[3] 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).

With the opening of a 20+1⁄4 mile shorter route[6] 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.

Additional slip coaches 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 Dainton and Rattery banks, the southern outliers of Dartmoor.

This allowed the train to travel to Plymouth without the need to stop to attach a pilot locomotive, use of slip coaches keeping the load below the 310 ton limit for the Castle Class.

Their introduction from 1927 allowed arrival in Plymouth to reach the 4 hour mark, although the increased weight of these locos prevented their use in Cornwall.

The King class were also permitted an increased maximum load of 360 tons between Newton Abbot and Plymouth; above this a stop was required to attach a pilot locomotive.

[7] In 1935, new coaches in the shape of the 9 ft 7 in (2.9 m) wide Centenary carriages,[8] but there were few other significant changes until World War II.

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.

Further cuts in time saw Plymouth being scheduled in 3 hours 35 minutes before the Westerns were withdrawn in 1977 to be replaced by Class 50 Diesel-electrics hauling Mark 2d/e/f air-conditioned coaches.

[9] During the early 1950s a King was the normal motive power for The Limited between Paddington and Plymouth, although with the advent of the BR Standard Britannia locomotives, these were also used.

[17] These however were not sufficiently reliable and D800 Warships began working the train by 1960, although the D600s, latterly shedded at Plymouth Laira and restricted in their range, could still be seen taking the service in Cornwall as late as 1961.

[citation needed] These sample timetables give an idea of how the speed and calling points of the train have changed over the years.

In 1928 a poster featuring a painting by Louis Burleigh Bruhl was issued to advertise both the book and the railway service.

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.