Hertfordshire Rail Tours
Encyclopedia
Hertfordshire Rail Tours was a company that ran charter trainsRailtour
A railtour is a special train which is run in order to allow people to experience rail travel which is not available using timetabled passenger services...
for enthusiasts, named as they were originally based in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. Most of its trains started from London Terminals, although most from London King's Cross. A fair proportion of charter trains used the "Pride of the Nation" dining train set, this is an all seater dining train. The company was purchased by FM Rail
FM Rail
FM Rail Limited was a railway spot-hire and charter company based at Derby, United Kingdom. The company was formed in January 2005 following the merging of spot-hire company Fragonset Railways Limited with charter train operating company Merlin Rail Limited...
in mid-2005, which retained the HRT name.
Blue Pullman
British Rail Class 251
The Blue Pullman was a class of luxury train used from 1960 to 1973 by British Railways in the United Kingdom. As opposed to the previous Pullman Car Company locomotive-hauled carriage trains, and the Brighton Belle electrical multiple units, the Blue Pullmans were the first diesel-electric...
that operated between Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the 1960s.
With the original stock scrapped, they had to provide a new fleet, which consisted of a rake of air-conditioned Mk.2 coaches
British Rail Mark 2
The Mark 2 family of railway carriages were British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops between 1964 and 1975...
fitted with Pullman style lighting, topped and tailed by Class 47
British Rail Class 47
The British Rail Class 47, is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British...
diesel locomotives. As no Mk.2 kitchen cars had been built, two Mk.1 coaches were inserted into the set. The Mk.2s were painted in the original livery of Nanking Blue with a white band around the windows, but, as the Mk.1 vehicles had much larger windows, they were simply painted in plain blue. This unfortunately broke up the lines of the train somewhat.
The first outing of the Blue Pullman was a dining excursion from Kings Cross and back via Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
and Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
on Thursday 12 January 2006.
The service, although normally worked by two Class 47s also painted in the dedicated blue livery, would be hauled by a single Class 87
British Rail Class 87
The British Rail Class 87 is a type of electric locomotive built from 1973-75 by British Rail Engineering Limited . 36 of these locomotives were built to work passenger services over the West Coast Main Line . They were the flagships of British Rail's electric locomotive fleet until the late 1980s,...
if the entire working was due to be "under the wires". The 87 would be hired-in from GB Railfreight (now FirstGBRf) - in a bid to get the whole business in house, FM Rail was rumoured to be considering buying their own dedicated Class 86
British Rail Class 86
The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s, developed as a result of testing with the earlier Classes 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85. One hundred of these locomotives were built from 1965-1966 by either English Electric at Vulcan Foundry, Newton-le-Willows, or...
locomotives when the company entered administration
Administration (insolvency)
As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – an alternative to liquidation – is often known as going...
in December 2006. The Blue Pullman coaches passed to Cotswold Rail
Cotswold Rail
thumb|right|[[British Rail Class 47|Class 47]], no. 47316 'Cam Peak', at [[Doncaster railway works|Doncaster Works]] open day on 27th July 2003. This locomotive had recently been returned to traffic after a period in store...
, which re-launched the service on February 2007.
Transfer to Victa Westlink
FM Rail went into liquidation in December 2006, and the Hertfordshire Rail Tours business passed to Victa Westlink RailVicta Westlink Rail
Victa Westlink Rail was a railway company based at Derby, United Kingdom. The company was formed in December 2006 following the liquidation of FM Rail. It has since been absorbed by Stobart Rail....
, a joint venture between Victa Railfreight and Westlink.
Eddie Stobart takeover
In August 2007 the company passed into the hands of the Eddie Stobart Group, through the reverse takeover of Westbury, the parent company of Westlink, by the Stobart Group.Subsequently Hertfordshire Rail Tours company was renamed Stobart Rail Tours. The Hertfordshire tour programme was scaled back and relaunched as the Stobart Pullman
Stobart Pullman
The Stobart Pullman was a railtour operator in the United Kingdom, operating pullman type charter trains, as Stobart Rail Tours. The company was a subsidiary of Eddie Stobart Ltd. and was operated by Stobart’s rail partner, Direct Rail Services...
, using the former Virgin West Coast Mk3 coaches, but different traction.
The last scheduled tour run as Hertfordshire Rail Tours operated on Easter weekend 2008.