The Blue Train Races were a series of record-breaking attempts between
automobile
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...
s and
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
s in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It saw a number of motorists and their own or sponsored automobiles race against the ''
Le Train Bleu
The ''Calais-Mediterranée Express'' was a French luxury night express train which operated from 1886 to 2003. It gained international fame as the preferred train of wealthy and famous passengers between Calais and the French Riviera during th ...
'', a train that ran between
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
and the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
. The rationale to beat the train was to compare the contemporary automotive performance with locomotive dominance; to showcase recent progress achieved by cars regarding reliability, durability, speed and comfort; to promote the cars, their
marque
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
s and the adventurous persona of their drivers; and to establish automobiles as a viable and aspirational mode of transport for the individual traveller.
The Blue Train
''Le Train Bleu'' (lit. "the blue train"), officially the Calais-Méditerranée Express, was a
luxury
Luxury may refer to:
* Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises
*Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars
**Luxury tax (sports), surcharge pu ...
French night
express train
An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than Local train, local trains that stop at most or all of the s ...
which carried wealthy and famous passengers between
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
and the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
from 1922 until 1938. It was colloquially referred to as "le train bleu" in
French and the Blue Train in English because of its dark blue sleeping cars, and became formally known as ''Le Train Bleu'' after World War II.
It was created by a private French
railroad company
A railway company is a company within the rail industry. It can be a manufacturing firm or an operator. Some railway companies operate both the trains and the track, while, particularly in the European Union, operation of the track is undertake ...
, the
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée ("Railway Company of Paris to Lyon and the Mediterranean"), also known as the Chemins de fer Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée or simply PLM, established in 1857, was one of Fran ...
, or PLM, to take British
aristocrats
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At the time of the word' ...
, celebrities and the wealthy to the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
. It made its first journey on December 8, 1922.
The prime season for "le train bleu" was between November and April, when wealthy travellers escaped the British winter to spend their holiday on the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
. It originated at the
Gare Maritime Gare is the word for "station" in French and related languages, commonly meaning railway station
Gare can refer to:
People
* Gare (surname), surname
* The Gare Family, fictional characters in the novel '' Wild Geese'' by Martha Ostenso
Places
* ...
in
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
, where it picked up British passengers from the ferries across the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. It departed at 1:00 in the afternoon and went to the
Gare du Nord
The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...
in Paris, then around Paris by the
Grande Ceinture line
The Grande Ceinture line (French - ''Ligne de Grande Ceinture'') is a Rail transport, railway line round Paris 15 km from the Boulevard Périphérique. The decision to build it was taken at the end of the 19th century, to connect the radia ...
to the
Gare de Lyon
The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris-Gare-de-Lyon, is one of the six large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and RER D ...
, where it picked up additional passengers and coaches. It departed Paris early in the evening, and made stops at
Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlies ...
,
Chalon Chalon may refer to:
Culture
* Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California
* Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people
Places
* Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département''
* Le Chalon, in ...
, and
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, before reaching
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
early in the morning. It then made stops at all the major
resort town
A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...
s of the French Riviera, or
Côte d'Azur
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
:
St. Raphael,
Juan-les-Pins,
Antibes
Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice.
The town of ...
,
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
,
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
,
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, and its final destination,
Menton
Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border.
Me ...
, near the Italian border.
Rover Light Six
In January 1930, the
Rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
* ...
name was publicised by a race between a Rover and "Le train bleu" on the train's run between Calais and Cannes. The idea of racing the Blue Train was popular with motor enthusiasts, and each new attempt was received with varying expectations of success. Many had already failed this challenge. Former
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
tester and pioneer
publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...
Dudley Noble
Dudley Noble, who started at the Rover Company in 1911 as a motorcycle tester and competition rider, became one of the British automobile industry's pioneering publicists.
