If you love rail travel, vintage class, sleuthing, mystery, and murder, the iconic British Pullman, A Belmond Train, has just the thing to scratch that itch. The historic train is offering a round-trip murder mystery day trip called ‘Dead on Time’ that takes you back to 1951 and plunges you deep into a British murder mystery.
The experience starts at 11 AM at the London Victoria Station, where vintage-attired musicians sing 50’s renditions of modern tunes until it’s time to board. Guests coming onboard the vintage British Pullman get transported into the era, complete with a champagne reception and a seat on an upholstered armchair, all surrounded by the restored art deco appeal of the vintage train carriage. The trip includes a seasonal menu of a five-course lunch, a selection of sommelier-selected wine, coffee, tea, and petits fours, and an immersive murder mystery to solve.
In an homage to the classic British thriller tradition, the ‘Dead on Time’ murder mystery, curated by Private Drama Events, has ten beautifully attired actors as ‘suspects’ visiting the 1951 Festival of Britain, where four British Pullman carriages had their debut. These characters in the intimate train setting aren’t always quite what they seem. As the train passes through a non-stop tour of the Kent countryside, you can use your clue sheet and detective skills to interview the suspects to try and solve the case. It’s not a play, so guests are encouraged to interact with the actors and ask questions, and there are prizes for the best detectives.
The restored vintage carriages on the British Pullman, and A Belmond Train are unique and each has a storied history. Some have been used extensively by the British royal family, others have carried personalities including President de Gaulle and Nikita Khrushchev, and two were part of Winston Churchill’s funeral train. One in particular, the Cygnus, was redesigned in cooperation with filmmaker Wes Anderson in 2021. The oldest carriage, Ibis, dates back to 1925, while others, like Audrey and Vera, survived bomb damage during air raids over London in 1940. There are four different carriage styles, seating between 20 and 25 passengers with various seating combinations made up of tables for two, three, and coupés that seat four.The British Pullman’s Moving Murder Mystery ‘Dead on Time’ is scheduled to run every two weeks until December 2023. You can book your trip at www.belmond.com, and the price per person starts at around $640.
