Trivia Investigation Team

[NewcastleFalcon]

Here's George himself



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Here's the factory and a concept car they produced in 1910:

BFTW

BFTW

Of course these days if you don't own a Pullman car and can't afford the Pullman train to the Pullman Hotel you can always catch the Pullman bus:

BFTW

[NewcastleFalcon]

If only Herbert John had a double "l" we could have had one of the eight players in the 1969 first ever series of "Pot Black" on BBC2 Sadly he's just a homophone.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I was as bad then as I am today, I remember spending entire evenings watching films of Herbert John playing Fred and Joe in News of the World snooker tournaments long before Pot Black came to our screens. I have had the snooker bug virtually all my life !!

[mickthemaverick]

However you have given me the idea of posting one of my latter day loves in the shape of the ficticious Sandra:

BFTW

[NewcastleFalcon]

Well a blue one's nice, but they also come in brown

..and the first thing I notice about the picture....the Deutsche Bahn logo, (DB 100% owned by those other well-known advocates of a state-aid level playing field the Federal Republic of Germany).



Truro - DB Cargo 67024+67021 arriivng with empty Pullman stock
Geof Sheppard, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The original was written and performed by Steve Goodman and has been covered by many artists from John Denver to Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, to David Hasselhoff to Judy Collins. ( er...it mentions Pullman Porters if you listen carefully)

It describes a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans on the Illinois Central Railroad's City of New Orleans in bittersweet and nostalgic terms.



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

The first time I came across a Pullman it was when my Dad took me to see the Brighton Belle at London Victoria and I have just discovered the book that tells you all about it:

BFTW

I found the book on the Brighton Toy and Model Museum page:
From the introduction:
"The Brighton Belle was a luxury electric Pullman train which ran on the Southern Railway from Victoria Station in London to Brighton Station on the Sussex coast.

The first electric all-Pullman service in the world, it started life in January 1933 as the "new" Southern Belle, and then ran as the Brighton Belle from 29 June 1934 until its withdrawal on 30 April 1972 ... technically, the Brighton Belle ran from 1934-1972, but effectively, the service started the year before, in 1933, under the older name."

Enjoy

[mickthemaverick]

I've been digging a bit deeper and found this video about the current restoration project to make the Belle live again!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Enjoy

Thanks Mick I will just the sort of thing I lap up. The traditional livery I have a feeling I will prefer to the updated one,

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hJ0AAOSw ... l1600.jpg
Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

I've been digging a bit deeper and found this video about the current restoration project to make the Belle live again!!

and that is another excellent find Mick could be directly embedded in the thread as here and I'll come back to it and watch the fulll thing at my leisure, probably on the TV via firestick and enjoy.



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Excellent video

What a job they are doing on the Brighton Belle, and what a phenomenal expense. I very much like a bit of art deco, a bit of marquetry, and a bit of moquette.

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

and just before this little Pullman chapter closes on the pages of the Trivia Investigation Team another little element springing from today POTD offering from me.

What is the story of the Aries Pullman Coach

Its there, and pretty easy to find out.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Before investigating the history of Aries I thought I'd mention the rather odd connection that it has to me. Way back in the mid 90s when I split from my wife I found myself somewhat short of funds and decided to sell most of my model railway collection to keep my business going. I had 86 locos and 435 pieces of rolling stock. Among the stock were three Wrenn chocolate and cream pullman coaches which I listed individually on ebay with a cheeky BIN of £100 each. To my amazement all three, being mint and boxed, were snapped up by an Australian collector in Melbourne. I duly packed them with loads of protection and dispatched them in a single cardboard box. A few weeks later the collector contacted me to say that one coach had suffered a bent coupling in transit and was no use to him as his collection was compiled entirely of mint and boxed items. I explained the the coach concerned was brand new when I had bought it in the 70s and had never been out of the box so the coupling may have been bent inside its card protector from new. There follwed a fairly lengthy discussion by email, the outcome of which was I agreed to refund him £25 and he would keep the coach as mint and original and replace the coupling himself. All's well that....... Oh and the name of the coach concerned .....Aries!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I thought I'd mention the rather odd connection that it has to me......... All's well that....... Oh and the name of the coach concerned .....Aries!!

Excellent Mick. Love those random reminisces and stories and coincidences which pop out of our ramblings on here. Great to read. .

Regards Neil