Cornish Riviera Express
Encyclopedia
The Cornish Riviera Express is a British express passenger train that has run between London and Penzance
in Cornwall
since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway
, the name Cornish Riviera Express has been applied to the late morning express train from London Paddington station
to Penzance station
continuously through nationalisation under British Rail
and privatisation under First Great Western
, only ceasing briefly during the two World Wars. The name is also applied to the late morning express train running in the opposite direction from Penzance to London. Through performance and publicity the Cornish Riviera Express has become one of the most famous named trains in the United Kingdom and is particularly renowned for the publicity employed by the GWR in the 1930s which elevated it to iconic status.
and 11:45 a.m. Flying Dutchman
, but these still took nine hours or more for the journey.
A new express service with limited stops was promoted by the Great Western Railway
, commencing on 1 July 1904. It left London at 10:10 a.m. and was timed to reach Penzance at 5:10 p.m. It conveyed six carriages to Penzance, including a dining car, and one more carriage for Falmouth
that was detached at Truro
then added to a branch train to complete its journey. Other stops were made at Plymouth North Road
(Devon
), Gwinear Road (for the Helston branch), and St Erth
(for the St Ives branch
). The return train from Penzance started at 10:00 a.m. and called additionally at Devonport
.
A public competition was announced in the August 1904 edition of the Railway Magazine to choose the name, the prize being three guineas (£3.15) . Among the 1,286 entries were two suggestions, The Cornish Riviera Limited and The Riviera Express, which were combined as The Cornish Riviera Express, although railwaymen tended to call it The Limited.
For the first two years, the new train ran only during the summer, but from the third year became a year-round feature of the timetable. With the opening of a 20¼ mile shorter route along the Langport and Castle Cary Railway in 1906, it was possible to start the train twenty minutes later from Paddington and still arrive in Penzance at the same time. New 68 foot (21 m) Concertina carriages were scheduled for the train at the same time. Additional slip coach
es were added to be dropped from the train on the move at various stations to serve holiday destinations such as Weymouth, Minehead
, Ilfracombe
, and Newquay
, and the train began to run non-stop to Newton Abbot
where a pilot engine was added for the climb over the southern outliers of Dartmoor
; the notorious banks of Dainton and Rattery. By the middle of World War I
the train had grown to 14 coaches, even running in two portions on summer Saturdays, but the train was suspended in January 1917 as a wartime economy measure.
Running of The Limited resumed in summer 1919 although a 60 mph blanket speed limit was still in force, and it wasn't until autumn 1921 that pre-war timings were reinstated. In 1923 new steel-panelled coaches and, more importantly the introduction of the Castle Class
locomotives, billed as the "most powerful locomotive in Britain". This allowed the train to travel to Plymouth
without the need to stop to attach a pilot locomotive
, use of slip coach
es keeping the load below the 310 ton limit for the Castle Class. However the pre-eminence of the Castle class did not last long as the Southern Railway
Lord Nelson class
of 1926 topped them for tractive effort, and so the King class
was developed, particularly with the heavy West-country holiday trains in mind. Their introduction from 1927 allowed arrival in Plymouth to reach the 4 hour mark, even with an increased load of 360 tons although the increased weight of these locos prevented their use in Cornwall.
1935 saw new coaches in the shape of the 9 feet 7 inch (2.9 m) wide Centenary carriages, but there were few other significant changes until World War II
. At the outbreak of war all trains to the West country were to travel via Bristol, and departure of the Cornish Riviera Limited was moved to 14:35, although this change only lasted until October when the departure time returned to 10:30 with Exeter as the first stop. By summer 1941 it seemed that everyone was taking their (brief) summer holidays in the West Country, and the Cornish Riviera Limited ran in five sections, to Penzance, Penzance, Paignton, Kingswear and Newton Abbot respectively. Ironically the Limited ran throughout the war, but was cancelled in the winter of 1946/47 due to a coal shortage, not being restored until the following summer although pre-war schedules were not regained until autumn 1955 by which time the railways had been nationalised and the 1955 Modernisation Plan had been published.
