Blue Train Races
Encyclopedia
The Blue Train Races were a series of record-breaking attempts between automobile
s and train
s in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It saw a number of motorists and their own or sponsored automobiles race against the Le Train Bleu
, a train that ran between Calais
and the French Riviera
. The rationale to beat the train was to compare the contemporary automotive performance with locomotive dominance; to showcase recent progress achieved by cars regarding reliability, durability, speed and comfort; to promote the cars, their marques and the adventurous persona of the drivers; and to establish automobiles as a viable and aspirational mode of transport for the individual traveller.
which carried wealthy and famous passengers between Calais
and the French Riviera
from 1922 until 1938. It was colloquially referred to as "le train bleu" in French
and the Blue Train in English because of its dark blue sleeping cars, and became formally known as Le Train Bleu after World War II.
It was created by a private French railroad company, the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
, or PLM, to take British aristocrats
, celebrities and the wealthy to the French Riviera
. It made its first journey on December 8, 1922.
The prime season for "le train bleu" was between November and April, when wealthy travellers escaped the British winter to spend their holiday on the French Riviera
. It originated at the Gare Maritime in Calais
, where it picked up British passengers from the ferries across the English Channel
. It departed at 1:00 in the afternoon and went to the Gare du Nord
in Paris, then around Paris by the Grande Ceinture line
to the Gare de Lyon
, where it picked up additional passengers and coaches. It departed Paris early in the evening, and made stops at Dijon
, Châlons
, and Lyon
, before reaching Marseille
early in the morning. It then made stops at all the major resort town
s of the French Riviera, or Côte d'Azur: St. Raphael
, Juan-les-Pins
, Antibes
, Cannes
, Nice
, Monaco
, and its final destination, Menton
, near the Italian border.
tester and pioneer publicist
Dudley Noble
, in which a Light Six was to race the Blue Train across France from Calais to St Raphael on the Côte d'Azur. It was a moderately shameless stunt of him, being safe in the knowledge that the average speed of the famous express was no more than about 40 mi/h once all its stops and detours were taken into account. To beat the train, Noble had to drive more or less non-stop from Calais to the French Riviera. The Rover Light Six averaged 38 mi/h on its 750 miles (1,207 km) journey to beat the train's expected time of just over 20 hours, which gave the Rover team a 20 minute lead over the train. It had been beaten for the first time and the Rover team became celebrities through the "Daily Express
'.
was a businessman of substance (a diamond mining heir in South Africa and Bentley
chairman), a celebrated racing driver (a "Bentley Boy
" with multiple Le Mans
wins), and a noted bon vivant. One evening in March 1930, at a diner at the Carlton Hotel
in Cannes, talk around the table had swung round to the topic of motor cars; in particular to the advertisement by Rover claiming that its Light Six
had gone faster than the famous "Le train bleu" express. Barnato contended that just to go faster than the Blue Train was of no special merit. He raised the stakes by arguing that at the wheel of his own
Bentley Speed Six
, he could be at his club in London before the train reached Calais and bet 100 Pound Sterling on that challenge! The next day, 13 March 1930, as the Blue Train steamed out of Cannes station at 17:45h, Barnato, with one of his friends who had gallantly offered to act as a relief driver, took to the mighty Bentley and set off at the double. From Lyons onwards they had to battle against heavy rain. At 4:20h, in Auxerre, they lost time searching for a refueling rendezvous. Through central France they hit fog, then shortly after Paris they had a burst tyre, requiring the use of their one and only spare. And yet, racing non-stop through the night along the bumpy, 1930's Routes Nationales
, they reached the coast at 10:30h, sailed over to England on the cross-Channel
packet, and were neatly parked outside The Conservative Club in St. James's Street
, London, by 15:20h - four minutes before the Blue Train reached Calais. He won the bet, whereupon the French authorities promptly fined him a sum far greater than his winnings - for racing on public roads.
