In Petworth, 60 kms west of London, a local businessman has found a new use for four renovated Pullman railway carriages. He’s turned them into a hotel – with all mod cons.

Says owner Gudmund Olafsson: “This concept is unique in the world. There are only a hundred Pullmans left in the world. Pullman carriages, most of them are with Historic Railways or with the Orient Express. We have four of them, which is 4%of the entire world’s stock so there aren’t many. So we’re the only ones who do this. It’s the only place where you can sleep in a Pullman.”

He continues: “Pullmans have such an exotic background, an exotic history. They were the Titanic of the railways, they were the Concorde of the railways. If you had enough money and you travelled in great style you went by Pullman. You know a large carriage like that is sixty-six feet long; it had eighteen seats in it. You know, you sat in a huge armchair one either side, you had a bell – if you wanted to somebody to come and do something for you, a beautifully dressed steward would be along before you could think of him and bring you whatever your heart desired.”

For more information see
http://www.old-station.co.uk

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