BRIGHTON BELLE ON COURSE FOR THE MAIN LINE
IT’S been several years in the making, but the return of the acclaimed Brighton Belle Pullman dining trains to the third rail electrified main line network in the south of England is now within sight. The 5BEL Trust, the organisation behind the project, is appealing for £70,000 to pay for the unbudgeted air cooling system, which it has decided to fit in the wake of last summer’s long, hot spell, ensuring the interior ambience is maintained.
Together with a host of other modifications, keeping the on board temperature at a healthy level has been one of the challenges the group has had to overcome to future-proof the train and also to ensure another cornerstone of the Pullman experience is met – premium quality.
Main line revival
After withdrawal, all Brighton Belle vehicles found other employment. This was from the heights of the VSOE British Pullman (all first class cars), to rolling along heritage railways behind a steam locomotive. No complete unit was saved to run in its own right, and over time, the unsuitability for dining of a 9ft wide Pullman car seating four across slowly expelled the third class cars to the sidings.
However, by the turn of the new century, on-train dining had undergone something of a revolution, becoming a popular occupation. Only one Brighton Belle vehicle had been lost – a third saloon. All six first class cars were highly valued, so survived.
The motorcars were not so popular, although VSOE had them in mind as barrier vehicles when crashworthiness was such a serious issue (before TPWS). Those in sidings were now beginning to rust to the point where the cutter’s torch would come soon.
Denis Dunstone, author, man of business and determined supporter of trains of the world, caught the vision of cheating the scrapman, and decided to try to reassemble a 5BEL unit for preservation. He found supporters for the scheme, notably Jeremy Hosking, and he formed a team of people with heritage and professional skills to look at the best way of delivering this aim and make the train self-sustaining.
The ‘queen’ of electric trains was evidently the Brighton Belle, thus preserving a unit was a popular and