The service was dieselised in the late 1950s. D1000 Western
diesel-hydraulics introduced in 1964 could keep the four hour schedule to Plymouth even with a 500 ton train and an additional stop at Taunton. Further cuts in time saw Plymouth being scheduled in 3 hours 35 minutes before the Westerns were withdrawn in 1977 to be replaced by Class 50
Diesel-electrics hauling Mk2d/e/f
air-conditioned coaches. These were, in turn, replaced in autumn 1981 by HSTs
.
After rail privatisation, the service is now operated by First Great Western
, still using HSTs which are now undergoing refurbishment to see them past their quarter-century and within touching distance of the 31 years for which the King class were synonymous with the Cornish Riviera Limited.
The first trains were worked by City Class
4-4-0
steam locomotives, including 3433 City of Bath which worked the special demonstration train on June 30, 1904 that took the coaches down ready for the first public train the following day. Some trains in the early days were worked by larger 4-6-0
Saint Class
locomotives.
1907 saw the introduction of Star Class
4-6-0s to the Cornish Riviera, which in turn were superseded by Castle Class
4-6-0s in 1924. Locomotives were usually changed at Plymouth, the train being worked through Cornwall by a local locomotive - a City or Duke class
or later, a Hall Class
4-6-0. In 1927 the train became the responsibility of the new King Class
4-6-0s, but these were too large to cross the Royal Albert Bridge
into Cornwall. In 1952 BR Britannia Class
4-6-2
s worked the train west of Plymouth for a short period.
At various times visiting locomotives have been tested on this demanding roster. LNER A1 Class
4-6-2 4474 Victor Wild saw trials in 1925, and then in 1948 and 1955 ex-LMSR Princess Coronation Class
4-6-2s were similarly tried; on the second occasion the locomotive was 46237 City of Bristol. In 1956 the Kings were temporarily withdrawn for modifications, their place being taken on the Cornish Riviera by ex-LMSR Princess Royal
and Princess Coronation class 4-6-2s 46207 Princess Arthur or Connaught, 46210 Lady Patricia, 46254 City of Stoke-on-Trent, and 46257 City of Salford.
In 1958 diesel traction took over on The Limited in the shape of the D600 Warships
. These however were not sufficiently reliable and D800 Warships
were working the train throughout by 1960. D1000 Western Class
locomotives took over in 1964 but the D800s returned in 1968 - 1970, now working in pairs. Westerns were not fitted for electric train heating and so were replaced by Class 50
locomotives when air-conditioned Mk2
carriages were introduced in 1975 and although these were initially unnamed, they were soon given names of warships, some of which were once carried by the earlier Warship classes. Class 47
diesel-electrics also appeared from time to time throughout the 1970s.
The last locomotive hauled Cornish Riviera ran on 5 August 1979 hauled by 50039 Implacable; the following day High Speed Train
s were introduced powered by Class 43
power cars. These HSTs continue to be used with very little change in formation or performance.
♣ Now named Bodmin Parkway
campaign using the slogan See your own country first likened the climate to that of Italy
and featured maps of Cornwall and that country which were arranged to show the similarity of the shape of the respective country and county. Postcard
s were also produced showing local views and a map of the "Cornish Riviera".
A series of books entitled The Cornish Riviera were published. The first was a 152 page book in 1904 - the first ever published by the railway company - written by A.M. Broadley, and revised several times, a total of five editions being published up until 1926. An abridged 36 page booklet was also produced for free overseas distribution. In 1928 a new version of the book, written by SPB Mais
made its first appearance, with revised editions published in 1929 and 1934.
Other publicity featuring the Cornish Riviera Express were a jigsaw
and a lantern-slide lecture which could be hired for shows to interested groups around the country.
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, the name Cornish Riviera Express has been applied to the late morning express train from London Paddington station
Paddington station
Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates...
to Penzance station
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is about five hours....
continuously through nationalisation under British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
and privatisation under First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
, only ceasing briefly during the two World Wars. The name is also applied to the late morning express train running in the opposite direction from Penzance to London. Through performance and publicity the Cornish Riviera Express has become one of the most famous named trains in the United Kingdom and is particularly renowned for the publicity employed by the GWR in the 1930s which elevated it to iconic status.
