THE ‘Kenny Belle’ (previously covered in the Railway Observer in a named trains article) was not a Pullman Train!
Richard Beeching in his plans for a lean, mean, profitable railway (also previously reported in the RO) meant chopping non-profitable lines. The report of modernising the railway highlighted that the closure should go ahead for the Clapham Junction to Kensington Olympia service, which was on the West London Extension Railway before being absorbed by the LSWR, Southern and later British Railways. It was pointed out that this unusual service was deemed ripe for closure as it was almost certainly unprofitable.
The Clapham Junction-Kensington Olympia service (the ‘Kenny Belle’ to its friends) was by no means an officially secret service, but it was by any definition a ‘Ghost Train’ because between 1955 and 1969 it received no mention in the official timetable and at the time of Beeching it consisted of just two trains a day each way. One morning at 08.05, a local user decided to do some research before the line was going to be closed and