July 1960 – Diesel-electric Pullmans
The first diesel-electric Pullmans, conceived to woo the wealthy back onto trains, turned out to be the last of their kind. Jason Ford reports.

The summer of 1960 saw the introduction of the first diesel-electric Pullmans, an effort by the British Transport Commission to lure wealthier travellers away from roads and domestic air travel and back onto trains via the luxurious confines of a Pullman carriage.
It turned out to be an ill-fated venture, but prior to its demise The Engineer’s reporter revealed that five trains were built by the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company to provide services on the London Midland and Western Regions of British Railways.
Two of the trains were six-car sets for the Manchester- Leicester- London route serving first class passengers only. The other three were eight-car formations with first-and second-class accommodation for Bristol- London and Wolverhampton- Birmingham- London services. The trains were supplied with 1000hp power cars at each end and included two kitchen/parlour cars to serve meals to passengers at their seats. All the stock was air-conditioned and a six-car train in working order weighed 299 tons, an eight-car train 364 tons.
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