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The Brighton Belle was a named train which ran on the Southern Railway from Victoria Station in London to Brighton, on the Sussex coast. The first electric all-Pullman service in the world, it ran from 29 June 1934 till 30 April 1972.

History

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) began using Pullman cars in their express trains in 1875, and in December 1881 they introduced the first all-Pullman train in the UK. Known as the Pullman Limited this ran between London and Brighton via Horsham and subsequently ordinary rolling stock was added to this service. In 1888 a second all-Pullman service was instituted, using carriages lit by electricity and designed by William Stroudley.

The LB&SCR was the origin of the British umber and cream Pullman livery. In 1903 Billinton changed the colour of the ordinary LB&SCR 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 on the lower panel and flanked on each side by a coloured transfer of the Pullman Company's crest.

Another all-Pullman service was introduced in 1908 under the name of the Southern Belle. Contemporary advertising by the LB&SCR claimed that this was "... the most luxurious train in the world...". In 1908 this could be experienced for a special London Victoria to Brighton day return fare of 12 shillings, a premium rate at a time when average earnings were around £1 a week. The Southern Belle was steam hauled until 1933, when electric units were introduced. With the arrival of the mid-day Victoria to Brighton service at Brighton Station on 29 June 1934, the Mayor of Brighton, Miss M. Hardy, renamed the train the Brighton Belle, and it retained this title until withdrawal.

Three five-car all-Pullman electric multiple units designated 5-BEL were built for the service and ran throughout the train's life, usually in trains with two sets. The service was scheduled to take 60 minutes for the 51-mile non-stop journey. During the Second World War the service was suspended and the carriages were put into store, but the train was re-instated in 1946.

The 'spare' multiple unit set was used for a Sunday Pullman service from Eastbourne, known as the Eastbourne Pullman for much of the 1950s, but this service was discontinued in 1957.

The trains were refurbished in 1955, but by 1972 the stock was old and rode poorly by contemporary standards. Despite protests the decision was taken not to replace the rolling stock and the service was withdrawn on 30 April 1972. Nearly every carriage was preserved: some are used on the Venice Simplon Orient Express (VSOE); others became static restaurants, in various states of repair and exposed to the elements. In 1972, one carriage became part of a public house in Winsford, Cheshire, removed in 1998 because of the high cost of refurbishment.

Restoration

The Transport Trust, the umbrella organisation for heritage transport preservation in the UK, had been concerned about electric train preservation in Britain and wanted to raise the profile the issue and to deal with the issues of financial support and covered accommodation. Under its patronage, a campaign to return the Brighton Belle to mainline service was launched by the 5-BEL Trust in 2009. This charitable trust had by early 2009 acquired four cars out of the five needed and had set in place agreements to cover refurbishment of the cars. Restoration of the first driving car, Car 88, began at Pullman restoration specialists Rampart of Derby in February 2009.

Once the complete 5-BEL set is restored to full operating condition, it will return to mainline operation. Despite the high cost of restoration (close to £2 million) the programme is seen as an investment for future generations. Progress with the restoration of the Brighton Belle to mainline use will depend in part on the level of public donations. The Trust expects to have the train operational in 2013 – the first time that a complete train will have been restored in Britain.

Train Set Completed

During February 2011, Driving Car 88 was displayed on the Brighton seafront to celebrate the acquisition of the Trust's fifth and final car. The fifth 5BEL carriage required was Doris, then based at the Bluebell Railway for the Bluebell's pullman rake, and thus a swap was arranged. The 5-BEL Trust purchased Golden Arrow Pullman car Carina and supplied this to the Bluebell railway, while in exchange the 5-BEL Trust received Doris from the Bluebell railway. The supplied carriage Carina was a Pullman kitchen car and so allowed the Bluebell Railway to complete a five-car all-Pullman Golden Arrow set. Historically, Carina had also formed part of Winston Churchill's funeral train, being used to carry the principal mourners from London to Bladon on 30 January 1965. The chairman of the 5-BEL Trust stated at the time that acquiring Doris as the trust's fifth and final car was not only the right move from a heritage standpoint but also it demonstrated the benefits of like-minded organisations working together.

Mural

On 23 September 2010, the Mayor of Brighton and Sir William McAlpine jointly unveiled a mural commemorating the Brighton Belle. This is painted into the arches in Trafalgar Street underneath Brighton Station, and runs along the length of the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.

References

1. Frye, Charles, British Pullman Trains: A Tribute to All Britain's Steam, Diesel and Electric Pullman Services, Silver Link Publishing, ISBN 0-947971-78-5 (1992)
2. Preserved 5BEL Pullman Units Southern Electric Group: Preserved Pullmans, Southern Electric Group
3. Owen, Nicholas, The Brighton Belle, Southern Electric Group: Preserved Pullmans, Southern Electric Group (1972), p9
4. Dunstone, Denis, For the Love of Trains, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-3301-3 (2007)
5. "Farewell to the Belle". This is Cheshire.
6. Coupe News (Journal of Pullman Car Services) No. 66, pp 24–25
7. Southern Electric Group: Preserved Pullmans
8. 5BEL Trust
9. Railway Herald

See also

• List of named passenger trains of the United Kingdom

External links

[REDACTED] Media related to Brighton Belle at Wikimedia Commons

• BBC article on the Brighton Belle and Hazel, the 'missing' carriage

• Use dmy dates from September 2013
• Electric railways in the United Kingdom
• Heritage railways in the United Kingdom
• Industrial archaeology
• Named passenger trains of the United Kingdom
• Railway services introduced in 1934
• Transport in Brighton and Hove
• Southern Railway (Great Britain)