Bachmann Midland Pullman

[Blobrick]

Well they definitely ran on the WR in that state - but almost certainly never like that in public service. Already much discussed earlier in this thread with attention drawn to various published photographs.

 

Thanks for that Stationmaster, l ll need to trawl thought this thread again, I must have missed those entries

 

Bob.C

[Dogmatix]

Thanks for the pictures and the video - this looks like an excellent model (although perhaps Bachmann could have gone the extra millimetre with the gangways). The blue-fronted version looks very handsome - but I can't help feeling that the less-than-elegant yellow-fronted one will not sell quite so well.....

[stewartingram]

I think mine is going to be a yellow end version, so I'm hoping that the yellow will come off easily, and I can match the blue paint ok.

 

Stewart

[reevesthecat]

Is there any indication which version is on the boat, I would suspect the blue ended one judjing by which has been made available for review but is the yellow one on there as well?

mark

[BR Blue]

Is it just me, I cannot wait for a grey/blue one. Maybe because that was the one I got as a child (a very young child obviously). That said I have a nanking blue one on order. This model looks like it is going to raise the bar, stunning pictures.

[Colin_McLeod]

Is there any indication which version is on the boat, I would suspect the blue ended one judjing by which has been made available for review but is the yellow one on there as well?

mark

 

It could be either. I wonder if there is a clue in the container itself??

 

[Dogmatix]

Just thinking how many Blue Pullman sets would fit in one of those containers..... will it be enough?

[neal]

Looks like the yellow ones are coming via Alaska.

 

N

[Jack Cregan]

To allow the model to be operated on analogue with high frequency track cleaners is it just a matter of removing the DCC chip and inserting a blank?

Jack

[johnd]

Having seen one in the Bachmann display cabinet at Manchester show to-day it has got me thinking as to how i might afford one of these.. !!!!!!!!!

[phil-b259]

To allow the model to be operated on analogue with high frequency track cleaners is it just a matter of removing the DCC chip and inserting a blank?

Jack

 

From what I recall, there was something about how Bachmann have wired the thing up that prevents the decoder from being removed without screwing it up - hence them only offering it as DCC fitted. My understanding is that if you do want to opperate the model under the conditions you have outlined, you will have to junk all the Bachmann circuits and wire up the thing from scratch yourself. The other simple (if somewhat risky method if you forget) is simply to insert a switch that allows the track cleaner to be turnned off when the Blue Pullman is placed on the layout.

[Michael Delamar]

dont think this shot has been linked to already..

 

BluePullman_Ambergate_1965 by robertcwp, on Flickr

[Guest Crusader]

A theory postulated by quite a few WR Drivers was that they were got shot of because they would have shown up the HST when it arrived (i.e. the cab was more acceptable as a workplace than that of the HST?, I doubt if many Drivers actually travelled in them on the cushions; but I do think the catering service was far better than that on HSTs)

Surely though, the more pertinent commercial reasons for the withdrawal of the Blue Pullman sets were that many of the unique and innovative features that were the key selling points of the Pullman trains, such as air conditioning, were, by the 1970s, being incorporated into standard long distance coaching stock, including the later builds of mark 2 carriages from the start of the seventies and, later, the mark 3 carriages used by the HSTs. The Blue Pullmans could also never hope to match the timings of the HSTs (There had already been complaints raised when the WR Pullmans were introduced, running ten minutes slower from Bristol to Paddington than the loco hauled "Bristolian" that had gone before it), entirely eroding the trains' competitive advantage, plus by the 1970s BR had begun to favour higher frequency, clockface timetables over the operation of a handful of prestige services each day as a method to attract passengers onto the railways.

 

Discussions over the withdrawal of the Blue Pullman trains had commenced in 1969: The commercial environment in which they were operating had changed somewhat from the one in which they were conceived.

[Guest Crusader]

Surely there were some posh-nosh charters to Cup Semi Finals at <insert name of city here> ?

According to "Blue Pullman" by Kevin Robertson the Pullmans became popular for weekend charter work as the years went on, and they worked to Norwich, Guildford and Carmarthen, amongst other locations. They could even be hired for weddings! Reportedly in the summer of 1968 a Mr Peter Hughes of Buntingford hired an 8-car WR Pullman to take 200 guests from Paddington to his son's wedding in Weston-super-Mare. Apparently his principal reason for doing so was to avoid the guests being penalised by the recently introduced breathaliser tests for motorists! In 1972, the cost to charter an 8-car set from the Western Region was £1,200.

 

Late on in their lives, in reverse BR blue/grey livery, the ex-Midland sets were used on crew training runs over the Berks & Hants to Westbury, and on race days they were also sometimes used on specials to Newbury Racecourse. A Blue Pullman also performed a working from Surbiton to Newcastle Emlyn in April 1970, and reportedly more than one special working took Blue Pullmans onto the Southern.

 

The furthest north that a Blue Pullman set got to in passenger service was Hartlepool, when a WR set was chartered from Coventry to Hartlepool for a Rugby Union Championship Final in March 1965. A Western Pullman also worked to Aintree from Swansea for the Grand National a year earlier, and in 1968, a set worked from Bristol to Leeds carrying Bristol City FC players and officials to a FA Cup match.

