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Blue Pullman Returns

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Flying Phil

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I have just been reading ""Jubilees" and "Jubblys"" by Stewert Warrington and he wrote "In September 1963 came the news that Leicester was going to have the fastest train in Britain when the new winter services began on the 10th, with the "Midland Pullman" covering the 99 miles from London St Pancras to the city in 82 minutes."
I believe this would have been one of the Blue Pullman diagrams.
 
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Ash Bridge

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I have just been reading ""Jubilees" and Jubblys"" by Stewert Warrington and he wrote "In September 1973 came the news that Leicester was going to have the fastest train in Britain when the new winter services began on the 10th, with the "Midland Pullman" covering the 99 miles from London St Pancras to the city in 82 minutes."
I believe this would have been one of the Blue Pullman diagrams.

Should that actually be September 1963 Phil? ;)
 

70014IronDuke

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I have just been reading ""Jubilees" and "Jubblys"" by Stewert Warrington and he wrote "In September 1963 came the news that Leicester was going to have the fastest train in Britain when the new winter services began on the 10th, with the "Midland Pullman" covering the 99 miles from London St Pancras to the city in 82 minutes."
I believe this would have been one of the Blue Pullman diagrams.

Really? I'm very surprised it was the fastest in the UK, given that Deltics were more or less all delivered by then, ditto the WR had Cl 47s and 52s - and both regions had far better lines to support 100 and 90 mph running.

This presumably was the timing of the afternoon up Nottingham - St Pancras pullman?
 

38Cto15E

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Any idea why it didn't go a more direct route, say Wolverhampton-Bescot-Coventry-Oxford-Basingstoke ?
 

fgwrich

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Any idea why it didn't go a more direct route, say Wolverhampton-Bescot-Coventry-Oxford-Basingstoke ?

I’m not sure if LSL staff sign that route? Certainly a lot of their stock moves tend to head down the WCML via Wembley and across via Reading.

Believe the set has gone back to Eastleigh for finishing - a number of vehicles left Eastleigh without the orange Cant rail strips, and I believe there’s some lighting modifications to be carried out as well. It will also pick up 40802 which wasn’t complete when the set left last week.
 

swt_passenger

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Any idea why it didn't go a more direct route, say Wolverhampton-Bescot-Coventry-Oxford-Basingstoke ?
It went up to Crewe that way, (ie via Oxford and Coventry then Nuneaton), so there may be no particular reason why it didn’t go back that way...
 

221101 Voyager

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70014IronDuke

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Blue Pullmans might have been a failure but they certainly captured the public imagination at the time. Whilst I never travelled on one as they didn't operate out of my area my father bought me a Triang one in the 1960s for my trainset! (Yes even that had faults such as Mark 1 bogies and no kitchen cars! ) He wasn't really into railways but indulged my interest and they certainly caught his imagination when he could have bought me some other rolling stock!

I have seen quite a few pictures on Flickr and must say the HST looks stunning. One wonders why, looking a this, BR didn't reintroduce a limited number of premium HSTs as a second generation Blue Pullman in the 1970s!

John
I don't know about the public's imagination, but the Blue Pullman certainly captured mine on first sighting.

I was eight, and travelling in the family sidecar with my brother driving the motorbike. I was standing up (probably wouldn't be allowed today) as we went down Ampthill Road, in Bedford. It was summer, 1960, and, in those days there was some sort of playing field, giving a clear view of the MML at the other end, about 200 yards away.
As we tootled along at about 35 mph, I saw this blue streak on the railway line. I could hardly believe it - I thought such trains were only in the USA. I wasn't even trainspotting at the time - but I must have started a week or two later.

I think this was probably the very first week of regular Pullman service, though I had no idea of this at the time. The train would have been the up afternoon service from Nottingham.
 

fgwrich

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It went to a contractor - Hants and Dorset Trim, for some finishing work.

It certainly hasn't gone to Hants & Dorset Trim! (They aren't rail connected though they are in the former Railway Buildings of Barton Park - Next door to the station), It's gone back to Eastleigh Works for finishing / alterations to be carried out by Arlington Fleet Services.

Hants and Dorset trim largely do bus work - conversions, refurbishments, repainting etc though they do some rail work in the form of seat re-covering.
 

DB

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It certainly hasn't gone to Hants & Dorset Trim! (They aren't rail connected though they are in the former Railway Buildings of Barton Park - Next door to the station), It's gone back to Eastleigh Works for finishing / alterations to be carried out by Arlington Fleet Services.

Hants and Dorset trim largely do bus work - conversions, refurbishments, repainting etc though they do some rail work in the form of seat re-covering.

Presumably new seat covers in this case then, I would assume?
 

ainsworth74

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Nope, with the exception of the headrests and the leather swatch in the middle, the seats remain the same. As per the ScotRail ones, they have had GWR First Class replaced with Pullman.
To be fair, that GWR interior was probably one of the best first class interiors to be on the rails in recent decades!
 

RJ

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To be fair, that GWR interior was probably one of the best first class interiors to be on the rails in recent decades!

I have to agree with this. I'm not one of these people who like things just because they have been withdrawn but that really was a particularly fantastic hard product.
 

WesternLancer

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Assume the uni directional (or most of them) single 1st class seats have been turned back to face each pother with tables installed? Tables for 2 must be a high demand product on any tour train, esp dining.
 

ainsworth74

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Assume the uni directional (or most of them) single 1st class seats have been turned back to face each pother with tables installed? Tables for 2 must be a high demand product on any tour train, esp dining.

Well the minimum booking is for two at a table for two so I think that's a safe assumption!

Edit: Aha! Half way down on this page of their website is a mini-seating plan and it also helpful states: "All our seating is arranged around tables for a maximum of four or two people" and "Single travelers can book a seat at a window table for two (if available). This is the only way to guarantee a window seat as a single traveller." Though I think as part of their Covid response they aren't selling tickets for single passengers.
 

oddiesjack

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It definitely looks like a very leisurely trundle through the Hope Valley, being timed for 30 minutes from Totley Tunnel East to Chinley North Junction, as opposed to the following EMT Norwich-Liverpool that is booked for 17 minutes, the preceding Northern stopper is also booked for 30 minutes, stopping at all the intervening stations. I'd have thought a planner might have decided to put the HST through before the stopper!
 
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