The ''Bournemouth Belle'' was a British named train run by the Southern Railway from 1931 until nationalisation in 1948 (with a break for the war until 1947) and subsequently by British Railways until it was withdrawn on 9 July 1967. The train, composed of Pullman stock, first ran on Sunday 5 July 1931. It initially ran non-stop from , leaving at 10:30, to Bournemouth Central, returning at 19:18. The service was later amended to call at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, and extended from Bournemouth Central to Bournemouth West. Journey time was between two hours one minute and two hours twenty minutes, depending on direction, configuration and motive power. At first the train ran on summer Sundays. It was sufficiently successful to be run on all weekends and summer weekdays until in 1936 it was a daily working. Before the war the train was usually hauled by

SR Lord Nelson Class The SR class LN or ''Lord Nelson'' class is a type of 4-cylinder 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for the Southern Railway by Richard Maunsell in 1926. They were intended for Continental boat trains between London (Victoria) and Dover harbour ...

locomotives. On its reintroduction on 7 October 1947 the superior SR Merchant Navy class provided motive power. The weight of the ''Belle'' and other express trains on the London– Bournemouth route meant a decision was made to continue with steam in the early 1960s until electrification was completed. In the mid-1960s, heavy trains like the ''Belle'' needed fast acceleration, at which the Bulleid Pacifics excelled, due to delays during third-rail electrification work, the ''Bournemouth Belle'' was the last great named steam train with a patronage of rock stars and aristocrats as well as ferry and ocean liner passengers from Southampton and tourists visiting Bournemouth. The ''Bournemouth Belle'' was steam-hauled almost daily until January 1967, and steam often relieved broken-down diesels until the last week. The final trains in 1967 were hauled by British Rail Class 47 diesels. D1924 (now 47810) worked the last run on 9 July 1967. The Southern Railway ran three Pullman trains with the suffix ''Belle''. The others were the ''

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 mas ...

'' (originally the ''Southern Belle'') and the ''

Devon Belle The ''Devon Belle'' was a luxury express passenger train in England which ran between London Waterloo station and Ilfracombe and Plymouth in Devon in the years from 1947 to 1954. The train The Southern Railway was anxious to encourage the resum ...

''. British Railways introduced the '' Thanet Belle'' (later renamed the ''Kentish Belle'') in 1948. On 5 July 2017, to mark 50 years since the ''Bournemouth Belle'' steamed to the coast, the Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society put on a re-creation service using its locomotive 35028 Clan Line.

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External links

SREmG Bournemouth Belle page
{{Authority control Named passenger trains of the Southern Railway Named passenger trains of British Rail Pullman Car Company (UK) Railway services introduced in 1931 Railway services discontinued in 1967

See also

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