He arranged one of the first ever promotional films to be shot, in 1912, ...
had the idea to promote the new Rover Light Six by racing it against the Blue Train across France from St. Raphael on the Côte d'Azur to Calais. Noble knew that the average speed of the Blue Train, once all its stops and detours were taken into account, was no more than about . To beat the train, Noble had to drive more or less non-stop from St. Raphael to Calais. The Rover Light Six averaged on its journey to beat the train's expected time of just over 20 hours, which gave the Rover team a 20-minute lead over the train. The Blue Train had been beaten for the first time and the Rover team became celebrities through the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''.
[References:
* Robson, Graham, ''The Rover Story'', p. 28* Brady, Chris and Lorenz, Andrew, ''End of the Road: The Real Story of the Downfall of Rover''
* Lewis, Robert, ''Five Million Rovers (And More)'']
Car Keys
* British Motor Heritage Centre, ''Rover Report on their first 70 years''
* Pickard, J., ''Reserved and Refined British Saloon Cars: Official History of Rover and Timeline Milestones''
Rover 1904-2004
/ref>
Alvis Silver Eagle
In early March 1930, E.J.P. Eugster raced an Alvis
Alvis may refer to:
*Alvis Car and Engineering Company, British luxury car and military vehicle manufacturer which later became Alvis plc
* Alvis plc (formerly United Scientific Holdings plc), a defence contractor which acquired Alvis Cars and bec ...
Silver Eagle against the Blue Train and beat it to Calais by three hours.[ Eugster, E. J. P., "RACING THE BLUE TRAIN. From Cannes to Calais at Express Speed." ''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'', 12 April 1930, p. 5 (from '' Autocar'')] Eugster and his co-driver faced rain before Lyon, a problem getting petrol at 00:40h in Lyon, level crossings between Lyon and Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
, "bad roads" being used as a detour around Paris, and a twenty-minute stop at another level crossing before reaching Calais at 12:15h.
Bentley Speed Six
In March 1930, at a dinner at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, talk around the table had swung round to the topic of motor cars; in particular to the advertisement by Rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
* ...
claiming that its Light Six had gone faster than the famous "Le train bleu" express. Woolf Barnato
Joel Woolf BarnatoPronounced Barnatoo – from Barnett too (27 September 1895 – 27 July 1948) was a British financier and racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. He achieved three consecutive wins out of three entries in the ...
, chairman of Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North ...
and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
in 1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...
and 1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
,[Barnato would win at Le Mans again the following June.] contended that just to go faster than the Blue Train was of no special merit. He raised the stakes by arguing that at the wheel of his Bentley Speed Six
The Bentley 6½ Litre and the high-performance Bentley Speed Six were rolling chassis in production from 1926 to 1930. The Speed Six, introduced in 1928, would become the most successful racing Bentley. Two Bentley Speed Sixes became known as th ...
, he could be at his club in London before the train reached Calais and bet £100 on that challenge.[ Burgess-Wise, David, "The Slippery Shape of Power" ''Auto Aficionado'']
The next day, 13 March 1930, as the Blue Train steamed out of Cannes station at 17:45,[ "Special Edition: Bentley Arnage Blue Train", ]
The Car Experience
' Barnato and his relief driver, amateur golfer Dale Bourn, finished their drinks and drove the Bentley away from the bar at the Carlton. From Lyon onwards they had to battle against heavy rain. At 04:20, in Auxerre, they lost time searching for a refueling rendezvous. Through central France they hit fog, then shortly after Paris they had a burst tyre, requiring the use of their only spare.[ Young, Eoin, ''Barnato, Bentley and the Blue Train Mystery'', New Zealand Classic Car Magazine, Issue 190] They reached the dock at Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
at 10:30, sailed to England on the cross-Channel packet, and were parking outside The Conservative Club in St. James's Street, London, at 15:20, four minutes before the Blue Train reached Calais, thus winning the bet. The French authorities promptly fined him a sum far greater than his winnings for racing on public roads, and Bentley was excluded from the 1930 Paris Salon for advertising an unauthorized race.
