The Blue Pullman

This month’s Railway Magazine celebrates the 60^th anniversary of the introduction of the Blue Pullmans. They were built by Metropolitan Cammell in Birmingham. Their appearance seemed very modern at the time - not that we particularly wanted to encourage any sort of diesel, of course. They ran from Bristol, Swansea and Wolverhampton to Paddington and from Manchester Central to St Pancras via the Midland route through the Peak District, plus a fill in turn to Leicester and back to London in the middle of the day.

They were a precursor of the HST and the long-distance units of today, though we were more acquainted with the Trans-Pennine units between Liverpool and Hull, which were not quite so luxurious. I photographed Western Region Bristol Pullman at Bath Spa on 7/8/64 and the South Wales Pullman on a Grand National special at Aintree on 27/3/65. Note the driver in his fancy white coat.