History
Through trains from Paddington to Penzance began running on 1 March 1867 and included fast services such as the 10:15 a.m. CornishmanCornishman (GWR)
The Cornishman was a British express passenger train to Penzance in Cornwall. From its inception in the 19th century until before World War II it originated in London...
and 11:45 a.m. Flying Dutchman
Flying Dutchman (train)
The Flying Dutchman was a named passenger train service from London Paddington to Exeter. It ran from 1849 until 1892, originally over the Great Western Railway and then the Bristol and Exeter Railway. As the GWR expanded, the destination of the train changed to Plymouth and briefly to .-Early...
, but these still took nine hours or more for the journey.
A new express service with limited stops was promoted by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, commencing on 1 July 1904. It left London at 10:10 a.m. and was timed to reach Penzance at 5:10 p.m. It conveyed six carriages to Penzance, including a dining car, and one more carriage for Falmouth
Falmouth Docks railway station
Falmouth Docks station in Falmouth, Cornwall is the terminus of the Maritime Line to Truro, the services are operated by First Great Western.-History:...
that was detached at Truro
Truro railway station
Truro Station serves the city of Truro, Cornwall, UK. It is the situated on the Cornish Main Line and is the junction for the Maritime Line to Falmouth. The station is operated by First Great Western....
then added to a branch train to complete its journey. Other stops were made at Plymouth North Road
Plymouth railway station
Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is situated on the northern edge of the city centre close to the North Cross roundabout...
(Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
), Gwinear Road (for the Helston branch), and St Erth
St Erth railway station
St Erth railway station is situated at Rose-an-Grouse in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It serves the nearby village of St Erth, which is about away, and is the junction for the St Ives Bay Line to St Ives.-History:...
(for the St Ives branch
St Ives Bay Line
The St Ives Bay Line is a railway line from to in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It was opened in 1877, the last new broad gauge passenger railway to be constructed in the country...
). The return train from Penzance started at 10:00 a.m. and called additionally at Devonport
Devonport railway station
Devonport railway station serves the Devonport area of Plymouth, Devon, England. The station is west of Plymouth railway station on the Cornish Main Line. It is operated by First Great Western.-History:...
.
A public competition was announced in the August 1904 edition of the Railway Magazine to choose the name, the prize being three guineas (£3.15) . Among the 1,286 entries were two suggestions, The Cornish Riviera Limited and The Riviera Express, which were combined as The Cornish Riviera Express, although railwaymen tended to call it The Limited.
For the first two years, the new train ran only during the summer, but from the third year became a year-round feature of the timetable. With the opening of a 20¼ mile shorter route along the Langport and Castle Cary Railway in 1906, it was possible to start the train twenty minutes later from Paddington and still arrive in Penzance at the same time. New 68 foot (21 m) Concertina carriages were scheduled for the train at the same time. Additional slip coach
Slip coach
A slip coach or slip carriage is a British and Irish railway term for passenger rolling stock that is uncoupled from an express train while the train is in motion, then slowed by a guard in the coach using a hand brake, bringing it to a stop at the next station. The coach was thus said to be...
es were added to be dropped from the train on the move at various stations to serve holiday destinations such as Weymouth, Minehead
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
, Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England with a small harbour, surrounded by cliffs.The parish stretches along the coast from 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and 4 miles along The Torrs to Lee Bay toward the west...
, and Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
, and the train began to run non-stop to Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot railway station
Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line via the Reading to Taunton line, at the junction for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead and the site of a large locomotive...
where a pilot engine was added for the climb over the southern outliers of Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
; the notorious banks of Dainton and Rattery. By the middle of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the train had grown to 14 coaches, even running in two portions on summer Saturdays, but the train was suspended in January 1917 as a wartime economy measure.
