The Southern Railway (SR) gave the designation 5-BEL to the five-car all- Pullman

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

s which worked the prestigious

Brighton Belle The ''Brighton Belle'' was a named train which was operated by the Southern Railway and subsequently by British Rail from Victoria Station in London to Brighton, on the Sussex coast. Commissioned as the flagship of the Southern Railway's ...

trains between London Victoria and Brighton. These units survived long enough in

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ownership to be allocated

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

Class 403. Between 1933 and 1935 the units were designated 5-PUL (the 'PUL' code was then used for the 6-PUL units).

Construction

The SR electrified the London Victoria to Brighton line in the early 1930s, and full electric services commenced over the route from 1 January 1933. For the high-profile ''Southern Belle'' Pullman train three five-car units, consisting entirely of Pullman cars, were built. All 15 cars were built by

Metropolitan Cammell Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of Passenger car (rail), railway carriages, locomotives and Railroad car, railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwo ...

. In June 1934 the Southern Railway renamed the ''Southern Belle'' as the ''

''. As they were Pullman cars, owned by the independent

Pullman Car Company (UK) The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century ...

, the individual carriages were numbered in its series, taking numbers 279 to 293, and the first class cars were given women's names while the third (from June 1956, second) class cars carried less-inspiring ''Car No xx'' designations, derived from the second and third digits of the Pullman Car Company's number. However, the units together were allocated numbers in the SR series, originally taking , which was revised in January 1937 to .

Formations

Three different car types were built - Driving Motor Brake Parlour Third (DMBPT), Trailer Parlour First with Kitchen (TPFK), and Trailer Parlour Third (TPT). Initial formations of these units were as follows:

Withdrawal and preservation

The last ''Brighton Belle'' train ran on 30 April 1972, and the three 5BEL units were withdrawn. However all 15 cars were sold into private ownership, though no unit was kept together as a single entity. Instead they were split up and each vehicle was initially used as an individual Pullman car, the majority not in railway use. A number have been returned to service on the main line with the Belmond British Pullman (previously the

Venice Simplon Orient Express The ''Venice Simplon-Orient-Express'' (VSOE) is a private luxury train service from London to Venice and other European cities. It is currently owned by Belmond Limited, Belmond, which operates 45 luxury hotels, restaurants, tourist trains and ...

or VSOE), as hauled cars forming part of the British Pullman charter train. A campaign to return the Brighton Belle to mainline service was launched by the 5BEL Trus

in 2008. By 2009, the trust had assembled a four-car set, having acquired cars from the

North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned and operated as a public limite ...

and VSOE. A fifth car, No.282 'Doris', was acquired from the Bluebell Railway in 2011 and a sixth, No.279 'Hazel' in 2012. After restoration, the Brighton Belle is expected to enter testing in Autumn/Winter 2018. The table below sets out the current position:

References

* {{British Rail EMU 5BEL 403 Metropolitan Cammell multiple units Pullman Car Company (UK) Train-related introductions in 1932 750 V DC multiple units