Brighton Belle Pullman

[Pandora]

1972, 30th April, 50 year anniversary of the final  Brighton Belle Pullman service.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Pandora
change of text

[4630]

Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

 

In addition to the Belle, there's some nice footage of a few other Southern Electrics and period scenes along the Brighton line in the late 1960s/early 70s.  Good stuff.

[KeithHC]

Nice shot at about 4:40 on the Quarry line at Merstham. The 4 cig/4 big/4 cig showing three different liveries. Blue, Green and Blue/Grey. The Quarry line waisted a lot of my schooling time as I could sit in lessons and stare out of the window and watch what was going past. The best time of my schooling at Redstone…….

 

Keith

[lmsforever]

In the late fifties my parents took me on holiday to Brighton and as a treat we came home on the Belle  a lunchtime service .The service was fantastic but the ride quality very poor at one point we passed over some complex pointwork and a steward lost control of a a platter of food ,the language and comments about the driver were interesting !

[Oldddudders]

Splendid video. Brief hints of Merstham Yard in those Quarry views. That area now looks rather different, with the M23/M25 interchange. Glimpses of a Bulleid "Hornby" loco outside Brighton. The blue/grey repaint really didn't do much for it - but the refurb at least meant it could now use red roller-blinds instead of a tail-lamp.

 

I watched the last run leave Victoria, having been to Brighton on the 11.00, and back later that day.  

[Phatbob]

2 hours ago, KeithHC said:

Nice shot at about 4:40 on the Quarry line at Merstham. The 4 cig/4 big/4 cig showing three different liveries. Blue, Green and Blue/Grey. The Quarry line waisted a lot of my schooling time as I could sit in lessons and stare out of the window and watch what was going past. The best time of my schooling at Redstone…….

 

Keith

The all blue unit at the front of the train is a 4CEP, as one can see the first class yellow stripe is in the middle of the train, rather than at the ends.  I'm not aware of any CIG or BIG unit receiving plain blue livery.  Gawd only knows what the green unit in the middle is.  The freeze frame is so fuzzy it could be anything and I can't make out any yellow stripes.  The driving coach at one end appears to have a crest on it though, which would indicate another CEP or a BEP?  AFAIK the creasts were only applied to motor coaches.

 

[keefer]

CEP-EPB-CIG?

As @Phatbob says, no yellow 1st class stripes (which you would expect by this time) and two DM vehicles with roundels. In the absence of obvious window layout, all I can think of is a 4EPB.

I know there were procedures for mixing 1951-& 1963-type units so presumably this mixture is ok - possibly an ECS/stock move?

Edited February 22, 2022 by keefer

[Darius43]

The last shots were taken at/near Southease on the Newhaven/Seaford branch.  I wonder if that was the Farewell Tour.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

[Oldddudders]

2 hours ago, keefer said:

CEP-EPB-CIG?

As @Phatbob says, no yellow 1st class stripes (which you would expect by this time) and two DM vehicles with roundels. In the absence of obvious window layout, all I can think of is a 4EPB.

I know there were procedures for mixing 1951-& 1963-type units so presumably this mixture is ok - possibly an ECS/stock move?

The rule was 'At least 50% mainline stock' so this would be fine. There were daily SX Q M&EE pathways from Selhurst to Lovers Walk. 

[SRman]

6 hours ago, keefer said:

CEP-EPB-CIG?

As @Phatbob says, no yellow 1st class stripes (which you would expect by this time) and two DM vehicles with roundels. In the absence of obvious window layout, all I can think of is a 4EPB.

I know there were procedures for mixing 1951-& 1963-type units so presumably this mixture is ok - possibly an ECS/stock move?

 

I put the vid on full-screen on YouTube, and froze it at that point. I agree, it does very much look like an SR-style EPB in the middle.

[KeithHC]

20 hours ago, Phatbob said:

The all blue unit at the front of the train is a 4CEP, as one can see the first class yellow stripe is in the middle of the train, rather than at the ends.  I'm not aware of any CIG or BIG unit receiving plain blue livery.  Gawd only knows what the green unit in the middle is.  The freeze frame is so fuzzy it could be anything and I can't make out any yellow stripes.  The driving coach at one end appears to have a crest on it though, which would indicate another CEP or a BEP?  AFAIK the creasts were only applied to motor coaches.

 

In one book I have it does show a 12 car train south of Haywards Heath with the normal cig/big/cig formation showing the three liveries. I believe a few of the cig/big where painted plain blue but it did not last long.

 

Keith

[nightstar.train]

On 22/02/2022 at 10:06, Pandora said:

1972, 30th April, 50 year anniversary of the final  Brighton Belle Pullman service.

 

And soon to return to the mainline, albeit in a slightly altered form. http://brightonbelle.com/ It will initially be a 4 car unit but they're hoping to run a 6 car unit later on. It's aimed at the luxury dining market so the third class has been upgraded to 2+1 seating from the original 2+2, and nearly half a car has been given over to a huge kitchen to provide a full meal service as the original kitchens are too small. Most noticeably the front has gained large modern lights to conform to current standards. It's a controversial choice, but allows the train to be painted brown on the front, rather than have a yellow end. 

[keefer]

Most Pullman kitchens were quite small as they tended to serve only the kitchen car and adjacent parlour car. Many chefs and other staff were ex-Forces as they tended to be used to cooking for many, with minimal equipment and in confined spaces!

This approach meant, of course, that you had a catering crew for each kitchen, as opposed to the 'normal' approach where you'd have one crew in an RB or RU cooking enough meals for the whole train (RKB or RK for longer trains/more demand).

Edited February 24, 2022 by keefer

[Wickham Green too]

19 hours ago, nightstar.train said:

And soon to return to the mainline, albeit in a slightly altered form. .......

Well, only 'slightly' more than slightly altered !