The Cornishman used to divide at Newton Abbott with the dropped coaches being taken on to Paignton and Kingswear (now the preserved Paignton & Kingswear Railway). But in summer months, this portion ran as a separate train, following the main train from Wolverhampton. This service is pictured in the charge of Hall class 4-6-0 no. 5992 Horton Hall (built in 1939) and seen approaching Teignmouth along the famous sea wall, in 1954. The smartly-dressed holidaymakers watch the train as it passes (photo: Ben Brooksbank)  


The first train to be officially named The Cornishman. This is the up (northbound) working, seen departing from Stratford upon Avon on 30th June 1952 behind Castle class 4-6-0 no. 4092 Dunraven Castle, which was built in 1925. The train is without the headboard which was not finished at the time although the coaches did carry The Cornishman roof boards (Photo: Brian England)  


During the 2006 Centenary Gala, Didcot Railway Centre loaned its Castle class 4-6-0 no. 5051 Earl Bathurst when it recalled memories of The Cornishman, carrying the headboard normally used on the 9.15 from Wolverhampton and 10.30 from Penzance. The engine is also bearing the ‘reporting number’ of that train. The locomotive is seen by the water tower at Toddington station: however, in the heyday of the service the express would have fleetingly thundered through the station at over 60mph (photo: Steve George)  

This is the first of an occasional series that will identify dates of milestones relating to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Fifty-nine years on 30^th June was when 'The Cornishman' express first ran from the Midlands via Stratford and Cheltenham to Cornwall. It was part of a drive by the new nationalised British Railways to introduce more glamour and excitement into train travel by naming some of the more important services.

'The Cornishman' was the only named dining-car express to operate on the former Great Western route over part of which the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway operates today. It departed 09.15 from Wolverhampton for Penzance, via Birmingham Snow Hill, Stratford, Cheltenham Malvern Road, Bristol, Taunton and Exeter. From there the train continued via Newton Abbot where coaches were left to go on to Kingswear, the main portion terminating at Penzance (where it arrived at 17.55). In the opposite direction, departure from Penzance was at 10.30, with a 19.28 arrival at Wolverhampton.

The train was almost always handled by Castle class 4-6-0s although Hall and County class 4-6-0s were sometimes used. In the peak summer months the service was so popular that relief trains were often necessary, particularly at weekends, when the Kingswear service ran as a separate train rather than the service being divided at Newton Abbott. In the summer there were also through coaches to Newquay. In September 1962, with the imminent closure of Wolverhampton Low Level station, the train was diverted over the former Midland route via Bromsgrove, starting from Sheffield and later Bradford. You can find out more about the through services on the Honeybourne line here.

The name 'The Cornishman' was taken from a broad-gauge Great Western express that ran from Paddington to Penzance. After the Great Western was re-gauged, the train continued to run until 1904, when it became known as the Cornish Riveria Express which, of course, is very well known and continues to operate to this day.