Pullman train (UK)
Pullman trains in Great Britain were mainline luxury railway services that operated with first-class coaches and a steward service, provided by the British Pullman Car Company (PCC) from 1874 until 1962, and then by British Railways from 1962 until 1972.
The first Pullman Railway Coach to enter service in the UK was in 1874 from Bradford Forster Square to London St Pancras after an assembly of imports from the United States, in an operation pioneered by the Midland Railway, working with the Pullman Company in Chicago.
Hitherto the Brighton Pullmans had been painted dark mahogany brown with gold lining and scrollwork.
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.
Initially deployed from May 1929 on the London Paddington-Plymouth Millbay service, amongst standard GWR stock within the Ocean Liner Express boat train.
A proposal was made to return the full seven-car train in summer 1931, but the decision was taken not to operate the service.
By the late 1950s the image of Pullman trains remained luxurious, but the rolling stock was increasingly outdated.
Among the services which these initially operated were two new trains: the Midland Pullman (Manchester Central to London St Pancras), and the Birmingham Pullman (Wolverhampton Low Level to London Paddington), which offered business travellers alternatives to West Coast Main Line services at a time when that route was subject to frequent disruption due to electrification work.
This was finally dropped in 1985, being replaced by increased first-class accommodation on ordinary West Coast Main Line services.
[citation needed] The Venice Simplon Orient Express company has sought to recreate the ambience of the heyday of Pullman travel prior to World War II by purchasing much of the previous brown-and-cream Pullman stock from preservation trusts or general storage, and after restoration, began operations in April 1982.
[9][10] In 2009, the 5BEL Trust commenced a project to return a five-car Class 403 Brighton Belle train to mainline operation.
[12] The Pullman cars have been popular on preserved railways and museums around Britain, with longer lines hosting regular dining services with the restored sets.
