I was first on board the UK’s only private train — here’s what surprised me most

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.