Running of The Limited resumed in summer 1919 although a 60 mph blanket speed limit was still in force, and it wasn't until autumn 1921 that pre-war timings were reinstated. In 1923 new steel-panelled coaches and, more importantly the introduction of the Castle Class
GWR 4073 Class
The GWR 4073 Class or Castle class locomotives are a group of 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway. They were originally designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains.-History:A development of the earlier...
locomotives, billed as the "most powerful locomotive in Britain". This allowed the train to travel to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
without the need to stop to attach a pilot locomotive
Pilot (locomotive)
In railroading, the pilot is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles from the track that might otherwise derail the train. In some countries it is also called cowcatcher or cattle catcher....
, use of slip coach
Slip coach
A slip coach or slip carriage is a British and Irish railway term for passenger rolling stock that is uncoupled from an express train while the train is in motion, then slowed by a guard in the coach using a hand brake, bringing it to a stop at the next station. The coach was thus said to be...
es keeping the load below the 310 ton limit for the Castle Class. However the pre-eminence of the Castle class did not last long as the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
Lord Nelson class
SR Lord Nelson Class
The SR class LN or Lord Nelson class is a type of 4-cylinder 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for the Southern Railway by Richard Maunsell in 1926. They were intended for Continental boat trains between London and Dover harbour, but were also later used for express passenger work to the South-West...
of 1926 topped them for tractive effort, and so the King class
GWR 6000 Class
The Great Western Railway 6000 Class or King is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. With the exception of one Pacific , they were the largest locomotives the GWR built. They were named after kings of the United Kingdom and of England, beginning with the reigning...
was developed, particularly with the heavy West-country holiday trains in mind. Their introduction from 1927 allowed arrival in Plymouth to reach the 4 hour mark, even with an increased load of 360 tons although the increased weight of these locos prevented their use in Cornwall.
1935 saw new coaches in the shape of the 9 feet 7 inch (2.9 m) wide Centenary carriages, but there were few other significant changes until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. At the outbreak of war all trains to the West country were to travel via Bristol, and departure of the Cornish Riviera Limited was moved to 14:35, although this change only lasted until October when the departure time returned to 10:30 with Exeter as the first stop. By summer 1941 it seemed that everyone was taking their (brief) summer holidays in the West Country, and the Cornish Riviera Limited ran in five sections, to Penzance, Penzance, Paignton, Kingswear and Newton Abbot respectively. Ironically the Limited ran throughout the war, but was cancelled in the winter of 1946/47 due to a coal shortage, not being restored until the following summer although pre-war schedules were not regained until autumn 1955 by which time the railways had been nationalised and the 1955 Modernisation Plan had been published.
The service was dieselised in the late 1950s. D1000 Western
British Rail Class 52
British Rail assigned Class 52 to the class of 74 large Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964...
diesel-hydraulics introduced in 1964 could keep the four hour schedule to Plymouth even with a 500 ton train and an additional stop at Taunton. Further cuts in time saw Plymouth being scheduled in 3 hours 35 minutes before the Westerns were withdrawn in 1977 to be replaced by Class 50
British Rail Class 50
The British Rail Class 50 is a diesel locomotive built from 1967-68 by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry Works in Newton-le-Willows. Fifty of these locomotives were built to haul express passenger trains on the, then non-electrified, section of the West Coast Main Line between Crewe,...
Diesel-electrics hauling Mk2d/e/f
British Rail Mark 2
The Mark 2 family of railway carriages were British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops between 1964 and 1975...
air-conditioned coaches. These were, in turn, replaced in autumn 1981 by HSTs
InterCity 125
The InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rail's High Speed Train fleet. The InterCity 125 train is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of Mark 3 carriages, and is capable of , making the train the fastest diesel-powered locomotive in regular service in the...
.
After rail privatisation, the service is now operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
, still using HSTs which are now undergoing refurbishment to see them past their quarter-century and within touching distance of the 31 years for which the King class were synonymous with the Cornish Riviera Limited.
Motive power
GWR 3700 Class
The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains.-Construction:...
