Northerner (train)
Encyclopedia
The Northerner was an overnight passenger train between Wellington
and Auckland
in New Zealand
. Originally numbered 227 southbound and 626 northbound, it replaced the unnamed and less revered ordinary express trains supplementing the luxurious Silver Star (later the Eastern & Oriental Express ), which had replaced the Night Limited
in 1971. The Northerner operated from Monday, November 3, 1975 to Friday, November 12, 2004.
Overnight services between Auckland and Wellington began in 1908 when the line between the two cities was completed. The inaugural trip took Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward
and other Members of Parliament to Auckland to greet the American Pacific Fleet
.
diesel-electric locomotives
. With the introduction of the Northerner branding, DX class
locomotives were assigned to the train's haulage. From the 1990s onwards, DF class
locomotives were used infrequently, and, on a more permanent basis DC class
locomotives were used.
s that dated from 1937-40. Ten cars were built as two-lavatory 31-seat first class cars, later designated North Island Main Trunk first class cars, for expresses on this route, two (with staff/hostess compartments retained and augmented) as the South Island Main Trunk
Main South Line
single-lavatory 29 seat equivalent, along with four 16-berth sleeping cars. In their refurbished form, the day cars seated 30 in the same type of "bucket" seat and the day cars with staff compartments seated 25. The sleeping cars still each accommodated 16 (2 berths in 8 cabins).
Three dining cars were created from 1960s built 60 feet (18.3 m) long (18.288-m) aluminium-sheathed Railway Travelling Post Office vans. These vehicles each seated 40 in tip-up bench-type seats, each for two persons, arranged in bays of four, alcove-style, across tables. Larger kitchens were built due to the extra length provided by these vehicles.
Three matching 56 feet (17.1 m) guard's vans were also heavily overhauled and, due to their role as luggage vans, were fitted with Japanese Kinki-Sharyo manufactured bogies, classed X27250 by NZR, out from under the three 60 ft (18.3 m) postal vans, these bogies being of a more modern design than those under carriages at the time and suited for heavier stock.
Four 1960s built 50 feet (15.2 m) steam-heating vans (with the same base design and bogies as the postal vans) built to facilitate heating the carriages of both the Night Limiteds and "Ordinary Expresses" when diesel-electric locomotives displaced steam locomotives on the NIMT, three 50 ft (15.2 m) wooden box wagons turned postal vans, five more turned parcels vans and four more steel box wagons turned parcel vans completed the consist. The eight parcel vehicles were replaced by 15 box wagons of a more modern design turned parcels vans in the 1980s.
The Northerner was the first of the substantially overhauled carriage trains to be fitted with a new type of bogie of Korean manufacture, which offered a superior quality ride to its Timken
-built predecessors, classed X25330. The new bogies, classed X28020 by NZR, were based on the Kinki bogies as well as bogies, classed X28250 by NZR, used underneath the Silver Star cars. Substantial work was carried out on all 19 carriage underframes to facilitate the 38 bogies' placement underneath. The underframes were raised to make easier the fitting of the newer bogies, and drawgear lowered the same distance.
Following a government decision that operating subsidies for long distance passenger trains would cease, Sunday, 26 April 1987 saw dining cars, sleeping cars, nearly 100 jobs and $4 million in operating costs removed from this service and until Sunday, 20 March 1988, the train offered a "biscuits and fruit juice" fare served from the guards van.
The train was re-equipped with 8 Southerner cars (former Main South Line first-class cars) and two former FM
-class guards vans of a modular design, one from Mitsubishi
, the other from Daewoo
, turned into power-luggage vans with handbrake end-mounted 11 kW generators. The Northerner service seated 53 or 45 per car to compensate for reduced carriages in reclining road coach-style seats as opposed to 30 or 25. From its inception, it also included in the two catering cars and, in 1992, in the two 37-seat cars to retain their coupe compartments when three trainsets were made available, video entertainment, comprising a large screen GoldStar
television at one edge of the carriage showing movies with the sound piped throughout the carriage. The 15 parcels wagons remained dedicated to the service till 1991, when Speedlink Parcels was sold to New Zealand Post
, some still bearing the old yellow Northerner livery.
