In the Tracks of the ‘Bournemouth Belle

Luxury train travel - Pullman style - was a feature of the railways until the 1970s and in the south several regular services bore the name Pullman. One, the 'Bournemouth Belle' was destined to become the last regular steam hauled train of its type to operate. As the name implies the service served the Dorset town, running a daily service each way from Waterloo. This was also an all-Pullman train with no ordinary coaches where smartly dressed stewards would welcome the passengers, show them to their seats with aplomb and no doubt also hope for the occasional gratuity. To travel on the service an additional supplementary fare applied whilst meals were similarly extra. On the basis of the additional cost alone it might be thought the service would hardly survive but far from it, and apart from an interruption due to war, the train operated daily from the 1930s until the end of steam in the south in July 1967. Packed with fascinating facts and a plethora of images we see the service at its peak and in its decline and well as recording its passage throughout the route from Waterloo to Bournemouth and return.