The H. J. Mulliner
-bodied formal saloon he drove during the race as well as a streamlined fastback "Sportsman Coupe" by Gurney Nutting
he took delivery of on 21 May 1930 became known as the Blue Train Bentley
s; the latter is regularly mistaken for or errouneously referred to as being the car that raced the Blue Train, while in fact Barnato named it in memory of his race.. A further cause of confusion is the well-known painting of the race by Terence Cuneo which features the Gurney Nutting bodied car.
television series presented by Jeremy Clarkson
, Richard Hammond
and James May
regularly features various long-distance, "epic",
races where Clarkson or one of the other presenters drives a car against other forms of transport.
During Spring 2004 (in a programme aired 9 May 2004), Clarkson drove an Aston Martin DB9
from the Dunsfold studio in Surrey
to Monte Carlo
against Hammond and May who took the TGV
and Eurostar
trains. Hammond and May walked two miles to a bus stop, took a bus to Guildford railway station
, train to London Waterloo, then the Eurostar to Gare du Nord
, the RER
to Gare de Lyon
, the TGV
to Nice
and another train to Monte Carlo.
Clarkson's DB9 was shown beating Hammond and May's train journey by several minutes, although James later revealed in a radio interview that Clarkson had actually beaten them by almost an hour.
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s and train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
s in the late 1920s and early 1930s. It saw a number of motorists and their own or sponsored automobiles race against the Le Train Bleu
Le Train Bleu
Le Train Bleu , officially the Calais-Mediterranée Express, was a luxury French night express train which operated from 1922 to 2007. It gained international fame as the preferred train of wealthy and famous passengers between Calais and the French Riviera in the two decades before World War II...
, a train that ran between Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. The rationale to beat the train was to compare the contemporary automotive performance with locomotive dominance; to showcase recent progress achieved by cars regarding reliability, durability, speed and comfort; to promote the cars, their marques and the adventurous persona of the drivers; and to establish automobiles as a viable and aspirational mode of transport for the individual traveller.
The Blue Train
Le Train Bleu (lit. "the blue train"), officially the Calais-Méditerranée Express, was a luxury French night express trainExpress train
Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...
which carried wealthy and famous passengers between Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
from 1922 until 1938. It was colloquially referred to as "le train bleu" in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and the Blue Train in English because of its dark blue sleeping cars, and became formally known as Le Train Bleu after World War II.
It was created by a private French railroad company, the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée
The Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée was a French railway company ....
, or PLM, to take British aristocrats
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
, celebrities and the wealthy to the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. It made its first journey on December 8, 1922.
The prime season for "le train bleu" was between November and April, when wealthy travellers escaped the British winter to spend their holiday on the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
. It originated at the Gare Maritime in Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, where it picked up British passengers from the ferries across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. It departed at 1:00 in the afternoon and went to the Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
in Paris, then around Paris by the Grande Ceinture line
Grande Ceinture line
The Grande Ceinture line is a railway line round Paris 15 km from the Boulevard Périphérique. The decision to build it was taken at the end of the 19th century, to connect the radial lines linking the capital to the provinces and to relieve the existing Ligne de Petite...
to the Gare de Lyon
Gare de Lyon
Paris Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...
, where it picked up additional passengers and coaches. It departed Paris early in the evening, and made stops at Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, Châlons
Châlons, Isère
Châlons is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Isère department...
, and Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, before reaching Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
early in the morning. It then made stops at all the major resort town
Resort town
A resort town, sometimes called a resort city or resort destination, is a town or area where tourism or vacationing is a primary component of the local culture and economy...
s of the French Riviera, or Côte d'Azur: St. Raphael
Saint-Raphaël, Var
Saint-Raphaël is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Immediately to the west of Saint-Raphaël lies another, older, town called Fréjus, and together they form an urban agglomeration known as Fréjus Saint-Raphaël...