Sunday 15 April 1991, saw two full buffet cars, both from the original Southerner, one being, prior to that, a 56 feet (17.1 m) kitchen and dining car to the North Island 55 feet (16.8 m) Vice-Regal car http://www.history.net.nz/media/interactive/vice-regal-car-ni for the Governor-General
of the day, returned to the train as part of an attempt to attract more patronage, along with a faster timetable and reduced seating (41-43 or 37 per car) to give passengers more legroom and line seats up with windows. This coincided with one car and one catering car leaving the Northerner to join the new Capital Connection service.
in the red band. In 1991, the red band was replaced by a yellow 100 mm band, to facilitate the transfer of rail services from the New Zealand Railways Corporation to New Zealand Rail Limited. In 1993, as panorama cars entered the night-time run, a 100 mm green band replaced the yellow one on carriage sides. When New Zealand Rail was renamed Tranz Rail
a new light blue 350 mm stripe bearing the Tranz Scenic logo appeared on the cars, until the stripe and the retained dark blue livery was replaced by an overall light blue paint scheme in 1999. The Tranz Scenic logo remained.
Silver Fern
railcar
s were employed to operate the daytime equivalent of the Northerner, and when one derailed in 1989, a replacement carriage train was established as a temporary replacement. Two Northerner cars, along with the Railfreight Systems business car (originally a Northerner dining car), and the first of three modular vans utilised on the reinstated Endeavour
now fitted with 11 kW end-mounted generator and painted InterCity blue to match, were assembled into what was the second incarnation of the Blue Fern
.
Connoisseurs
car were added to provide extra viewing opportunities. The daylight services were named the Overlander Expresses.
During the transition period, the former Vice-Regal car turned Southerner buffet car was refitted in 1993 with shorter buffet counter and 24 seats of the type designed by Addington Workshops
, arranged alcove-style to replace the long counter and 20 associated stools and was returned to the NIMT. Also, the TranzAlpine rear-view car had seats and tables removed, replaced by 39 seats of the same design as the refurbished Wairarapa cars, arranged forward-facing.
trains were refitted to match, with new 90 kW generators for increased facilities onboard. In 1994, the second of the two Bay Express vans and an Auckland suburban van were similarly fitted, while in 1997, one of the first two modular Northerner power/baggage vans returned, but with a 90 kW generator.
More recently, the 1997-refitted Bay Express servery/observation/rear view car and its two "new" running mates, refitted 1995, were added when the Napier return service was cancelled in October 2001.
Today, the first exclusive NIMT rear view car and its matching full-length day car are withdrawn, and as of April 17, 2009, were still stored at Hutt Railway Workshops, along with the second of the original two TranzAlpine / TranzCoastal servery observation cars, as the Overlander continues with its other six cars and the three Bay Express cars. From time to time over the last few years, the Corporate Business cars (formerly the first and third of three original Northerner dining cars) have also been used.
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Originally numbered 227 southbound and 626 northbound, it replaced the unnamed and less revered ordinary express trains supplementing the luxurious Silver Star (later the Eastern & Oriental Express ), which had replaced the Night Limited
Night Limited
The Night Limited was an express passenger train that operated in New Zealand between Wellington and Auckland, utilising the entire length of the North Island Main Trunk...
in 1971. The Northerner operated from Monday, November 3, 1975 to Friday, November 12, 2004.
Overnight services between Auckland and Wellington began in 1908 when the line between the two cities was completed. The inaugural trip took Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward
Joseph Ward
Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, GCMG was the 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the early 20th century.-Early life:...
and other Members of Parliament to Auckland to greet the American Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
.
Motive Power
Prior to 3 November 1975, the pre-Northerners were hauled by DA classNZR DA class
The NZR Da diesel-electric mainline locomotive class ran on the New Zealand railway system between 1955 and 1989. With 146 locomotives, it was the most numerous class to operate in New Zealand, just five more than the AB class steam locomotive....
diesel-electric locomotives
Diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
. With the introduction of the Northerner branding, DX class
NZR DX class
The NZR DX class is a class of 49 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives that currently operates on New Zealand's national railway network.Built by General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, they were introduced to New Zealand between 1972 and 1976. The class is based on the General Electric...
locomotives were assigned to the train's haulage. From the 1990s onwards, DF class
NZR DF class (1979)
The NZR DF class of 1979 is a class of 30 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives built by General Motors Diesel of Canada between 1979 and 1981. Between 1992 and 1997, all the locomotives were rebuilt as the DFT class, a turbocharged version of the DF....
locomotives were used infrequently, and, on a more permanent basis DC class
NZR DC class
The NZR DC class locomotive is the most common class of locomotive currently in operation on the New Zealand rail network. Primarily employed to haul freight trains operated by KiwiRail, the class is also used for long-distance passenger trains operated by Tranz Scenic and suburban passenger trains...
locomotives were used.
