For those of you out there who do
those brilliant weekend breaks in Paris (or are looking forward to being able to do that again one day) and travel on our wonderful Eurostar,
this post is going to make you want to upgrade from standard to first class for
your journey from London to Paris. You know what I mean, the lure of a little
more leg room, better food, hopefully better service, maybe some complimentary
champagne on boarding -just to smooth the journey ahead. That said, what this
post will also make you realise is that no matter how many upgrades you pay
for, the level of luxury you experience will not be what it used to be.
Before the Eurostar, jet-aeroplanes
and car-ferries, if you have money, you would have undertaken this journey
aboard a train, the train service that got you to your channel ferry from
London without stopping was called the Boat Train Express. Among the carriage
that made up this train you would find ordinary third, second and first class
carriages. First class was exclusive and expensive enough and a one way ticket
would cost the average yearly wage of a farm labourer at the turn of the last century.
But if you had serious money, and you enjoyed the very finest things in life,
up at the front of the train you would find a collection of eye catching umber
and cream coloured carriages, each with their own name with the word Pullman
written in gilded gold lettering across
the roof.
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| George Pullman |
Named after
its American pioneer, George Pullman, Pullman's were a hyper luxurious form of
railway travel, offering a higher standard of comfort and service than even the
First Class product offered by the railway companies at the time. For the
people who could afford them, Pullman trains were like travelling hotel
suites. When international journeys took
days, not hours, Pullman passengers could enjoy comfortable single armchairs,
luxurious sleeping compartments, all of the compartments were of beautiful
inlaid wood, individual reading lamps stood on highly polished tables, and each
compartment had its own unique artwork on the walls.
If the passengers wanted a meal they did not have get up and go to a buffet car, there wasn’t one, each meal was served at the passenger’s own tables by white-coated stewards. The tables were set with starched white cloth, shining silverware and glittering crystal. Each meal was accompanied by fine wines and champagnes. When travelling to and from Dover in the evening a seven course dinner would be served typically consisting of: melon, hors d’oeuvres, fish, joint, sweet, dessert, coffee. A dinner such as this cost a supplement of five shillings, lunch was three and six and on early runs a full English breakfast for half a crown.
Passengers headed toward London from the Channel usually boarded in time for afternoon tea and champagne. A typical afternoon tea menu of a 1920s Pullman would include the obligatory selection of finger sandwiches, warm scones served with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry jam; afternoon tea pastries; Crumpets (when they were in ‘season’) a choice of Indian, Chinese or Russian Tea or Columbian coffee.
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| The Dover Pullman leaving Victoria in 1925 |
During peak
periods such as the Continental “seasons,” a full train of Pullmans may be required to facilitate the
increased demand. Such trains would usually consist of nine to ten Pullman cars plus two 4-wheeled vans and two 6-wheeled
trucks carrying the luggage. Each truck carries four sealed “boxes,” or
containers, with the luggage registered through to destinations abroad, and at
Dover these containers were hoisted off the trucks direct into the hold of the
steamer and at Calais out on to corresponding trucks on the French Railway,
thereby saving a great deal of handling time. Pullman passengers would not have
to pass through the “customs,” but have their hand luggage examined on the
train after leaving Calais.
In 1935 the cost of travelling from
London to Calais aboard a Pullman was four pounds thirteen shillings and two
pence (Roughly £300 in today’s money) this price did not include food. If
passengers already held a first class ticket for another train doing the same
journey they could pay a supplement (3 shillings and 6d in 1927) to upgrade to
a Pullman carriage.
The service was
simply known as the ‘Continental Boat Express’, until 1929 when the Southern
Railway decided to introduce their first ever ‘all-fist-class’ Pullman train
called ‘The Golden Arrow’. This train usually consisted of 10 first class
Pullman cars and purpose-built all-fist-class ferry called the ‘Canterbury’
was constructed to carry Golden Arrow passengers across the channel. Because of the impact of air travel
and 'market forces' on the underlying economy, ordinary first- and third-class
carriages were added in 1931. Similarly the first-class-only ferry, Canterbury, was
modified to allow other classes of passenger.
The rapid
expansion during the 1960’s of private motoring and the introduction of new car
ferry ships and hovercraft across the Channel, plus the expansion of air
services between London and Paris, led to a decline in use. The final
service of the ‘Golden Arrow’ ran on 30th September 1972. Some of the Pullman
cars that once ran on the ‘Golden Arrow’ have been restored and are now in use
in the English portion of the "Venice-Simplon Orient Express",
running over much the same route as they did in the past.