George Mortimer Pullman (1831 – 1897) was the American who determined to provide the best possible rail travel accommodation for, particularly, the long-distance passenger in sleeping cars. He also provided specialized dedicated on-board staff and charged a supplement for the use of his cars. The up-grading applied also in lesser numbers to shorter distance daytime travel in Pullman Parlour or Lounge cars. A rare 19th-century survivor at the Conway Scenic Railroad in New Hampshire is Gertrude Emma, formerly Libertas, built in 1898 for use between New York and Chicago on the ‘Pennsylvania Limited’. At the behest of the Midland Railway, Pullman started operations in the United Kingdom, and the very first American-built (but Derby-assembled) car, Midland of 1874, is now conserved under cover at the Midland Railway Centre at Butterley.

Before World War 2 caused suspension of operations, the British Pullman Fleet was near its peak size. Post-war recovery by the Pullman Car Company was difficult and, apart from a small number of new cars completed in the early 1950s, it was not until 1960 that it was possible to take delivery of a substantial new build of forty-four locomotive-hauled cars for the East Coast services, allowing earlier cars to replace life-expired cars on the Southern Region. At the same time the revolutionary diesel-electric ‘Blue Pullmans’ were introduced, at first running between Manchester and London St Pancras, and subsequently between London Paddington and Birmingham, Bristol and Swansea.