Brochure for 'The Midland Pullman'

Railways in Britain were nationalised under the terms of the Transport Act 1947 which came into effect on 1 January 1948. The Railway Executive, a corporate body subordinate to the British Transport Commission, was created to manage and operate the railways. It divided them into six geographical regions, largely based on the areas served by the pre-nationalisation railway companies.

London Midland Region (LMR) was one of those territories. It comprised the railway operations in England and Wales of the former London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company (LMS) with the exception of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway which was placed in Eastern Region and lines in central and south Wales which passed to Western Region. Subsequently, the area of operations was adjusted by the transfer of “penetrating lines” between regions

Between 1948 and 1952 the regional manager was responsible to the Railway Executive for day to day operations in his region. After the Railway Executive was abolished in 1952, he reported to the British Transport Commission (BTC). In 1963, BTC itself was abolished and replaced by British Railways Board (BRB). Between 1963 and 1968 LMR was a statutory board in accordance with the provisions of the Transport Act 1962, subordinate to and reporting to BRB. It ceased to be a statutory board in 1968, following reorganisation of the railways’ business along sectoral or functional lines. The name survived until 1992 when the railways were privatised.

There were two principal routes in the region. The first was the former Midland mainline which had several components: London St Pancras to Sheffield via Leicester and Nottingham, Rugby through Derby to West Yorkshire and Leeds and continuing over the Settle-Carlisle route, Derby to Manchester, and Birmingham to Derby. The other was the West Coast Mainline (WCML) from Euston to Carlisle, via Birmingham and Manchester with its branch to Liverpool.

There was one major “penetrating line”, the former Great Central London Extension from Annesley in Nottinghamshire to London Marylebone, via Leicester, and Rugby. Originally in Eastern Region, this line was transferred to London Midland Region in 1958.

The WCML which formed part of the major route from London to Scotland was electrified in stages between 1959 and 1974. Only the southern end of the Midland Mainline from Bedford to London Moorgate was electrified during the period that London Midland Region existed.

Like other regions London Midland experienced withdrawal of services and closures, especially following the Beeching report. The most notable casualty was the Great Central line, which, because it largely duplicated the Midland Main Line from Nottingham to London, was closed almost in its entirety. The line through the Derbyshire Dales between Matlock and Buxton was also closed thus severing the route from St Pancras to Manchester. Many branch lines and industrial lines were also closed

The Pullman Company Ltd was formed in Britain in 1882, based on the Pullman concept of luxury rail travel in the United States and established under US licence and control. The idea of the Pullman car had already been introduced to the UK by the Midland Railway, with a specially chartered train taking a party of people on a tour of England and Scotland in 1876. The Midland railway imported 37 cars and erected them at their Derby Works. They ran them on contract until 1888. Other railway companies also experimented with Pullman services, but gradually developed their own improved rolling stock and ceased their contracts with Pullman.

In 1905 the business was transferred to UK control under the chairmanship of Lord Dalziel, and in 1915 was re-founded as the Pullman Car Company Limited. Following the formation of the UK based company production of coaching stock was gradually moved to the UK. A small number of vehicles were manufactured by the Pullman Car Company’s own workshops at Preston Park in Brighton. The majority were built by private manufacturers such as the Birmingham Carriage and Wagon Company, Cravens of Sheffield, the Clayton Wagon Company of Lincoln, the Midland Carriage and Wagon Company and the Metropolitan Carriage and Wagon Company (later Metropolitan-Cammell). The last Pullman cars were made by the British Rail works at Derby in the 1960s. Preston Park operated primarily as a maintenance and repair shop. The drawings in the collection reflect the multiplicity of sources from which carriages originated.

The central location in Brighton was useful as it was the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway that enthusiastically embraced the luxury Pullman concept, with its first complete train of Pullman carriages in 1881. But the concept was quickly adopted by other railway companies and became synonymous with luxury rail travel, both in the UK and abroad, especially during the 1930s. Pullman services were suspended during the Second World War, but revived in the 1940s and taken over by the newly nationalised British Railways.

By the 1950s much of the rolling stock was becoming out of date. The Pullman Car Company itself was experiencing business difficulties. In line with modernisation plans, the British Transport Commission (BTC) bought out the Pullman Car Company in 1954, despite parliamentary protests. The Pullman Car Company continued to operate as a virtually separate company, despite being wholly owned by the BTC. New Pullman carriages were developed for the mainline routes and diesel multiple units (known as the Blue Pullmans) were designed for the Midland and Western main lines, similar to the then existing electric service from London to Brighton. The multiple units began to be withdrawn from the 1970s, but other locomotive hauled services continued until the 1990s.

The works at Preston Park was closed down in 1963 and all work transferred to BR’s own workshops as part of rationalisation. In 1967 the separate Pullman Division of British Rail was broken up and operations transferred to the various Regions.