Rare railway carriage saved from demolition as couple restore Pullman to former glory

  • ITV News Meridian's James Dunham went to visit the rare train carriage to find out more

A luxury railway carriage that is more than 110 years old has been given a new lease of life after it was saved from demolition.

The Pullman cart came over from the United States in 1906 and is said to be one of 100 left worldwide.

It has been renovated at the Old Railway Station in Petworth, West Sussex.

The original Pullman chairs were made from moquette fabric, which had to be imported from Türkiye.

An original Pullman light had to be borrowed and sent to different factories to try to create an exact replica.

A crane was brought in to carefully move the 120-year old coach which formed part of a house in Selsey, West Sussex, until 2021. Credit: Jennie Hudson

The railroad dining car was originally built and operated by The Pullman Company in the United States in 1867 and built by their British counterparts from 1874.

It took renovator Jennie Hudson three years to replicate, as she said that it was important for every detail to be authentic.

Jennie Hudson, Owner, said: "We had to go into auctions, eBay, antiques shops; we just had to scour the country for the right fittings.

"Even the crockery we thought we could just go to crockery suppliers but there was just nothing suitable, so we ended up importing from America."

The moquette fabric used on the seats had to be imported from Türkiye. Credit: ITV News Meridian

To find the carriages now is difficult, as they are extremely rare.

Jenny said: "There is not many of them. I believe that there is 100 of them left.

"Half of them are the wooden types so, with that many in existence, especially them being wood, they could easily rot."

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