[Blobrick]

There is a photo near the back of Kevin Robertson's book of a 6-car BP still in original condition on the WR. Unfortunately the notes do no provide much information on what it was doing so I don't know if it was in revenue-earning service at the time.

 

You Sir, have just cost me an order for a 6 car unit!!

 

 

But thanks its just the excuse l needed!! :imsohappy:

 

 

Bob C

[45568]

From what I recall, there was something about how Bachmann have wired the thing up that prevents the decoder from being removed without screwing it up - hence them only offering it as DCC fitted. My understanding is that if you do want to opperate the model under the conditions you have outlined, you will have to junk all the Bachmann circuits and wire up the thing from scratch yourself. The other simple (if somewhat risky method if you forget) is simply to insert a switch that allows the track cleaner to be turnned off when the Blue Pullman is placed on the layout.

 

Could someone from Bachmann, (thank you Mr. Lovett) comment on this please? If it is the case that the decoder(s) being removed immobilises the unit, then my pre-order will have to be cancelled.

Thanks in advance,

Peter C.

[Andy Y]

Could someone from Bachmann, (thank you Mr. Lovett) comment on this please? If it is the case that the decoder(s) being removed immobilises the unit, then my pre-order will have to be cancelled.

 

Mr L is currently on leave so he won't be able to respond directly this week.

 

I don't know where this has come from about circuitry (certainly not from the manufacturer) but the BP set will work on DC with the decoders in, I have seen that they do operate on DC with the decoder removed and blanking plug fitted; obviously you lose the ability to independently control lighting but otherwise everything else works.

 

I don't think anyone would be able to comment yet on what impact HF track cleaner signals have, if any, on the circuitry for any extended period as the models have not been tested under this scenario but there's no reason to think there would be any significant issue providing the HF cleaner is not delivering output all of the time (i.e. if your track-cleaning regime is good). Therefore if you have any other modern locos which are DCC-ready but with the blanking plug fitted and operated via DC with a HF track cleaner that are working as they should there is no reason to believe that you would have any problem with the Blue Pullman, there is nothing different to the circuitry which gives rise to an additional considerations.

 

It's worth repeating that performance of some DCC-fitted locos on layouts with feedback controllers via DC can suffer performance issues so the advice is to remove the decoder and fit a blanking plug.

[Michael Delamar]

fitted with warning flashes..

 

Midland Pullman Train 1963 by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[Michael Delamar]

and footage of the train at Manchester central and onboard..

 

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4b4_1316133429

[Michael Delamar]

ex midland set in 1969.

Bristol Bath Road MPD by 56074 Kellingley Colliery, on Flickr

[phil-b259]

Mr L is currently on leave so he won't be able to respond directly this week.

 

I don't know where this has come from about circuitry (certainly not from the manufacturer) but the BP set will work on DC with the decoders in, I have seen that they do operate on DC with the decoder removed and blanking plug fitted; obviously you lose the ability to independently control lighting but otherwise everything else works.

 

 

Thanks for clarifying the issue (the impression was created by Bachmann, who when anoncing the unit did say it would only being avalable as DCC fitted). If a DCC socket is fitted though I do not see why Bachmann cannot release a non DCC fitted version (with suitable warnings that the lighting will not work, etc). OK, its easy to remove decoders and they may not add signifficantly to the price of the unit but it does seem like a odd choice given that you could say the same about many other Bachmann releases.

[Andy Y]

I think that issue has been sufficiently covered Phil to say that Bachmann are only supplying it as DCC-fitted to try and benefit the widest possible spread of the hobby without the necessity to go through the complexity of multiple decoder fitting and consisting etc.

 

I don't think anything Bachmann have said leads anyone to believe there should be circuitry vulnerabilities (rather than increasing potential operational issues) if decoders were not fitted.

[cctransuk]

I think that issue has been sufficiently covered Phil to say that Bachmann are only supplying it as DCC-fitted to try and benefit the widest possible spread of the hobby without the necessity to go through the complexity of multiple decoder fitting and consisting etc.

 

I don't think anything Bachmann have said leads anyone to believe there should be circuitry vulnerabilities (rather than increasing potential operational issues) if decoders were not fitted.

 

I can't find it at the moment, but I'm pretty certain that there was an early posting to the effect that Bachmann had confirmed that the DCC fitted BP would be incompatible with HF track cleaning equipment.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[Andy Y]

Yes; they will have advised (and so should all manufacturers supplying DCC-fitted) that DCC-fitted cannot be used with such but the point arose (and confusion developed) about whether a unit with decoders removed would be able to operate in conjunction with HF cleaners; for clarification of which please return to http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/47862-Bachmann-midland-pullman/page__st__425&do=findComment&comment=806410

[Blobrick]

I know I sound just like a big kid waiting for X-mas, but does anyone know when the B.P sets are meant to hit the shops?.

I see the Bachmann web site still indicates 4th quarter 2012

 

 

Bob.C