We're pleased to let you know that the newly tooled range of K-Type Pullman Coaches from Revolution Trains in N Gauge are now available to pre-order here at Rails of Sheffield!

These brand new models will present the 1928-built all-steel K-Type Pullman Coaches produced by Metropolitan Cammell. Revolution are including 5 body types in the range including Kitchen 1st & 3rds, Parlour 1st & 3rds and Parlour Brake 3rds - and all will be offered in train packs to allow prototypical formations to be assembled with ease! 

Revolution promise their usual high levels of detail and the models will also include full interior lighting, even including working table lamps. Later VSOE/ British Pullman pack versions will contain the modern variations of these coaches complete with Gresley bogies and underframe trussing.

We expect the models to arrive in stock during Q1/ Q2 2027.

The 1928 K-types built by Metropolitan-Cammell in Birmingham were the first all-steel Pullman cars. They had no need for conventional truss bars and this, combined with their smooth sides compared to the matchboard wooden planking of their predecessors, gave them a sleek and modern appearance.

The eight Kitchen First cars were named BELINDA, NILAR, PHYLLIS, THELMA, EVADNE, IONE, JOAN and LORAINE, while the seven Parlour First cars were named AGATHA, SHEILA, EUNICE, JUANA, LUCILLE, URSULA and ZENA. The eighteen third class cars were numbered from 67-84 and were a mixture of Third Kitchen, Parlour and Brake cars.

Thirty-three were constructed, and on introduction were split between the LNER’s prestigious Queen of Scots, and the GWR (Torquay Pullman Limited and Plymouth Ocean Liner Express). 3 years after introduction the GWR’s Pullmans were transferred to the Southern Railway where they ran on the Bournemouth Belle and Ocean Liner Express.

Pullman services were halted during WW2 and BR reintroduced Pullman services in 1948 with services such as: Queen of Scots; Tees-Tyne Pullman; Yorkshire Pullman; Master Cutler; South Wales Pullman; Devon Belle; and the Bournemouth Belle (all of which featured all-steel K-type Pullmans at various stages).

In later years the arrival of the Mk1 Pullmans in the early 1960s saw them released to the Southern region, however some of the brake third cars continued in use on the East Coast (along with Brake Second cars converted from Kitchen Third cars) as no Mk1 brakes had been constructed.

After withdrawal several K-types passed into preservation or private ownership. From the 1980s-late 1990s five were acquired by VSOE, now Belmond British Pullman, and restored with Gresley heavyweight bogies and underframe strengthening trusses.

Three – IONE, LUCILLE and ZENA – remain in regular service and, now approaching 100 years old, continue to offer their passengers the zenith of rail luxury and style.