[andrew]

A good source of Pullman information is Terry Bye's "Coupé News". I don't know if it has covered the MR cars, but may be worth a search. You can find it at http://www.semgonline.com/coach/coupe/index.html. The only picture I've seen of an MR car is in Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis's "The Midland Railway", Ian Allan, 1955, p167. The picture shows a conversion to a push-pull carriage, which would account for one of them. I am sure it is long out of print, so it is probably OK to scan it and send it for private use if that would be helpful.

 

[andrew]

QUOTE (Nick Holliday @ 8 Dec 2008, 21:52) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>...Pullman ran a number of cars on the Midland between 1874 and 1888 or so. They were the open balconied old fashioned type with cleretory roof, looking a bit like the coaches in old US movies. In the 1880's the Midland actually bought most of them as various agreements ran out, whilst some were transferred to the southern lines. By 1911 they were getting a bit worn out so the Pullman name was removed and they found use on football specials. Pullman also built 4 sleeping cars for the Midland.

The Highland had a couple of short sleeping cars but they were taken out of service in 1907.

The car shown in the Hamilton Ellis book is indeed one of the early ones, unmistakably American in appearance with the clerestory and open platform.

A recent good news story is that one of the Highland cars, "Balmoral" survived and has been rescued, albeit in a rather tatty state. It will be preserved, if not fully restored, with the help of a substantial grant from the Highland Railway Society.