Hornby Pullman Coaches

[Chrisjh]

Thinking of purchasing if I can a complete rake of White roofed pullman coaches just wondering if anyone knows what the list comprises of in terms of coaches please. Also did Hornby ever do a tri axle white roof Pullman coach like they did in Grey?

 

Many thanks and Best Wishes,

Chris

[Great Waterton]

I'm no expert but I think the white roofed ones were the Orient Express ones. The certainly were many years ago (the older models from the 80s) and came as a threesome in a train set with 47568. Cygnus, Perseus and Phoenix were the coach names.

 

Though I imagine your interest will be in the later retooled coaches with table lighting but alas I can't help you there. A quick skeg on eBay shows a few different ones though so that would be a start for you. 

[RFS]

This is a very useful guide to much of what Hornby have produced. It hasn't been updated for a while, but does list all the Pullman coaches that have been released. Unfortunately it doesn't say whether the roofs are white or grey. In steam days these white roofs quickly became grey!

Edited December 31, 2023 by RFS

[Going Spare]

According to Pat Hammond's British Model Trains catalogue (last produced in 2013), parlour cars Cygnus and Ibis plus kitchen car Minerva from the R1073 VSOE set had white roofs as well as R4482 brake car No. 65.  I can not find any reference to white-roofed 12-wheelers.

[RFS]

33 minutes ago, Going Spare said:

According to Pat Hammond's British Model Trains catalogue (last produced in 2013), parlour cars Cygnus and Ibis plus kitchen car Minerva from the R1073 VSOE set had white roofs as well as R4482 brake car No. 65.  I can not find any reference to white-roofed 12-wheelers.

 

Hornby also produced Devon Belle and Bournemouth Belle train packs with white-roofed Pullman cars, and also extension packs for these also with white roofs. They also produced BB train packs with grey roofs so it's a bit of a minefield. There are plenty of these train packs for sale on Ebay, so you should be able to see what's available. 

[Chrisjh]

Many thanks gents thats really very useful thank you very much indeed. Its very confusing with all the different versions of Pullmans that were produced so thank you for compling this. Happy New Year Best Wishes, Chris 

[Halvarras]

KJB Models have a couple of Hornby 'Golden Arrow' coach packs available with white roofs - if the box illustration is accurate!

 

https://kjbmodels.co.uk/product/Hornby-r4196-the-golden-arrow-coach-pack-3x-pullman-coaches/

 

They also have at least three 12-wheelers for sale although these are all grey-roofed and priced according to their relative rarity......

 

I spotted these during a recent idle-moment trawl - in case of any interest!

[Great Waterton]

Just to add another complication... Didn't the Pullman coaches also have two different types of construction for the sides? I'm sure I read "matchboard sides" once which is potentially wooden and ribbed (for first class pleasure...🤣)? And the other style which is presumably metal/steel sides and smooth?

 

[Dominion]

I have seen at least 9 identities  of 12 wheel Hornby Pullman models and they all had grey rooves.

There are "umpteen" white roof 8 wheel lit Pullman's.  Their convention seemed to mostly be that the ones with the early Pullman crest were white or cream roofed and the later crest ones were grey rooved, but I suspect that is not systematically the case.

Tom

[Chrisjh]

2 hours ago, Great Waterton said:

Just to add another complication... Didn't the Pullman coaches also have two different types of construction for the sides? I'm sure I read "matchboard sides" once which is potentially wooden and ribbed (for first class pleasure...🤣)? And the other style which is presumably metal/steel sides and smooth?

 

 Many thanks yes they did and I cant remember what the reference was to the other type rather than the Matchboard type (and I cant remember what it is called?), as that is the type we are after. 

[Chrisjh]

Many thanks Gents very much appreciated, as I wish to change the table lights are all the tables plastic as opposed to Metal? I am planning on using DCC Concepts Table lamps and apparently they ones that can be changed are the plastic tables?

 

Many thanks 

Chris

[VIA185]

Hornby produced both early and later-style Pullmans (8 and 12 wheels) and produced the earlier match-boarded Pullmans as they appeared in the 1950s with aluminium plating over the matchboard (to make them look more modern). Generally, white roofs were earlier (white lead on canvas) while they were later painted grey. There was also a light silvery-colour used in the early 1960s which looks white in photographs (check out aerial views of the Churchill funeral train, which has one light-coloured roof). We shouldn't be bothered by what colour coach roofs were as a train with all the roof colours matching would have been pretty unusual., (CJL)

[Bulleidboy100]

I have the R4196 Golden Arrow Pullman Coach Pack and can confirm that the roofs are white.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

5 hours ago, Chrisjh said:

 Many thanks yes they did and I cant remember what the reference was to the other type rather than the Matchboard type (and I cant remember what it is called?), as that is the type we are after... 

Are you after the all steel monocoque construction K type cars, often referred to as QoS (Queen of Scots) cars? In 'as introduced' livery these have white roofs, grey roofs in the post war livery period, curtains at the windows instead of pull down blinds.

[Rshakes3]

I`m not sure if this is the correct 'discussion' to raise this question but lets see. I have 25 Hornby Pullman cars, both 8 & 12 wheelers along with the Bournemouth Belle Observation car. On 3 of these which I purchased 2nd hand I`ve noticed that some of the hand rails are damaged or missing. So is it possible to obtain replacement hand rails from any where?  However I must admit that these models are some of the best that Hornby have produce in my mind  - especially the 12 wheels.