Pullman Dining Car Experience - Sussex

[Bold Seagull]

Was thinking of booking one of these for me and the wife.

I think the Bluebell line does one, but I used to remember seeing them out of Brighton Station every so often.

Anyone been one of these / recommendations?

 

[honey boy zimba]

Had sunday lunch on Bluebell railway a few years ago ,not bad but very pricey ,check out the orient express website it isnt cheap but the food is topclass.

 

[Boys 9d]

I second the Orient Express. Return journey runs from Victoria to Folkestone (and can be extended to Paris if you can afford the fare).

 

[Bold Seagull]

Had sunday lunch on Bluebell railway a few years ago ,not bad but very pricey ,check out the orient express website it isnt cheap but the food is topclass.

Ouch, you're right about it not being cheap!

Bluebell looks more like my budget.

 

[Biscuit]

If you go for it [MENTION=16159]Bold Seagull[/MENTION] would you mind posting your experiences up here? Would be interested in hearing what it's like,

 

[albionite]

Did the bluebell last year. Way over priced, food is okish but nothing special, novel way to eat but wouldn't do it again

 

[Bold Seagull]

Did the bluebell last year. Way over priced, food is okish but nothing special, novel way to eat but wouldn't do it again

I'm expecting fine cuisine at £75 per person!

 

[albionite]

I'm expecting fine cuisine at £75 per person!

Pub roast food, served silver service I would describe it.

Ambiance is nice but the food would be over priced if they charged £30

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I'm expecting fine cuisine at £75 per person!

It was 2s6d the last time I travelled on the proper Pullman between Brighton and Victoria. Fine cuisine? Nah. Just the opportunity to order a plate of kippers, if you fancied one. I don't recall ever having more than a cup of coffee.

 

[AlbionPics&SouthCoastTwit]

http://www.pullman-museum.org/theCompany/

The popularity of Pullman's sleeping car service outstipped his production facilities. In 1880, Pullman bought 4,000 acres near Lake Calumet some 14 miles south of Chicago on the Illinois Central Railroad for $800,000. He hired Solon Spencer Beman to design his new plant there, and in an effort to solve the issue of labor unrest and poverty, he also built a town adjacent to his factory with its own housing, shopping areas, churches, theaters, parks, hotel and library for his employees.
By 1883, Pullman had shops in St. Louis, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Elmira, New York; and Wilmington, Delaware as well as several factories in Europe and England. The company manufactured sleeping cars, boxcars, coal cars, baggage cars, chair cars, refrigerated cars, streetcars, and mail cars.

In 1885, wages started at $1.30 per day. By 1897, unskilled workers earned $1.86, and journeymen mechanics earned $2.28 per day. The original working day was between 10 and 11 hours. Originally the Pullman Company paid workers disabled on the job half their salary. Mr. Sessions put an end to that suggesting that it encouraged malingering.

1981

Largely a poor African American community today



Many know that Pullman was not only a large company but a huge social experiment.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

And the Orient Express? That was just a regular train when I last travelled on it. Calais to Belgrade, where it split, sending half the train to Istanbul and the other half (the bit that I was on) to Athens.

My principal recollections are the toilets running out of water to flush the contents away and the old women in Yugoslavia who boarded the train and let their live chickens loose to cause chaos throughout our carriage.

People apparently pay thousands to re-create the romance of bygone railway travel.

 

[Harold]

Done the Tenterden one a number of times. Excellent.

 

[8ace]

You might enjoy BBC4 now

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

If you want to combine it with a trip somewhere, this lot run some of the steam trips that run through Sussex http://www.railwaytouring.net/

 

[Paskman]

Did the Orient Express - steam hauled, Duke of Gloucester - about 5 years ago. Went from London Victoria to Bristol. The trip included a tour of the SS Great Britain. The service a was superb, the food A1; the whole day was great - even got to clamber onto the footplate on our return to Victoria. The day was a birthday treat from my wife, so I don't know the total cost, but I had a great time. Definitely recommend it.

 

[surrey jim]

Per this mornings Argus the Brighton Belle is making a comeback

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/13643096.Brighton_Belle_rolling_into_a_station_near_you/

 

[maltaseagull]

It was 2s6d the last time I travelled on the proper Pullman between Brighton and Victoria. Fine cuisine? Nah. Just the opportunity to order a plate of kippers, if you fancied one. I don't recall ever having more than a cup of coffee.

I travelled on it to go to the FA cup replay at Chelsea in 1967 (Had to have a" dentist appointment " to get off school) Couldn't afford to eat then !

 

[Man of Harveys]

You might enjoy BBC4 now

What a fantastic programme that was. So good.

 

[Man of Harveys]

It was 2s6d the last time I travelled on the proper Pullman between Brighton and Victoria. Fine cuisine? Nah. Just the opportunity to order a plate of kippers, if you fancied one. I don't recall ever having more than a cup of coffee.

Is there room, both on the rails and in the market, for a slightly better premium service again between Brighton and London? Not just first class, which always looks a bit of a rip-off for what you get.

I can't believe the privatized rail companies have been so inept at this kind of innovation, unlike their ancestors. But why innovate when you can simply rip off people who have to get to work, I guess.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Is there room, both on the rails and in the market, for a slightly better premium service again between Brighton and London? Not just first class, which always looks a bit of a rip-off for what you get.

I can't believe the privatized rail companies have been so inept at this kind of innovation, unlike their ancestors. But why innovate when you can simply rip off people who have to get to work, I guess.

It's the pricing structure that is wrong. The premium that has to be paid to travel first class is huge [compare Spanish Railways] and what you get is ... nothing [on Southern at least].

When I worked for ESCC as a public transport planner, bits of my job included travelling to meetings with railway managers. If I was travelling with a colleague or a councillor, it was always worthwhile getting a quiet compartment, and use the time for a conversation to prepare for the meeting. Ideally, this would be a first class compartment, but the hazard was always the same ... There would be a railway employee in the compartment, who would be listening into our conversation. How did we know this stranger worked for the railway? They were the only people who could afford to travel first class. Although, as Beach Hut will confirm, they didn't pay for their ticket.

Outcome ... We always travelled standard class.