GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill - British Railways Period Locomotives: gwrbsh1296

British Railways' flagship Blue Pullman is seen arriving at Platform 5 with the 4 50pm Paddington to Wolverhampton service on 9th April 1962. To the right in Bay Platform 4 is British Railways Western D1002 'Western Explorer' on display at Western Rail Week a combined PR exercise and staff recruitment event. Initially, the Blue Pullmans were used on the London Midland Region and Western Region of British Rail, from London St. Pancras and London Paddington, respectively. The trains were withdrawn from the London Midland Region in 1967 following electrification of the Euston to Manchester line, and the Blue Pullmans were transferred to augment those in the Western Region.

The Blue Pullman was an advanced and luxurious design, befitting a Pullman train, although they did suffer some criticism, particularly over a persistent ride quality problem. They were in effect a precursor to the HST 125 sets that were to appear in 1976 and are still running on some parts of the railway network in the 21st century. After some production delays, the first Blue Pullman set appeared for trials in October 1959 which discovered that the ride quality was a problem, and modifications were made. These mitigated the problem, but the rough riding was never entirely removed. The reduction in wheel size from the trouble-free European design was later thought to be a possible cause. It was also noticed that the problem was worse on the 'rougher riding' London Midland Region lines, compared to the Western Region lines.

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