4-4-0
4-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
steam locomotives, including 3433 City of Bath which worked the special demonstration train on June 30, 1904 that took the coaches down ready for the first public train the following day. Some trains in the early days were worked by larger 4-6-0
4-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
Saint Class
GWR 2900 Class
The Great Western Railway 2900 or Saint Class were a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives for passenger train work. Number 2925 Saint Martin was later rebuilt as the prototype Hall Class locomotive, and renumbered 4900.-Prototypes:...
locomotives.
1907 saw the introduction of Star Class
GWR 4000 Class
A Star class locomotive was a particular type of steam locomotive of the Great Western Railway. The prototype was an experimental locomotive, North Star , constructed with the 'Atlantic' 4-4-2 wheel arrangement for comparative trials with 4-cylinder compound locomotives of the de Glehn type that...
4-6-0s to the Cornish Riviera, which in turn were superseded by Castle Class
GWR 4073 Class
The GWR 4073 Class or Castle class locomotives are a group of 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway. They were originally designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains.-History:A development of the earlier...
4-6-0s in 1924. Locomotives were usually changed at Plymouth, the train being worked through Cornwall by a local locomotive - a City or Duke class
GWR 3252 Class
The Great Western Railway Duke Class 4-4-0 steam locomotives for passenger train work, built in five batches between 1895 and 1899 for express working in Devon and Cornwall. William Dean was their designer, possibly with the collaboration of his assistant, George Jackson Churchward...
or later, a Hall Class
GWR 4900 Class
The Great Western Railway 4900 Class or Hall Class is a class of 4-6-0 mixed traffic steam locomotives designed by Charles Collett. A total of 259 were built, numbered 4900–4999, 5900–5999 and 6900–6958. The LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 and LNER Thompson Class B1 both drew heavily on design features...
4-6-0. In 1927 the train became the responsibility of the new King Class
GWR 6000 Class
The Great Western Railway 6000 Class or King is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. With the exception of one Pacific , they were the largest locomotives the GWR built. They were named after kings of the United Kingdom and of England, beginning with the reigning...
4-6-0s, but these were too large to cross the Royal Albert Bridge
Royal Albert Bridge
The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge that spans the River Tamar in the United Kingdom between Plymouth, on the Devon bank, and Saltash on the Cornish bank. Its unique design consists of two lenticular iron trusses above the water, with conventional plate-girder approach spans. This gives...
into Cornwall. In 1952 BR Britannia Class
BR standard class 7 70000 Britannia
British Railways standard class 7 , number 70000 Britannia is a preserved steam locomotive.-British Railways:...
4-6-2
4-6-2
4-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
s worked the train west of Plymouth for a short period.
At various times visiting locomotives have been tested on this demanding roster. LNER A1 Class
LNER Class A1/A3
The London and North Eastern Railway LNER Gresley Classes A1 and A3 locomotives represented two distinct stages in the history of the British 4-6-2 "Pacific" steam locomotives designed by Nigel Gresley...
4-6-2 4474 Victor Wild saw trials in 1925, and then in 1948 and 1955 ex-LMSR Princess Coronation Class
LMS Princess Coronation Class
The London Midland and Scottish Railway Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged version of the LMS Princess Royal Class. Several examples were originally built as streamlined, though this was later removed...
4-6-2s were similarly tried; on the second occasion the locomotive was 46237 City of Bristol. In 1956 the Kings were temporarily withdrawn for modifications, their place being taken on the Cornish Riviera by ex-LMSR Princess Royal
LMS Princess Royal Class
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Princess Royal Class is a class of an express passenger steam locomotive designed by William Stanier. They were Pacifics...
and Princess Coronation class 4-6-2s 46207 Princess Arthur or Connaught, 46210 Lady Patricia, 46254 City of Stoke-on-Trent, and 46257 City of Salford.
In 1958 diesel traction took over on The Limited in the shape of the D600 Warships
British Rail Class 41 (Warship Class)
The British Railways Class D600 diesel-hydraulic locomotives were built by the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow during 1957 and 1958. Although never assigned a TOPS class as they were withdrawn before TOPS was introduced British Loco enthusiasts coined the term "Class 41"...
