45000 Royal Special Saloon
- a guest at the
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2012

The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust is pleased to announce that our Royal railway carriage – Special Saloon no.45000 - is making an exclusive appearance at the ‘Goodwood Festival of Speed’, being held this year from 28th June to 1st July at the Goodwood Estate, Chichester, West Sussex.
Saloon 45000 was requested by the event organisers to feature in a display of vehicles that have all been owned or used by Her Majesty the Queen to mark the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Saloon 45000 has been carefully transported by road to Goodwood for the event and will then be on static display alongside other vehicles with public access to the inside controlled by PRCLT volunteers, who will be looking after the vehicle during this rare outing. 
The saloon was built in 1920 for use by the Chairman of the London & North Western Railway Company - Sir Gilbert Henry Claughton. After being used for a special journey by The Prince of Wales in February 1928 (who subsequently became King Edward VIII before abdicating in December 1936), the carriage was used regularly by members of the Royal Family right up to 1989. It has been used many times by HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, including during Her Majesty’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 when it was used on two national tours around the UK.
Saloon 45000 was also used by Sir Winston Churchill both during the Second World War and as his personal accommodation during the run-up to the 1951 General Election, when he made a brief speaking tour in the north of England and Scotland.
After being withdrawn from service, Saloon 45000 suffered extensive damage due to unsuitable storage conditions. Since being acquired by The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust in 2003 much restoration work has been carried out, including over the last few years a skilled team of volunteers working hard to restore the interior of Saloon 45000. The display of the vehicle at this prestigious event will mark a great achievement by all those who have worked so hard to restore Saloon 45000 to its former glory.

Who could have imagined a 1920 LNWR Special Saloon stealing the show at the world’s biggest motor sport event? Yet that’s what’s happened at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust were approached earlier this year to see if their magnificent Royal Saloon no. 45000 was available for inclusion in the special 'Cartier Style et Luxe' enclosure at the event, celebrating Royal travel through the ages in this Diamond Jubilee year. The volunteer team working on the internal restoration of the vehicle worked hard to get it ready for the event – due to its size & weight it was transported to Goodwood by special low loader, to be in place before other exhibits.
Four of the restoration team staffed 45000 at the event, and were kept very busy by the 9000 or so visitors – from at least 23 countries - to the carriage over the four days. All visitors (& the organisers) praised the vehicle as a supreme example of a bygone age of luxury travel, and commented on the high standard of restoration. A favourite comment was that it was the star attraction of the event!

During the festival a television company used the coach for an interview with Lord March.

The above photo's record the arrival at Goodwood, preparation  by the exhibition staff, who installed stairs at each end of the vehicle, and the PRCLT volunteers who accompanied the vehicle throughout the visit. They were on hand to tell visitors of the history of 45000, spending four extremely long days working hard, so hard in fact, that they were unable to take a look at all the other events and attractions at the festival!

The four volunteers are captured standing with their charge in the photo immediately above.
Left to right: John Balls, Graham Pool, Ray Freeman and David Hipkiss.

Photo's: David Hipkiss