Rolling stock
The train used extensively refurbished NZR 56-foot carriageNZR 56-foot carriage
The NZR 56-foot carriage is a class of 17.07m-long railway passenger car formerly used on almost all long-distance rail transport in New Zealand, and still in service. Some have been preserved.-1927: Prototypes:...
s that dated from 1937-40. Ten cars were built as two-lavatory 31-seat first class cars, later designated North Island Main Trunk first class cars, for expresses on this route, two (with staff/hostess compartments retained and augmented) as the South Island Main Trunk
South Island Main Trunk Railway
The Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch and the Main South Line between Lyttelton and Invercargill, running down the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, are sometimes together referred to as the South Island Main Trunk Railway...
Main South Line
Main South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...
single-lavatory 29 seat equivalent, along with four 16-berth sleeping cars. In their refurbished form, the day cars seated 30 in the same type of "bucket" seat and the day cars with staff compartments seated 25. The sleeping cars still each accommodated 16 (2 berths in 8 cabins).
Three dining cars were created from 1960s built 60 feet (18.3 m) long (18.288-m) aluminium-sheathed Railway Travelling Post Office vans. These vehicles each seated 40 in tip-up bench-type seats, each for two persons, arranged in bays of four, alcove-style, across tables. Larger kitchens were built due to the extra length provided by these vehicles.
Three matching 56 feet (17.1 m) guard's vans were also heavily overhauled and, due to their role as luggage vans, were fitted with Japanese Kinki-Sharyo manufactured bogies, classed X27250 by NZR, out from under the three 60 ft (18.3 m) postal vans, these bogies being of a more modern design than those under carriages at the time and suited for heavier stock.
Four 1960s built 50 feet (15.2 m) steam-heating vans (with the same base design and bogies as the postal vans) built to facilitate heating the carriages of both the Night Limiteds and "Ordinary Expresses" when diesel-electric locomotives displaced steam locomotives on the NIMT, three 50 ft (15.2 m) wooden box wagons turned postal vans, five more turned parcels vans and four more steel box wagons turned parcel vans completed the consist. The eight parcel vehicles were replaced by 15 box wagons of a more modern design turned parcels vans in the 1980s.
The Northerner was the first of the substantially overhauled carriage trains to be fitted with a new type of bogie of Korean manufacture, which offered a superior quality ride to its Timken
Timken Company
The Timken Company is a global manufacturer of bearings, alloy steels, and related components and assemblies.- History :The company was founded by Henry Timken in St. Louis, Missouri in 1899 and incorporated as The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company. A year earlier, in 1898, Timken got a patent...
-built predecessors, classed X25330. The new bogies, classed X28020 by NZR, were based on the Kinki bogies as well as bogies, classed X28250 by NZR, used underneath the Silver Star cars. Substantial work was carried out on all 19 carriage underframes to facilitate the 38 bogies' placement underneath. The underframes were raised to make easier the fitting of the newer bogies, and drawgear lowered the same distance.
Following a government decision that operating subsidies for long distance passenger trains would cease, Sunday, 26 April 1987 saw dining cars, sleeping cars, nearly 100 jobs and $4 million in operating costs removed from this service and until Sunday, 20 March 1988, the train offered a "biscuits and fruit juice" fare served from the guards van.
The train was re-equipped with 8 Southerner cars (former Main South Line first-class cars) and two former FM
NZR FM guards van
The NZR FM guards van is a rail vehicle in New Zealand originally used on freight trains but now used primarily on passenger trains, reclassified AG.-First batch, 1977:...
-class guards vans of a modular design, one from Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
, the other from Daewoo
Daewoo
Daewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...
, turned into power-luggage vans with handbrake end-mounted 11 kW generators. The Northerner service seated 53 or 45 per car to compensate for reduced carriages in reclining road coach-style seats as opposed to 30 or 25. From its inception, it also included in the two catering cars and, in 1992, in the two 37-seat cars to retain their coupe compartments when three trainsets were made available, video entertainment, comprising a large screen GoldStar
GoldStar
GoldStar was an electronics company established in 1958. The corporate name was changed to LG Electronics and LG Cable in 1995 after merging with Korean competitor Lucky...
television at one edge of the carriage showing movies with the sound piped throughout the carriage. The 15 parcels wagons remained dedicated to the service till 1991, when Speedlink Parcels was sold to New Zealand Post
New Zealand Post
New Zealand Post, commonly referred by its acronym, NZPost is a State owned enterprise responsible for providing postal service in New Zealand.-History:...
, some still bearing the old yellow Northerner livery.
Sunday 15 April 1991, saw two full buffet cars, both from the original Southerner, one being, prior to that, a 56 feet (17.1 m) kitchen and dining car to the North Island 55 feet (16.8 m) