This endeavour for slow, deliberate restoration is echoed in The Chairman Train’s interior design. Sara Oliver, the brains behind the interiors, wanted to inject inspiration back into the old sleeper coaches. An ode to the gilded age of rail travel, carriages are a masterclass in decadent textures, colours and fabrics. Drawing rooms are upholstered in shades of deep, luxurious reds, burgundy, greens, framed on either end with handcrafted marquetry, Lutyens panelling and padded leather.
Suites are themed around quintessential British literature, bringing the magic of UK history to life with depictions of The Wind in the Willows, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Winnie-the-Pooh in the woodwork and furnishings. My room, Toad Hall, featured forest-green drapes, cushions adorned with a stitched map of the world within the story, scene-specific marquetry of Mole, Mr Toad and Badger and a stained-glass window starring mischievous Ratty in jewel-toned glory.
On one side of the train, a panoramic observation car is the perfect place to watch the world zoom by, or fling open the double doors to gaze out from the Juliet balcony. On the other end, the largest suite on board is a sprawling carriage featuring a spacious dressing room, a bathroom with a walk-in shower and two marble sinks, and a bedroom overlooking the rail tracks. In between the two, there are decadent drawing rooms with plump, velvet sofas and bookcases stacked with dusty old tomes (we spotted a first edition of Kipling’s Jungle Book and an early release of Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), a cocktail bar carriage complete with lacquered piano and marble-topped bar, and a majestic dining room with an impressive 16-seater dining table and moody low-lighting.
