Six Bulleid carriages in first run together on the Mid-hants
SIX Bulleid coaches will run together for the first time in the heritage era on the Mid-hants Railway.
The Bluebell Railway has loaned four of the coaches to the line, which already has two of its own.
The carriages will be pulled by SR Schools 4-4-0 No. 30925 Cheltenham and S15 4-6-0 No. 506 during the weekend of March 14-15.
Designed by SR chief mechanical engineer Oliver Vaughan Snell Bulleid CBE, the coaches historically represent the transition from the wooden bodied carriages to the all-steel BR Mk.1s.
They were aesthetically advanced for the immediate postwar era boasting large picture windows, popular with holidaymakers in the heyday of Uk-based holidays in the Fifties. Used across the Southern Railway and finished in 1947, the media pronounced them to be ‘the Dream Train.’
Mid-hants spokesman Simon Baggott said: “The team here feels very fortunate to be able to operate all six Bullied carriages and we offer great thanks to the Bluebell Railway for making it possible. These coaches played such a vital part in the history of carriage development and we hope enthusiasts enjoy the opportunity to come and visit them.”
The event will mark the first outing since restoration of 1947-built Open Third No. 1456.
Built as part of a six-coach dining set for the Waterloo to
Bournemouth line, these coaches were distinguished from other Bulleid designed coaches by the continuation of the bodyside sheeting down, covering the solebar, and the ends, which were painted green, rather than the normal black.
Subsequently used as an office at Brighton, and later St Leonard’s, it was at first acquired by the National
Railway Museum, and placed on loan to the Bluebell Railway, which used it as its varnishing workshop for many years.
Way down the Bluebell’s overhaul queue, in 2012 it was placed on a 25-year loan to the Mid Hants which was looking for a third vehicle to go with its two Bulleid brakes, and had developed sufficient restoration facilities by then.