You just never know....said that many times before,
today i got donated the original Pullman drawings on linen of the 1888 London Brighton and South coast Railway Pullman train shipped either complete or in kit form from Detroit to Brighton UK for use on the LB&SCR trains to london.
These drawings have set the railway preservationists in the UK alight with anticipation as they have never seen any official drawings of these four car train sets.
Three 65ft? cars with vestibules, corridor connections and buffers on the outer ends only and with a 8'6" or 9'0" width must have seemed radically different here and in the UK, and with a baggage / generator car for electric lighting attached.
We thanks the UP historical society for their generosity in making these beautifully detailed drawings available from the W. Kratville collection to the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex, the oldest and premier LB&SCR preservation and restoration society.

Mike Pannell
Cheyenne WY

Maybe it's my over-active imagination working here, but with Beachy Head (replica of a Marsh H2 Class 4-4-2, for those who don't know) inching ever closer to completion... Nah, couldn't be... Or could there be a plan to replicate at least one of these Pullmans to go with Beachy Head? Or maybe they just wanted them for their artifact collection. The latter sounds more reasonable.

I feel sad that the US may have lost originals of those car drawings. Did you make a copy, Mike? I have had a difficult time making available any material to the UK because one only has to mention cost to see the request disappear. It turns out that the distribution of material may be quite different there. I will be bringing some unique English Pullman floor plan copies with me perhaps including LB&SCR when we visit the Cumbria region for the first time week after next, for comment only, not for distribution, to try and establish a communication and find out the status of documentation between the two countries. We will be riding on a 73 mile segment of the Midland Railway through Leeds to Carlyle and I am really looking forward to it. Problem is, I have no clue what other rail adventures to engage in (1 day free). Most of our time will be spent as "roadies" with our guitarist daughter Muriel, first at Donegal, Ireland; later at Egremont Haile and Brigham, Cumbria before Manchester. Are there any suggestions in the next few days for the benefit of our traveling readers? How to access the vast amount of rail activities in the UK and to have a friendly discussion among the two communities of rail enthusiasts, restorers and historians might be most useful. The enterprise would be a tiny part of our demanding activities in the Pullman Library, but this early material (1870's - 1900's) that we have should not be overlooked.
Sincerely, Ted Anderson, IRM volunteer & Pullman Library curator

Hi Ted
I was waiting for you to reply, the drawings have been scanned in a large format and you will get a CD copy, the original will go to the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex who are the foremost LB&SCR restorers and historians in the UK, a copy will be offered to the National Railway Museum as well.
I will put my mind to what things there are to do, your trip over the Settle to Carlisle will be memorable and desolate, its beautiful country up there. I did it in 1982 behind Flying Scotsman.
You really ought to meet the owner/restorer of Stately Trains..Stephen Middleton he has trains of vintage stock that run on the Embsay steam railway, and is restoring 'Balmoral' a Detroit built Pullman shipped over as a kit in 1882. He has done some amazing and beautiful restorations.

Will be in touch

Mike

Ted,
Someone like yourself can't go to Midland without checking out their quite dilapidated Pullman car in the shed. It's a real mess, but at least it's been preserved from further deterioration.
Cheers, Bob