Blue Pullman
LMR Services Begin
The service left Manchester Central on Mondays - Fridays at 08:50. There was a stop at Cheadle Heath (convenient for passengers from outer residential districts) and completed the 189 mile journey to St. Pancras in 3hr 13min. This included 14mins of recovery time, and on an unchecked run from Cheadle Heath to St. Pancras meant an average of 65.2mph. These runs were the fastest yet scheduled between Manchester and London, the quickest previous time was 3hr 35min and that was before the First World War. Taking the Peak Forest route there was some surprise that they did not stop at Derby, the intention was that they should avoid this busy area which they did by using the normally freight-only Chaddesden loop.
| Manchester Central | 08:50 | St. Pancras | 18:10 | |
| Cheadle Heath | 09:04 | Cheadle Heath | 21:07 | |
| St. Pancras | 12:03 | Manchester Central | 21:21 |
The fill-in turn left St. Pancras at 12:45 and had a very quick turnaround at Leicester. The full Pullman service would be available in the train at all times.
| St. Pancras | 12:45 | Leicester London Road | 14:33 | |
| Leicester London Road | 14:10 | St. Pancras | 16:00 |
The six vehicles on the Midland Pullman on its first week of running starting the 4th July '60 were, in order from the London end: 60092 / 60732 / 60742 / 60743 / 60733 / 60093. It got off to a good start, the first run gave a seven minute early arrival and throughout the first week the down train passed the milepost 40 from St. Pancras in 32mins. At Cheadle Heath, where it was booked to set down only, arrivals of 8, 4, 4 and 6 were recorded on four evenings of the first week.
The sets were stabled (and maintained?) at Reddish EMD depot in Stockport, home of the Woodhead electrics. At weekends they could normally both be found there. It's where this image is believed to have been taken, with a Derby Lightweight and 1,500 D.C. gantry in the background. Ian McDonald Collection.
A British Pathe newsreel "First Diesel Pullman" is available on youtube.