BRITISH RAIL CLASS 251

The British Rail 'Class 251', more commonly known as the 'Blue Pullman' units, were diesel-electric multiple units built by Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon Company at its Saltley works, Birmingham, in 1960.

Contents

Background and History

In Film

Formations

Technical details

Sources

External links

Background and History

The Blue Pullman units were the last flowering of the Pullman ideal on British Railways. The cars were the last to be allocated numbers in the Pullman Car Company (PCC) series, but never carried them as the PCC was nationalised before they were introduced.
Only five sets were built, to operate the most important express trains out of London St. Pancras (the 'Midland Pullman') and London Paddington (the 'Western Pullman').
In the end, the expense of maintaining and operating such a small, non-standard fleet for such a few services was too much to bear, even after all five units had been concentrated on the Western Region, and they were withdrawn in 1973. Although the units were fitted internally to an extremely high standard, the Swiss-designed bogies they ran on caused a ride that many passengers found unacceptably rough (particularly on the Midland Main Line; the smoother Great Western Main Line caused fewer problems). The quality of Pullman travel had also, by 1972, been matched by the first class accommodation in the new Mk.2 coaches, which led to a decline in popularity, particularly with the management, who knew that it would be cheaper to provide Mk.2 coaches, and with passengers, who saw little point in the £2 supplementary fee for no upgrade in the quality of the journey.
The "Blue Pullmans" eventually lost their distinctive Nanking blue livery and were repainted into a pale grey and blue colour scheme. This livery was also applied to the Class 252 HST prototype set which effectively replaced them.
They survived long enough to be allocated TOPS 'Class 251', but no set numbers either in the TOPS series or any other were ever carried. Nevertheless, unit formations were normally maintained until the units' last years in service, when formations were broken up to try to turn out as many serviceable sets as possible.
None of the units survived into preservation. Some were scrapped at Cohens at Morrison near Swansea.
Although the Blue Pullmans were not entirely successful in their own right they demonstrated the possibility of high-speed fixed-formation multiple-unit Inter City train services and inspired the development of the Inter City 125.

In Film

The units starred in the 1960 British Transport Film ''Blue Pullman'' directed by James Ritchie, which followed its development, preparation and a journey on the train. As with earlier BTFs, all the personnel, scientists, engineers, crew and even the passengers were featured. It won several awards, including the Technical & Industrial Information section of the Festival for Films for Television in 1961. The film is also particularly notable for its score by Clifton Parker.
The units were also the subject of a further British Transport Film entitled "Lets Go To Birmingham" made in 1962. This was of a run from London Paddington to Birmingham Snow Hill via Leamington Spa and was largely a speeded up "cab view" film in the style of the "London to Brighton in Four Minutes" film. Unfortunately the driver shown in this film was killed in a crash at Knowle and Dorridge some months after filming.
The units also make a brief appearance in the 1965 Norman Wisdom film ''The Early Bird''.

Formations

The two different formations were made up as follows:
'Midland Pullman:'
'DMBF' 'MFK' 'TF' 'TF' 'MFK' 'DMBF'
60090 + 60730 + 60740 + 60741 + 60731 + 60091
60092 + 60732 + 60742 + 60743 + 60733 + 60093
'Western Pullman:'
'DMBS' 'MS' 'TFK' 'TF' 'TF' 'TFK' 'MS' 'DMBS'
60094 + 60644 + 60734 + 60744 + 60745 + 60735 + 60645 + 60095
60096 + 60646 + 60736 + 60746 + 60747 + 60737 + 60647 + 60097
60098 + 60648 + 60738 + 60748 + 60749 + 60739 + 60649 + 60099

Technical details

Power car (one at each end of set):

★ Introduced: 1960

★ Weight: 67 tons 10 cwt

★ Engine: NBL/MAN 1,000 bhp

★ Transmission: Electric, two 199 hp GEC traction motors and

★
★ two 199 hp GEC traction motors on adjoining vehicle

★ Maximum tractive effort: Not known

★ Driving wheel diameter: Not known

★ Coupling code: Not known

★ Train heating: Electric, powered by 190 bhp Rolls-Royce underfloor engine on adjoining vehicle

Sources

Ian Allan ABC of British Railways Locomotives, summer 1966 edition

External links

★ Detailed history of the Blue Pullman

★ British Transport Films

★ ''Blue Pullman'' on the BTF site

★ ''Blue Pullman'' at the IMDB

★ The Blue Pullman Society