| The Belle arrived and departed from platform 12 or 13 at
Victoria. In later years the 2:00pm departure became the 14:00, but the train
was the same. Many household names of the theatrical and Fleet Street worlds
lived in Brighton and, flushed with success from an earlier campaign to restore
cooked breakfasts to the train, led a big campaign to "Save the Brighton
Belle" following the announcement of its impending withdrawal - but all to
no avail this time.
photograph from the John Bradshaw collection |
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Near Balcombe towards the end of the Belle's days.
photograph by Mike Morant |
| Not what it seems!
What appears to be unit 3052 is, in actual fact, 5 of the 6 Brighton Belle Motor Coaches stored in Montpelier sidings, Brighton. They are, from the camera, 291, 290 (Unit 3052), 288 (unit 3051), 293 and 292 (unit 3053) following withdrawal from service. No self-respecting Brighton Belle would have carried headcode 17, theirs was the prestigious Nº4, Victoria to Brighton non-stop! (Although there was for a short period after WWII, up to 1957, a Sundays Only, Eastbourne Pullman using a spare 5-Bel.) Photograph taken 14 April 1972. photograph by Glen Woods |
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This page was last updated 24 April 2003
