Brighton Belle
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The ''Brighton Belle'' was a named train which was operated by the Southern Railway and subsequently by
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...
from Victoria Station in London to
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, on the Sussex coast. Commissioned as the flagship of the Southern Railway's mass electrification project, which commenced in January 1931, the world's only electric all- Pullman service ran daily between London Victoria and Brighton from 1 January 1933 until 30 April 1972.


History

The
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...
(LB&SCR) began using Pullman cars in its 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 Victoria and Brighton via
Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
and subsequently ordinary rolling stock was added to the service. In 1888 a second all-Pullman service was instituted, using cars lit by electricity and designed by William Stroudley. The LB&SCR was the origin of the British
umber Umber is a natural earth pigment consisting of iron oxide and manganese oxide; it has a brownish color that can vary among shades of yellow, red, and green. Umber is considered one of the oldest pigments known to humans, first used in the Ajant ...
and cream Pullman livery. In 1903 R. J. 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 (or 20 shillings). The ''Southern Belle'' was steam hauled until 1 January 1933, when electric units were introduced. Trial trains had commenced running between London and Brighton on 2 November 1932, using an experimental five-coach unit (No. 2001) and examples of the new rolling stock were exhibited at London Victoria and Brighton stations from 29 December 1932. With the arrival of the mid-day Victoria to Brighton service at Brighton Station on 29 June 1934, the Mayor of Brighton, Margaret Hardy, renamed the train the ''Brighton Belle'', and it retained this title until withdrawal. The service was scheduled to take 60 minutes for the express journey. Three five-car all-Pullman electric multiple units designated 5-BEL were commissioned by the Southern Railway as the flagship of the world's then-largest electrification project, which covered over 160 track miles. The 15 cars – built in 1932 by Metropolitan-Cammell at its Saltley works in Birmingham – were operated in trains comprising two units, the remaining unit normally held in reserve. The 'spare' multiple unit set was used for a Sunday Pullman service from
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, known as the ''Eastbourne Pullman'' for much of the 1950s, but this service was discontinued in 1957. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the service was suspended after Unit 3052 was badly damaged by aerial bombing at London Victoria; all cars were placed in safe storage at Crystal Palace (High Level) station, but the service was progressively reinstated in 1946. In the early 1950s the train was used by the BBC for filming '' London to Brighton in Four Minutes'', a speeded up version of the journey. The trains were refurbished and overhauled in 1955, but by 1972 the stock was old and rode poorly by contemporary standards. Despite protests, the decision was taken to not replace the rolling stock and the service was withdrawn on 30 April 1972. Every car was preserved, in most cases to meet the ambitions of major breweries to 'bolt on' Pullman restaurants to pubs and hotels, although most were removed relatively quickly because of the high cost of maintenance and refurbishment. A number were progressively acquired by the Venice Simplon Orient Express, while one still remains in use as B&B accommodation at the Little Mill Inn, Rowarth,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. Motor brake car 90 was used for passenger service on the
Nene Valley Railway The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a Heritage railway, preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: , and . History ...
between 1980 and 1990, but was subsequently moved in early 1991 to the former Steamtown Depot at Carnforth for a 5-year restoration project, but was scrapped in July 1991 after being gutted by fire caused by an electrical fault. The Southern ran three Pullman trains with the suffix ''Belle''. The others were the '' Bournemouth Belle'' and the '' Devon Belle''. British Railways introduced the '' Thanet Belle'' (later renamed the ''Kentish Belle'') in 1948.


Restoration

A campaign to return the ''Brighton Belle'' to mainline service was launched by the 5-BEL Trust in 2009. The trustees had been concerned for some time about the worrying state of electric train preservation in Britain and wanted to raise the profile of the issue and to deal with the issues of financial support and covered accommodation. The project was launched at the
National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...
following the acquisition of two of the surviving 14 cars; by early 2009 four out of the five cars needed to form a complete unit had been acquired and the trust had set in place agreements to cover refurbishment of the cars, which began at Pullman restoration specialists Rampart Engineering at the Barrow Hill Engine Shed in February 2009. When the 5-BEL project is completed, it will be returned to mainline service. Despite the high cost of the restoration (approaching £6 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. This is the first time that a complete train will have been restored in Britain. A short train of three cars will undergo mainline proving trials in the near future, with mainline excursions with a four car unit commencing upon testing success. The latest expectation is for testing on the rails in spring 2025 on the Merseyrail network so that charter and public runs might commence a few months after.


Train unit completed

During February 2011, Driving Car 88 was displayed on the Brighton seafront to celebrate the acquisition of the Trust's fifth car. The fifth 5BEL car required was Pullman First ''Doris'', then based at the
Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line in West Sussex in England. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between and , with intermediate stations at and . It is the first preserv ...
for the Bluebell's pullman rake, and thus a swap was arranged. The 5-BEL Trust had purchased ''Golden Arrow'' Pullman Kitchen Car ''Carina'' and supplied this to the Bluebell railway in exchange for ''Doris'', allowing the Bluebell Railway to complete a five-car all-Pullman ''Golden Arrow'' rake. ''Carina'' is of considerable heritage importance, having formed part of
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
's funeral train which carried the principal mourners from London to
Bladon Bladon is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Glyme about northwest of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. It is where Sir Winston Churchill is buried. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded the parish's ...
on 30 January 1965. The 5-BEL Trust said at the time that acquiring ''Doris'' as the trust's fifth car was not only the right move from a heritage standpoint but also it demonstrated the benefits of like-minded organisations working together. The following year, on 6 September 2012, the 5BEL Trust announced that, following two years of complex negotiations with the owners of the Black Bull at Moulton, near Richmond, it had purchased Pullman first 'Hazel' (no. 279) the previous month and had removed the car by road to the Brighton Belle shed at Barrow Hill. The car had been in continuous use as a highly praised restaurant since 1972 and her removal was an extremely delicate operation, involving the use of two of the largest mobile cranes in Britain. The acquisition of a second first class car, originally considered as an impossible outcome, permits the correct unit configuration of two motor brakes, two trailer kitchen firsts and a trailer parlour third, with a trailer held in reserve.


Brighton mural

On 23 September 2010, the then Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Geoffrey Wells, and Sir William McAlpine jointly unveiled'Brighton Belle' return to home station! (Heritage Railway Magazine)
/ref> a commemorative Brighton Belle street mural. This striking feature has been painted into the arches in Trafalgar Street underneath Brighton Station, and runs along the length of the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.


See also

* List of named passenger trains of the United Kingdom *
Pullman train (UK) Pullman trains in Great Britain were mainline luxury railway services that operated with first-class coaches and a steward service, provided by the British Pullman Car Company (PCC) from 1874 until 1962, and then by British Railways from 196 ...


References


External links

{{Commons category, Brighton Belle
BBC article on the Brighton Belle and Hazel, the 'missing' carBring Back The Brighton Belle
Named passenger trains of the Southern Railway Named passenger trains of British Rail Industrial archaeology Railway services introduced in 1934 1934 establishments in England Transport in Brighton and Hove Railway services discontinued in 1972 1972 disestablishments in England Pullman Car Company (UK)