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''The Red Dragon'' is a named passenger train service operated by
''The Red Dragon'' was introduced by the
''The Red Dragon'' carried a variety of headboards, mostly of two designs.
*The first design was a BR Type 3 headboard, in black or red with polished aluminium lettering. This was introduced in the Summer of 1951. As for other headboards of the time, in the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
in England from Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...
to London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
.
History
''The Red Dragon'' was introduced by the Western Region of British Railways
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex- Great ...
on 5 June 1950, departing Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...
at 07:30 for London Paddington
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
, returning at 17:55. However in practice the main train started and terminated at Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
with only a through portion working west of there to Carmarthen. Haulage was by Castle class locomotives at first, then by BR Standard Class 7
The BR Standard Class 7, otherwise known as the ''Britannia'' Class, is a class of 4-6-2 ''Pacific'' steam locomotive designed under Robert Riddles for use by British Railways for mixed-traffic duties. 55 were constructed between 1951 and ...
''Britannias''. Both were supplied by Cardiff Canton MPD.
It was withdrawn on 12 June 1965. It was resurrected in 1983/84 as ''The Red Dragon Executive with InterCity 125
The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125New trai ...
s, becoming ''The Red Dragon Pullman'' in 1988.The Encyclopedia of Titled Trains ''The Railway Magazine
''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...
'' issue 1422 September 2019 page 79 It was withdrawn again, before being reintroduced by First Great Western
Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city ...
on 13 December 2009.Named trains back on the Great Western ''The Railway Magazine'' issue 1305 January 2010 page 11
As at July 2019, the name was carried by the 07:30 from Carmarthen and the 17:45 return operated by Class 800s.
Headboards
''The Red Dragon'' carried a variety of headboards, mostly of two designs.
*The first design was a BR Type 3 headboard, in black or red with polished aluminium lettering. This was introduced in the Summer of 1951. As for other headboards of the time, in the Coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
year of 1953 a crown crest was used temporarily.
*In 1956, a reversed style of painting was briefly used, with dark painted letters on a light background, still using the Type 3 design.
*The third style was the best known. Introduced in 1956 and used until 1962, it was one of the Western Region designs to recreate a sense of regional identity. The shape was a curved rectangle, without the cutouts to the upper corners. It was painted overall, cream with brown letters. In the upper centre a disc protruding above the main headboard carried a moulded figure of a red dragon.
* A final design was used experimentally in late 1961. This was one of the rectangular fibreglass lightweight plates, intended for diesel haulage.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Dragon Named passenger trains of British Rail Railway services introduced in 1950 1950 establishments in England