogate, Newcastle, July 1923 - September 1925)
- Harrogate Sunday Pullman (London King's Cross - Harrogate, Sundays only, ceased 1967)
- Hull Pullman (London King's Cross - Hull Paragon, formerly Hull portion of Yorkshire Pullman, 1967–78)[13]
- Queen of Scots (London King's Cross - Glasgow Queen Street, ceased 1964)
- Tees-Tyne Pullman (London King's Cross - Newcastle, ceased 1976)[14]
- White Rose (London King's Cross - Harrogate, operated as a Pullman 1964-67 as replacement for Queen of Scots)
- Yorkshire Pullman (London King's Cross - Harrogate / Hull Paragon (to 1967), ceased 1978)[13]
- Eastern Belle Pullman (Frinton & Walton-on-the-Naze on Wednesdays, Dovercourt & Harwich on Thursdays and Thorpeness/Aldeburgh on Fridays, etc. Destinations and days visited varied in later years. Ran only from 1929 to 1939 and did not resume post-war.[15]
Midland Main Line
- Nottingham, 1960-66 only, replaced by Manchester Pullman)
West Coast Main Line
- Liverpool Pullman (London Euston - Liverpool Lime Street, 1966–75)[16]
- Manchester Piccadilly, 1966–85)
Great Western Main Line
- Birmingham Pullman (Blue Pullman service, London Paddington - Wolverhampton Low Level, 1960–67)[17]
- Bristol Pullman (Blue Pullman service, London Paddington - Bristol Temple Meads, 1960–73)[16]
- Oxford Pullman (Blue Pullman service, London Paddington - Oxford, 1967–69)[16]
- South Wales Pullman (Blue Pullman service after 1961, London Paddington - Swansea High Street, 1955–73)[16]
- Torquay Pullman Limited (London Paddington - Paignton), Ran 08/07/29- summer 1930, Mondays & Fridays[18]
Southern Lines
- London Waterloo - Bournemouth West (to 1965) or Bournemouth Central, ceased 1967)
- London Victoria - Brighton, ceased 1972)
- Ilfracombe, ceased 1954, also a portion to Plymouth Friaryuntil 1949)
- Eastbourne Pullman (Pullman EMU service, London Victoria - Eastbourne, summer Sundays only, 1950–57)
- Dover Marine or Folkestone Harbour, ceased 1972)
- Kentish Belle (London Victoria - Ramsgate / Canterbury East, 1951–58, replacement for Thanet Belle)
- Thanet Belle (London Victoria - Ramsgate, ceased 1950)
Pullman rolling stock
- Southern Railway 6-PUL EMU
- Southern Railway 5-BEL EMU (Brighton Belle)
- British Railways Blue Pullman DMU
- British Railways Mark 1
- British Railways Mark 2
- Preserved British Pullman carriages
See also
- George Pullman
- Pullman Company (USA)
- GWR Super Saloons
- Clerestory, Wikipedia article on Railway Coach roof design following the Pullman American influence.
References
- ^ Orient Express official site Heritage page, retrieved April 2008.
- ^ By "Pullman To Brighton" By H. C. P. Smail.
- ^ "Pullman Car Zena".
- ^ The Pullman Car Co Ltd The Railway Magazine issue 740 December 1962 page 869
- ^ Pullman - The Way Ahead Railway Gazette 14 June 1963 page 667
- ^ Luxury Pullman Trains for LMR Electric Services Railway Gazette 16 December 1966 page 979
- ^ FM Rail launches Hertfordshire Railtour's Blue Pullman Rail issue 531 18 January 2006 page 8
- ^ Return of the Blue Pullman Today's Railways UK issue 51 March 2006 page 10
- ^ Stobart launches its Pullman charter train Rail issue 586 27 February 2008 page 12
- Rail Expressissue 147 August 2008 page 4
- Heritage Railway27 April 2018
- ^ "Future - Bringing back the Brighton Belle". brightonbelle.com. The 5-BEL Trust. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
The latest expectation is for testing on the rails in spring 2020. ... After some commercial test running, charter and public runs will start. This could be August 2020 – watch these pages for updates.
- ^ a b Last East Coast Pullmans The Railway Magazine issue 927 July 1978 page 356
- ^ Tees-Tyne Pullman ends in May The Railway Magazine issue 899 March 1976 page 153
- ^ Source - The Aldeburgh branch by Peter Paye, Oakwood Press 2014
- ^ a b c d Named British Express Trains The Railway Magazine issue 930 October 1978 page 469
- ^ New Western Region Pullman Trains The Railway Magazine issue 714 October 1960 page 675
- ^ Pullman Service in the Western Region Railway Gazette 29 April 1955 page 469
- Geoffrey Freeman Allen, The Eastern since 1948, published by Ian Allan Publishing, Shepperton, 1981.