The ‘all-steel K-type cars’ (as they were officially known) answered the demand for a more durable coach capable of faster journeys while building on the Pullman tradition for comfort and opulence. A total of 33 cars were delivered in three batches between 1928 and 1930 and compared favourably with the wooden-framed coaches used by most British railway companies.
Modern construction methods allowed for a much quicker build time and ensured the finished bodyshell with its galvanised steel panel sheeting was exactly to size – which, in turn, allowed interior components to be quickly fixed into position without fettling by hand.
Entering service on the LNER’s showpiece Queen of Scots between London Kings Cross and Glasgow, the K-types also proved their mettle south of the Thames on the Bournemouth Belle and Ocean Liner Express trains to Southampton. Even the normally-maverick GWR accepted a batch of K-types (albeit for a limited time) for use on summer expresses to the West Country, notably The Torquay Pullman Limited.
The real coaches were the epitome of style and elegance, drawing on the sophisticated Art Deco trends of the time while retaining the luxurious character of their forerunners. Each coach was individually decorated, and 13 different designs of exotic wood veneer graced the fleet. The Pullman Company promoted travel as something to be enjoyed; soft furnishings and high-quality artwork together with silver cutlery, fine bone china and attentive service by uniformed staff were its hallmarks and contributed greatly to the success of its services. One commentator heralded the K-type coaches as “a symbol of a sleek new world…the synthesis of Art and Industry”.
The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed led to a downturn in patronage and to the GWR withdrawing The Torquay Pullman Limited in 1930, having initially reduced it to five coaches. These coaches found a new home on the Southern Railway’s ‘Ocean Liner Express’ trains from London (Waterloo) to Southampton Docks, which initially included two or three Pullman cars running alongside ordinary SR stock. The Queen of Scots was also shortened, with some cars allocated to other LNER services, such as The West Riding Pullman, The Harrogate Sunday Pullman and The Eastern Belle – or held in reserve.
Economic recovery in the late 1930s was hindered by the outbreak of World War II, during which many LNER cars were painted brown and used as ordinary First Class carriages. Ione, Joan and Loraine were painted green and took to GWR metals on special services conveying the Prime Minister as well as key War Office and US personnel.
By the end of the war, more than half the Pullman fleet had been damaged through enemy action, and four older vehicles allocated to the SR had been destroyed. But that wasn’t the end of the K-Type story, as most of the coaches were refurbished and saw service with British Railways until the late 1960s on dining trains such as the Eastern Region’s Tees-Tyne Pullman and the Southern’s Bournemouth Belle.
Happily, 11 K-Type cars – a third of the total constructed – survive today in preservation. A handful have been meticulously restored to their former glory, and run regularly on The British Pullman, connecting with the Venice Simplon-Orient Express.
The ‘all-steel K-type cars’ (as they were officially known) answered the demand for a more durable coach capable of faster journeys while building on the Pullman tradition for comfort and opulence. A total of 33 cars were delivered in three batches between 1928 and 1930 and compared favourably with the wooden-framed coaches used by most British railway companies.
Modern construction methods allowed for a much quicker build time and ensured the finished bodyshell with its galvanised steel panel sheeting was exactly to size – which, in turn, allowed interior components to be quickly fixed into position without fettling by hand.
Entering service on the LNER’s showpiece Queen of Scots between London Kings Cross and Glasgow, the K-types also proved their mettle south of the Thames on the Bournemouth Belle and Ocean Liner Express trains to Southampton. Even the normally-maverick GWR accepted a batch of K-types (albeit for a limited time) for use on summer expresses to the West Country, notably The Torquay Pullman Limited.
The real coaches were the epitome of style and elegance, drawing on the sophisticated Art Deco trends of the time while retaining the luxurious character of their forerunners. Each coach was individually decorated, and 13 different designs of exotic wood veneer graced the fleet. The Pullman Company promoted travel as something to be enjoyed; soft furnishings and high-quality artwork together with silver cutlery, fine bone china and attentive service by uniformed staff were its hallmarks and contributed greatly to the success of its services. One commentator heralded the K-type coaches as “a symbol of a sleek new world…the synthesis of Art and Industry”.
The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed led to a downturn in patronage and to the GWR withdrawing The Torquay Pullman Limited in 1930, having initially reduced it to five coaches. These coaches found a new home on the Southern Railway’s ‘Ocean Liner Express’ trains from London (Waterloo) to Southampton Docks, which initially included two or three Pullman cars running alongside ordinary SR stock. The Queen of Scots was also shortened, with some cars allocated to other LNER services, such as The West Riding Pullman, The Harrogate Sunday Pullman and The Eastern Belle – or held in reserve.
Economic recovery in the late 1930s was hindered by the outbreak of World War II, during which many LNER cars were painted brown and used as ordinary First Class carriages. Ione, Joan and Loraine were painted green and took to GWR metals on special services conveying the Prime Minister as well as key War Office and US personnel.
By the end of the war, more than half the Pullman fleet had been damaged through enemy action, and four older vehicles allocated to the SR had been destroyed. But that wasn’t the end of the K-Type story, as most of the coaches were refurbished and saw service with British Railways until the late 1960s on dining trains such as the Eastern Region’s Tees-Tyne Pullman and the Southern’s Bournemouth Belle.
Happily, 11 K-Type cars – a third of the total constructed – survive today in preservation. A handful have been meticulously restored to their former glory, and run regularly on The British Pullman, connecting with the Venice Simplon-Orient Express.
