I spotted several old Pullman railway coaches in a state of ruin during a trip to Cornwall in 2003.
Once the byword for upmarket, luxury train travel, several of these once glorious carriages had been dumped at Marazion station in the 1960s and put to use as camping coaches.
Years of criminal neglect had seen the fine varnished wood and exquisite paintwork of the carriages being stripped away in the sea air, leaving them in a terrible state.
The coaches were on a strip of track next to the abandoned station at Marazion, which closed to passengers on 5th Oct 1964. It’s now been converted to private housing.
‘Juno’, a 1923 brake parlour car looks forlorn, while just beyond it can be seen the shell of the burned out 1923 coach, ‘Aurora’.
The sad remains of ‘Calais’, once a luxury 12 wheel parlour car, built in 1921.
All of the remaining coaches at Marazion disappeared shortly after these photos were taken, with a posting on the Pullman Society’s website in September 2003 reporting that the coaches had “vanished” and been replaced by an “an ominous pile of charred timber and a few odd wheel sets”
Petworth survival
On a happier note, two of the coaches at Marazion were rescued in the late 1990s and have subsequently been fully restored to their former glory at Petworth railway station, where they now serve as luxury hotel rooms – we stayed there for a weekend a few years back.
See more here: Marazion station and abandoned coaches, 2003
Marazion station, 2005
Related posts:
The melancholic romance of abandoned railway lines
Abandoned station near Heathrow in the 1970s – can you recognise it?
Lightning strike takes out signals: posh Pullman train stuck at signals in Brixton
Coborn Road railway station: a long abandoned East London station
Cruising around the coves of Cornwall
Abandoned Victorian mansions, Windsor Walk, Denmark Hill SE5
Kemble station and the old Cirencester branch platform – a feast of GWR style
Closed railway station: Aynho for Deddington, Oxfordshire
I have many childhood memories of staying in those camping coaches at Marazion during the late 70/80’s. My dad worked on the railway so we used to stay in them. Brilliant times and such a great setting. My love for Cornwall has never ceased.. So sad to see them go. My grandad used to be a train driver and would change his shift in order to be able to do the Penzance run, he used to slow the train down as he got to marazion and throw sweets at us, wrapped in a oily rag. I remember mars bars tasting of diesel!
I too have many, many fond memories of the camping coaches. my granddad use to work for the railways. we also stayed in tenby and Dawlish. me and my sister, our parents, cousins, aunts uncles and grandparents all crowded in and somehow managed. but what fun we use to have. my last holiday in them was dawlish in 1984 when I would have been 13. the year before we’d been to marazion. it is such a shame they let the marazion ones get the way they did. and I also remember saying I was going to buy a camping coach in both marazion and Dawlish when I was younger, lol. here’s to our happy memories
Old badly damaged pullman coaches are a serious health risk as
they contain high levels of blue asbestos.
Are these carriages still there? I am looking for a Pullman carriage and gally car for restoration.
all vanished and replaced by yuppie holiday homes
Someone save the Pullmans before its to late 😩😫
Just read about these in Roger Deakin’s excellent book “Waterlog” where he too laments the neglectful demise of these beautifully made carriages. Here in Australia many such carriages are restored and offered as accommodation, often in wine regions and the make for marvellous novelty holidays, especially for the kids – perhaps more nostalgic for us older folk!
Thank you for the piece and regards from Sydney – Dave