Hollywood has met the British train network in the shape of a redesigned 1930s luxury train carriage aboard The British Pullman, a Belmond Train.
The vintage hospitality train provides day trips from London Victoria, offering the chance to escape the city along the tracks across southern England.
The original 1932 car has been designed and fitted in collaboration between operators Belmond, the luxury hotels and trains group, and Australian director and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. This summer, it has launched as a new private dining and events carriage.
The Australian auteur worked alongside his wife Catherine Martin, an Oscar-winning costume and interior design specialist, to recreate the feel of the heyday of cinema via an Art Deco-era carriage.
From the operator of the Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, the Britannic Explorer and the Royal Scotsman, the concept is a fine dining and entertainment venue delivered in exquisite detail.
That detail was vital to Luhrmann and Martin's design. Train manager Adam Hill describes the heritage within the craftsmanship of the carriage.
“This is bespoke,” he says of the supplier of the wooden panelling with marquetry veneer. “This is a third-generation company. The great-grandad did the marquetry on the Titanic, and now it's mother and daughter doing it.
“They've got a history of doing some of the carriage pieces back from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and we still work with them now.”
A motif of a Shakespearean sprite is scattered across the room, from the U-shaped banquette that forms the rear vista of the entire train, to the velvet-draped dining room with applique crockery.
Hill has worked at the Connaught and Corinthia hotels and leads a team of white-gloved waiters − one of whom has worked for Pullman for 50 years, while another recalls how he greeted former South African president Nelson Mandela on the service − and international chefs on the Pullman.
Like many who travel on the trains, Hill has a connection to Pullman, rooted in the family folklore of a journey with his grandmother.
“I came on this service for my 21st birthday, so I’ve always had this memory, and I bring this aspect to the job,” he says. “Now being here, five years into the role, I still feel that trip is so special.”
The sounds of classic jazz and swing-era hits mix with the whistles of train services and the rush of commuters at the British Pullman reception area near Victoria Station’s platform one.
Most of the guests travelling on the five-hour service had booked a popular interactive murder mystery experience, with professional actors flitting through the carriages, playing out the plot, while meals are served and the English countryside slides past. On this day, many have dressed in striped dresses and headbands popular in the era to get into the spirit of the day trip from the start.
The Celia carriage, as rendered by Luhrmann and Martin, comfortably accommodates 12 guests across its two sections. Hospitality packages can be designed to allow access to multiple carriages, depending on group size.
When Luhrmann first rode the Celia it was part of a star-studded gathering for British fashion week, with guests including former Vogue editor Anna Wintour, designer Stella McCartney and tennis great Roger Federer.
The Luhrmann commission is not the first Hollywood collaboration on the train. Midway along is the Cygnus carriage, which has been reimagined by director Wes Anderson, who is also the subject of a retrospective in London’s Design Museum this summer.
“What we tried to create here is something fun and playful, through his cinematic approach,” says Hill of the Anderson carriage. “We've got pink ceilings, gold leaf and all of the prints are exclusive to [Anderson] and [London department store] Liberty.”
Inspiration for Luhrmann and Martin’s design is the eponymous but fictional Celia, a West End actress in the 1930s who played Titania in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The scenes of celebrations on the Celia should bear out that sprite-like spirit. “Baz [Luhrmann] doesn't want it to be quiet,” says Hill. “He wants it to be fun from the beginning.”
Journeys aboard Celia carriage on The British Pullman, a Belmond Train, start at £17,500 ($23,600) for up to 12 guests; the murder mystery lunch on board the train starts at £585 per person