, Juan-les-Pins
Juan-les-Pins
Juan-les-PinsCountry:Region:Department: Alpes-MaritimesArrondissement: GrasseCanton: Vallauris-Antibes-OuestMunicipality: AntibesPopulation:?Coordinates:Time zone:CET, UTC+1Elevation:10 amslPostal code:06600...
, Antibes
Antibes
Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...
, Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, and its final destination, Menton
Menton
Menton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ....
, near the Italian border.
Rover Light Six
In January 1930, the Rover name hit the world press when a Rover tried to take on "Le train bleu" on its 750 miles (1,207 km) run between Calais and Cannes. The idea of racing the Blue Train was very popular with motor enthusiasts, and each new attempt was received with varying expectations of success. Many had already failed on this mammoth challenge. The act to promote the new Rover Light Six in a headline-grabbing campaign was the brainchild of former motorcycleMotorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
tester and pioneer publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
Dudley Noble
Dudley Noble
Dudley Noble, who started at the Rover Company in 1911 as a motorcycle tester and competition rider, became one of the British automobile industry’s pioneering publicists....
, in which a Light Six was to race the Blue Train across France from Calais to St Raphael on the Côte d'Azur. It was a moderately shameless stunt of him, being safe in the knowledge that the average speed of the famous express was no more than about 40 mi/h once all its stops and detours were taken into account. To beat the train, Noble had to drive more or less non-stop from Calais to the French Riviera. The Rover Light Six averaged 38 mi/h on its 750 miles (1,207 km) journey to beat the train's expected time of just over 20 hours, which gave the Rover team a 20 minute lead over the train. It had been beaten for the first time and the Rover team became celebrities through the "Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
'.
Bentley Speed Six
Woolf "Babe" BarnatoWoolf Barnato
Joel Woolf Barnato was a British financier and racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. He achieved three consecutive wins out of three entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.-Early life:...
was a businessman of substance (a diamond mining heir in South Africa and Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
chairman), a celebrated racing driver (a "Bentley Boy
Bentley Boys
The Bentley Boys were a group of wealthy British motorists who drove Bentley sports cars to victory in the 1920s and kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive...
" with multiple Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
wins), and a noted bon vivant. One evening in March 1930, at a diner at the Carlton Hotel
Carlton Hotel, Cannes
The InterContinental Carlton Cannes is a 343-room luxury hotel built in 1911, located at 58 La Croisette in Cannes on the French Riviera and listed by the Government of France as a National Historic Building...
in Cannes, talk around the table had swung round to the topic of motor cars; in particular to the advertisement by Rover claiming that its Light Six
Rover Light Six
The Rover Light Six was a mid-size formal saloon produced from 1927 through to 1932 by the Rover Company of Coventry.- Overview :The Rover Light Six was one of the first Rover cars manufactured under the aegis of Spencer and Maurice Wilks who introduced new management practices and engineering...
had gone faster than the famous "Le train bleu" express. Barnato contended that just to go faster than the Blue Train was of no special merit. He raised the stakes by arguing that at the wheel of his own
Blue Train Bentley
The term Blue Train Bentley refers to two Bentley automobiles, based on the high-performance 6½ litre Bentley Speed Six model, which became known for their owner Woolf Barnato's involvement in the Blue Train Races of 1930.- Overview :...
Bentley Speed Six
Bentley Speed Six
The regular Bentley 6½ Litre and the high-performance Bentley Speed Six were Bentley cars in production from 1926 to 1930. They were created out of the desire for more engine power by Walter Owen Bentley by adding two cylinders to the straight-4 engine used in his Bentley 4½ Litre car. The Speed...