. These however were not sufficiently reliable and D800 Warships
British Rail Class 42
British Railways' Type 4 Warship class diesel-hydraulic locomotives were introduced in 1958. It was apparent at that time that the largest centre of expertise on diesel-hydraulic locomotives was in Germany...
were working the train throughout by 1960. D1000 Western Class
British Rail Class 52
British Rail assigned Class 52 to the class of 74 large Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964...
locomotives took over in 1964 but the D800s returned in 1968 - 1970, now working in pairs. Westerns were not fitted for electric train heating and so were replaced by Class 50
British Rail Class 50
The British Rail Class 50 is a diesel locomotive built from 1967-68 by English Electric at their Vulcan Foundry Works in Newton-le-Willows. Fifty of these locomotives were built to haul express passenger trains on the, then non-electrified, section of the West Coast Main Line between Crewe,...
locomotives when air-conditioned Mk2
British Rail Mark 2
The Mark 2 family of railway carriages were British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops between 1964 and 1975...
carriages were introduced in 1975 and although these were initially unnamed, they were soon given names of warships, some of which were once carried by the earlier Warship classes. Class 47
British Rail Class 47
The British Rail Class 47, is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. A total of 512 Class 47s were built at Crewe Works and Brush's Falcon Works, Loughborough between 1962 and 1968, which made them the most numerous class of British...
diesel-electrics also appeared from time to time throughout the 1970s.
The last locomotive hauled Cornish Riviera ran on 5 August 1979 hauled by 50039 Implacable; the following day High Speed Train
High Speed Train
There are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....
s were introduced powered by Class 43
British Rail Class 43 (HST)
The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982....
power cars. These HSTs continue to be used with very little change in formation or performance.
Nameplate
The nameplate design for the 1958 Diesel was based on the Cornish Riviera Limited nameplate and was drawn in 1957 by Tom Stanton, aged 26 at the Swindon Drawing Office.Sample timetables
These sample timetables give an idea of how the speed and calling points of the train have changed over the years. Times are for the London to Penzance service on Mondays to Fridays. Slip coaches and other portions detached from the main train are not included.| Date | July 1904 |
Oct. 1920 |
Sep. 1940 |
June 1965 |
Sep. 1987 |
Dec. |
| Typical motive power |
City GWR 3700 Class The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains.-Construction:... & Duke GWR 3252 Class The Great Western Railway Duke Class 4-4-0 steam locomotives for passenger train work, built in five batches between 1895 and 1899 for express working in Devon and Cornwall. William Dean was their designer, possibly with the collaboration of his assistant, George Jackson Churchward... |
Star GWR 4000 Class A Star class locomotive was a particular type of steam locomotive of the Great Western Railway. The prototype was an experimental locomotive, North Star , constructed with the 'Atlantic' 4-4-2 wheel arrangement for comparative trials with 4-cylinder compound locomotives of the de Glehn type that... & Mogul GWR 4300 Class The Great Western Railway 4300 Class is a class of 2-6-0 steam locomotive.- Overview :The class was introduced in 1911 to a G.J. Churchward design. 342 were built until 1932... |
King GWR 6000 Class The Great Western Railway 6000 Class or King is a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotive designed for express passenger work. With the exception of one Pacific , they were the largest locomotives the GWR built. They were named after kings of the United Kingdom and of England, beginning with the reigning... & Castle GWR 4073 Class The GWR 4073 Class or Castle class locomotives are a group of 4-6-0 steam locomotives of the Great Western Railway. They were originally designed by the railway's Chief Mechanical Engineer, Charles Collett, for working the company's express passenger trains.-History:A development of the earlier... |
Western British Rail Class 52 British Rail assigned Class 52 to the class of 74 large Type 4 diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964... |
HST British Rail Class 43 (HST) The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982.... |
HST British Rail Class 43 (HST) The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982.... |
| London Paddington Paddington station Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates... |
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| Reading Reading railway station Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames... |
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| Taunton Taunton railway station Taunton railway station is a junction station on the route from London to Penzance, from London Paddington station. It is situated in Taunton, Somerset, England and is operated by First Great Western... |
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| Exeter St Davids Exeter St Davids railway station Exeter St Davids station is the most important of seven National Rail stations in the city of Exeter in southwest England. Today the station is owned by Network Rail and operated by First Great Western.-History:... |