The ''Blue Train Bentley'' controversy
Barnato drove an H. J. Mulliner-bodied Bentley Speed Six formal saloon during the race,[ Brodeur, Nicole, "Bentley mystery is revealed", ]The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...
, September 7, 2007[ Melissen, Wouter, "Bentley Speed Six 'Blue Train Special'"]
UltimateCarPage
/ref> which became known as the ''Blue Train Bentley''. Two months later, on 21 May 1930, he took delivery of a new Bentley Speed Six streamlined fastback "Sportsman Coupe" by Gurney Nutting. Barnato named it the "Blue Train Special" in memory of his race, and it too became commonly referred to as the ''Blue Train Bentley''. The H. J. Mulliner-bodywork was stripped off the original car's chassis to make place for a bespoke replacement, as was common practice for automobiles at that time.
As time passed, the Gurney Nutting-bodied car was regularly mistaken for or erroneously referred to as being the car that had raced the Blue Train. This was reiterated in articles and in Terence Cuneo
Terence Tenison Cuneo RGI FGRA (1 November 1907 – 3 January 1996) was a prolific English painter noted for his scenes of railways, horses and military actions. He was also the official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. ...
's painting of the race, which shows the Gurney Nutting coupé just ahead of the train. In 2005 Bentley featured the coupé in the company's promotional material celebrating the race's 75th anniversary.
Careful reading of Barnato's account of the race, published in the 1946 British Racing Drivers' Club
The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...
review, show that Barnato referred to "my Speed Six saloon," keeping petrol cans in the boot, and having only one spare tyre, while the Sportsman Coupė had no boot and two spare tyres, one on either side of the bonnet. Research efforts by Bruce and Jolene McCaw of Medina, Washington
Medina () is a mostly residential city in Eastside, King County, Washington, United States. The city is on a peninsula in Lake Washington, on the opposite shore from Seattle, bordered by Clyde Hill and Hunts Point to the east and water on a ...
, who bought the Gurney Nutting-built "Blue Train Special", have further exposed and widely publicised the mistake. The original H. J. Mulliner ''Blue Train Bentley'' bodywork was also reconstructed, and both cars have been fully restored. They are both currently owned by the McCaws.
Top Gear Race 'Car vs. Train'
The Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
presented by Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...
, Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, mechanic, and writer. He is best known for co-hosting the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and Jame ...
and James May
James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from ...
regularly features various long-distance, "epic",[ ''Top Gear'' Series 4. Episode 1. 2004-05-09][ ''Top Gear'' Series 10. Episode 5. 2007-11-11] races where Clarkson or one of the other presenters drives a car against other forms of transport.
In a programme aired 9 May 2004, Clarkson drove an Aston Martin DB9
The Aston Martin DB9 is a grand tourer produced by Aston Martin. Available both in coupé and a convertible bodystyles, the latter being known as the Volante, the DB9 was the successor to the DB7. It was first shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Aut ...
from the Dunsfold studio in Surrey to Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
against Hammond and May who took the TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
and Eurostar
Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...
trains. Hammond and May walked to a bus stop, took a bus to Guildford railway station
Guildford railway station is at one of three main railway junctions on the Portsmouth Direct Line and serves the town of Guildford in Surrey, England. It is down the line from via Woking.
It provides an interchange station for two other rai ...
, train to London Waterloo
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of ...
, then the Eurostar to Gare du Nord
The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...
, the RER to Gare de Lyon
The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris-Gare-de-Lyon, is one of the six large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and RER D ...
, the TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
to Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
and another train to Monte Carlo.
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
;Print
*
*
*
;Online
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*{{cite episode
, title = Top Gear
, episode-link = Top Gear (series 10)
, network = BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, airdate = 2007-11-11
, series-no = 10
, number = 5
, quote = ''Jeremy Clarkson'': And now it is time for one of our epic races, you know the sort of thing where a Bugatti races across the Alps against a truffle, or a McLaren-Mercedes races a power boat to Oslo.
, ref= TG10E5
Auto races in France