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Since the original publication in 2005, a considerable amount of new material has been unearthed, both from official and private sources. This is all included in this revised and updated edition of the definitive history of these fascinating trains, which spans from their inception in the 1955 Modernisation Plan, through to their final demise in the scrap yards of South Wales two decades later. The development of the Blue Pullmans involved political and management decisions, the trials and tribulations of the actual design and the sometimes difficult involvement of outside design consultants, before their eventual entry into service on the London Midland and Western Regions. It was never a completely settled service. Staffing and labour relations issues, mechanical problems and an eventual concentration of all the sets on the Western Region put too many special trains in one place, whilst at the same time the Pullman brand and the willingness of the travelling public to pay supplementary fares to travel on them was finding less favour. This comprehensive history of these trains includes plans and photographs, many seen here for the very first time. No stone has been left unturned in the quest to tell their full story, one of ambition, hope and eventual despair, and sadly one without a happy ending.
Since the original publication in 2005, a considerable amount of new material has been unearthed, both from official and private sources. This is all included in this revised and updated edition of the definitive history of these fascinating trains, which spans from their inception in the 1955 Modernisation Plan, through to their final demise in the scrap yards of South Wales two decades later. The development of the Blue Pullmans involved political and management decisions, the trials and tribulations of the actual design and the sometimes difficult involvement of outside design consultants, before their eventual entry into service on the London Midland and Western Regions. It was never a completely settled service. Staffing and labour relations issues, mechanical problems and an eventual concentration of all the sets on the Western Region put too many special trains in one place, whilst at the same time the Pullman brand and the willingness of the travelling public to pay supplementary fares to travel on them was finding less favour. This comprehensive history of these trains includes plans and photographs, many seen here for the very first time. No stone has been left unturned in the quest to tell their full story, one of ambition, hope and eventual despair, and sadly one without a happy ending.