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| Newton Abbot Newton Abbot railway station Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. It is from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line via the Reading to Taunton line, at the junction for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead and the site of a large locomotive... |
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| Plymouth North Road Plymouth railway station Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is situated on the northern edge of the city centre close to the North Cross roundabout... |
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| Devonport Devonport railway station Devonport railway station serves the Devonport area of Plymouth, Devon, England. The station is west of Plymouth railway station on the Cornish Main Line. It is operated by First Great Western.-History:... |
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| Liskeard Liskeard railway station Liskeard station serves the town of Liskeard in Cornwall, England. The station is west of Plymouth on the Cornish Main Line and it is the junction for the Looe Valley Line.-History:-Cornwall Railway:... |
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| Bodmin Road Bodmin Parkway railway station Bodmin Parkway railway station is a station on the Cornish Main Line and serves the nearby town of Bodmin, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is west of , in the civil parish of St Winnow.... ♣ |
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| Par Par railway station Par Station is a railway station serving the village and port of Par, Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. It is the junction for the Atlantic Coast Line to Newquay. The station is operated by First Great Western, and served by trains operated by both First Great Western and... |
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| St Austell St Austell railway station St Austell Station serves the town of St Austell, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is operated by First Great Western, as is every other station in Cornwall.... |
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| Truro Truro railway station Truro Station serves the city of Truro, Cornwall, UK. It is the situated on the Cornish Main Line and is the junction for the Maritime Line to Falmouth. The station is operated by First Great Western.... |
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| Redruth Redruth railway station Redruth Station serves the town of Redruth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is operated by First Great Western as is every other station in Cornwall.-First station:Located at ... |
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| Camborne Camborne railway station Camborne railway station serves the town of Camborne, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has been in use since 1843 and is currently operated by First Great Western. Services are provided by First Great Western and CrossCountry.-History:... |
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| Gwinear Road | 16:46 | 17:30 | 16:35 | closed | closed | closed |
| Hayle Hayle railway station Hayle railway station serves the town of Hayle, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is operated by First Great Western and is on the Cornish Main Line north east of .-History:... |
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| St Erth St Erth railway station St Erth railway station is situated at Rose-an-Grouse in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It serves the nearby village of St Erth, which is about away, and is the junction for the St Ives Bay Line to St Ives.-History:... |
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| Penzance Penzance railway station Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is about five hours.... |
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| Journey time | 7hr 0 m | 6hr 45 m | 6hr 30 m | 6hr 30 m | 4hr 56 m | 5hr 5 m |
♣ Now named Bodmin Parkway
Publicity
In addition to the Cornish Riviera Express, the Great Western Railway promoted the "Cornish Riviera" in other ways. A posterPoster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
campaign using the slogan See your own country first likened the climate to that of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and featured maps of Cornwall and that country which were arranged to show the similarity of the shape of the respective country and county. Postcard
Postcard
A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
s were also produced showing local views and a map of the "Cornish Riviera".
A series of books entitled The Cornish Riviera were published. The first was a 152 page book in 1904 - the first ever published by the railway company - written by A.M. Broadley, and revised several times, a total of five editions being published up until 1926. An abridged 36 page booklet was also produced for free overseas distribution. In 1928 a new version of the book, written by SPB Mais
Petre Mais
Stuart Petre Brodie Mais was a prolific British author, journalist and broadcaster. The son of a Bristolian rector, he was born in Birmingham but raised in Tansley, Derbyshire, where his family moved shortly afterwards. He was educated at Denstone College, Staffordshire...
made its first appearance, with revised editions published in 1929 and 1934.
Other publicity featuring the Cornish Riviera Express were a jigsaw
Jigsaw
Jigsaw may refer to:* Jigsaw , a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves* Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces- Film and television :* Jigsaw , a 1949 film noir...
and a lantern-slide lecture which could be hired for shows to interested groups around the country.