, he could be at his club in London before the train reached Calais and bet 100 Pound Sterling on that challenge! The next day, 13 March 1930, as the Blue Train steamed out of Cannes station at 17:45h, Barnato, with one of his friends who had gallantly offered to act as a relief driver, took to the mighty Bentley and set off at the double. From Lyons onwards they had to battle against heavy rain. At 4:20h, in Auxerre, they lost time searching for a refueling rendezvous. Through central France they hit fog, then shortly after Paris they had a burst tyre, requiring the use of their one and only spare. And yet, racing non-stop through the night along the bumpy, 1930's Routes Nationales
Route nationale (France)
A route nationale, or simply nationale, is a trunk road in France. Trunk roads are in France are important roads which cross broad portions of the French territory, as opposed to secondary or communal roads who only serve local areas....
, they reached the coast at 10:30h, sailed over to England on the cross-Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
packet, and were neatly parked outside The Conservative Club in St. James's Street
St. James's Street
St James's Street is one of the principal streets in the central London district of St James's. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St James's Palace and Pall Mall...
, London, by 15:20h - four minutes before the Blue Train reached Calais. He won the bet, whereupon the French authorities promptly fined him a sum far greater than his winnings - for racing on public roads.
The H. J. Mulliner
H. J. Mulliner & Co.
H. J. Mulliner & Co. was a well-known British coachbuilder operating at Chiswick in West London.The Mulliner family can trace their coachbuilding history back to 1760, building coaches for the Royal Mail in Northampton....
-bodied formal saloon he drove during the race as well as a streamlined fastback "Sportsman Coupe" by Gurney Nutting
J Gurney Nutting & Co Limited
J Gurney Nutting & Co Limited was an English firm of bespoke coachbuilders specialising in sporting bodies founded in 1918 as a new enterprise by a Croydon firm of builders and joiners of the same name...
he took delivery of on 21 May 1930 became known as the Blue Train Bentley
Blue Train Bentley
The term Blue Train Bentley refers to two Bentley automobiles, based on the high-performance 6½ litre Bentley Speed Six model, which became known for their owner Woolf Barnato's involvement in the Blue Train Races of 1930.- Overview :...
s; the latter is regularly mistaken for or errouneously referred to as being the car that raced the Blue Train, while in fact Barnato named it in memory of his race.. A further cause of confusion is the well-known painting of the race by Terence Cuneo which features the Gurney Nutting bodied car.
Top Gear Race 'Car vs. Train'
The Top GearTop Gear (current format)
Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
television series presented by Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
, Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
and James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
regularly features various long-distance, "epic",
races where Clarkson or one of the other presenters drives a car against other forms of transport.
During Spring 2004 (in a programme aired 9 May 2004), Clarkson drove an Aston Martin DB9
Aston Martin DB9
-DB9 Volante:The Aston Martin DB9 Volante is the convertible version of the DB9 coupe. It is built by hand in limited numbers and has enhanced styling. It is powered by the same 6.0 litre, DOHC 48 valve V12 as the DB9 and is completed with 470 bhp and a top speed of 186 mph...
from the Dunsfold studio in Surrey
Dunsfold
Dunsfold is a village in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, 8.7 miles south of Guildford. The census area Chiddingfold and Dunsfold has a population of 3,812.-History:...
to Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
against Hammond and May who took the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
and Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
trains. Hammond and May walked two miles to a bus stop, took a bus to Guildford railway station
Guildford (Surrey) railway station
Guildford railway station is an important railway junction on the Portsmouth Direct Line serving the town of Guildford in Surrey, England. It is 30.3 miles from London Waterloo....
, train to London Waterloo, then the Eurostar to Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Paris Nord is one of the six large terminus railway stations of the SNCF mainline network for Paris, France. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines, including Paris Métro and RER...
, the RER
RER
The RER is a rapid transit system in France serving Paris and its suburbs. The RER is an integration of a modern city-centre underground rail and a pre-existing set of commuter rail lines. It has several connections with the Paris Métro within the city of Paris. Within the city, the RER...
to Gare de Lyon
Gare de Lyon
Paris Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...
, the TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
to Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
and another train to Monte Carlo.
Clarkson's DB9 was shown beating Hammond and May's train journey by several minutes, although James later revealed in a radio interview that Clarkson had actually beaten them by almost an hour.