The Red Dragon (train)

Headboards

• 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 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.

  Modern-day railtours