The
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
Super Saloons were eight
railway carriage
A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a ...
s developed to service the
boat train
A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__
Notable named boat tr ...
traffic from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
. Built to the maximum
loading gauge to be more opulent than the rival
Pullman Company coaches offered by rival railway companies, and all named after members of the
British Royal Family, their success was short-lived due to the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
of the 1930s. Taken out of service by
British Rail in 1967, today five of the original carriages survive in preservation.
Background
The original backers of the GWR had adopted
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
's plan to speed trans-
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
passage for both passengers and freight by providing a direct route from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
westwards to the connecting ports located in the
West Country
The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. However, many of the financial backers were based in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, itself a major port, and so although the company eventually developed Brunel's plan, the only major high-speed railway connection was eventually developed to
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
.
[
Post-]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and with the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
now economically booming, new developments in Ocean Liner design and construction brought about new, faster ships with more luxury capacity. These nouveau-riche
''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...
first-class passengers were used to speed, quality and service; mixing with commuters and third class passengers, let alone mail and freight, was not what they wanted. What the new passengers required were high-speed dedicated boat train
A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__
Notable named boat tr ...
services.[
As a result, from the mid-1920s a new race to attract the Ocean Liners and hence these passengers began between the Southern Railway and the GWR. Although the GWR had access to ]Southampton Docks
The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...
via a circuitous route, the company decided to instead focus on developing services from Plymouth. Effectively, this would save ocean liners 6 hours of steaming in the crowded 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 ...
, and reduce the overall travel time by 4 hours.[ By 1930, 684 liners had landed 38,472 passengers at ]Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, with the vast majority being trans-Atlantic customers who then needed transport to London.
Pullman carriages
The GWR was reluctant to use Pullman Carriages, considering its own carriages luxurious enough. However, in 1928 the GWR board approved the lease from Pullman Company of seven cars - four Kitchen Cars and three Parlour Cars, No's 252-258 - with construction subcontracted to Metropolitan Cammell in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. Initially deployed from May 1929 on the - service, amongst standard GWR stock within the ''Ocean Liner Express'' boat train
A boat train is a passenger train operating to a port for the specific purpose of making connection with a passenger ship, such as a ferry, ocean liner, or cruise ship. Through ticketing is normally available. __NOTOC__
Notable named boat tr ...
. These trains were also known as the "Cunarders", as Cunard
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...
were the main shipping company that docked their trans-Atlantic services in the port.[
From 8 July 1929, the Pullman cars were deployed in a new train the ''Torquay Pullman Limited'', an all-Pullman service which ran two days a week between London Paddington and , stopping at and only. Not a commercial success, the train returned for the 1930 timetable as a 3 car only service, but was withdrawn at the end of the summer timetable, with the carriages stored at ]Old Oak Common
Old Oak Common is an area of Hammersmith, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London.
Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme, the scale of which has led to ...
. A proposal was made to return the full seven car train in summer 1931, but the decision was taken not to operate the service.
Development
In 1929, under the auspicies of Chief Mechanical Engineer
Chief mechanical engineer and locomotive superintendent are titles applied by British, Australian, and New Zealand railway companies to the person ultimately responsible to the board of the company for the building and maintaining of the locomotive ...
Charles Collett
Charles Benjamin Collett (10 September 1871 – 5 April 1952) was Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway from 1922 to 1941. He designed (amongst others) the GWR's Castle and King Class express passenger locomotives.
Education ...
, the GWR board agreed development from 1929 of a new, bigger carriage for the Ocean trains. Due to the GWR's original adoption of broad gauge, its loading gauge using standard gauge track was larger than any other mainland UK railway. This allowed the company to develop a larger bespoke carriage to its own dimensions, which would be wider than the Pullman saloons then in operation on both the Great Western and Southern Railways.[
Collett made full use of the loading gauge advantage, designing a basic carriage shape that was in length and wide—a full wider than a standard British loading gauge carriage.][ The result was that the ]Swindon Works
Swindon railway works was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1843 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It served as the principal west England maintenance centre until closed in 1986.
History
In 1835 Parliament approved the construction of the ...
designated "Super Saloons"—which also became known as "Ocean Saloons" and "Cunarders" in service operation—were restricted to the mainline of the GWR that had been originally developed as broad gauge.[ Hence, each carriage had painted on its end plate:][
Collett had also designed-in a clearance insurance policy, by designing the carriages with inset end doors which were angled at 30 degrees to the exterior body panels.][
All Super Saloons were built within Swindon Works Lot No. 1471,][ the first two carriages fitted out by specialist contractor Trollope & Co. under Diagram G.60 in 1931,][ whilst the remaining six were all fitted out by the Swindon Works Saloon Gang under Diagram G.61 in 1932.][ Initially the windows were of a wind-down Beclawat type, but these were replaced in 1935 by fixed windows of more modern type with sliding vents.][ Once the exterior was completed, each of the carriages was fitted-out with fine French-polished light-coloured ]walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
, with book-matched burr veneer panels on the interior sliding doors and fold-down tables, outlined with gold-leaf hairlines.[ Each carriage was then equipped with 30 loose (but heavy, to prevent them from moving during the journey) wing-back chairs: 26 in saloon; 4 in coupé.][ The complete run of eight carriages, all named after members of the British Royal Family were as opulent as the Pullmans they replaced, and had an unladen weight of .][
With the Super Saloons now fully available for traffic, the lease on the seven Pullman cars was terminated at the end of 1931, and these were transferred to the Southern Railway, joining the SR's Western Section carriage pool at ]Clapham Junction
Clapham Junction is an urban locality around Clapham Junction railway station in London, England. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, but forms the commercial centre of Battersea.
Clapham Junction was a scene of disturbances during ...
.[ The legacy of the Super Saloons included Collett's 1935 development of the new "Centenary" carriages built for the '']Cornish Riviera Express
The ''Cornish Riviera Express'' is a British express passenger train that has run between London Paddington and Penzance in Cornwall since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway, the name ''Cornish Riviera Express'' has been applied to ...
'', which again made full use of the wider loading gauge on that route.
Operations
Introduced in 1931, the Ocean Liner Express ran non-stop in each direction between London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
and Plymouth Millbay. Passengers were charged a full first-class fare as appropriate for their journey, plus a one-way tariff of 10 shillings to use the carriages.[
Due to their weight, commonly only five Super Saloons were operated in one train at any one time, together with two passenger brake vans to accommodate passengers' luggage.][ Often, the trains were reduced to three Super Saloons and two passenger brake vans, allowing the train to run at higher speed.][ The Ocean Liner Express was always banked both ways over the Devon and Wellington Banks.][
]
Decline
Although a relative financial success initially, the launch of the Ocean Super Saloons and their dedicated trains coincided with the start of the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Consequently, the number and frequency of trains was reduced, whilst the shipping companies ran their passenger liners at slower speeds to consume less fuel, and hence speed became less of a deciding factor in choice of route. As Southampton developed as the south coast passenger port of choice, Plymouth declined in importance as a passenger port, although Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
officers and the gentry from Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
became regular customers on the Ocean Liner expresses.[
The GWR looked for new uses for their Super Saloons, and began using them on specialist dining trains to ]Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat r ...
, as well as on private-charter traffic.[ Post-]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, British Railways
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 ...
continued this usage pattern, and once the carriages were painted in the new crimson and cream livery in the early 1950s, they all lost their royal names.[ The last dedicated Ocean Express using the Super Saloons ran in September 1962, when the standard formation of the train was: Full Brake–- Brake Composite–-Super Saloon–Kitchen Restaurant–Super Saloon–Super Saloon–Full Brake.][
]
Preservation
Five of the eight Super Saloons have survived into preservation:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:GWR Super Saloons
Super Saloons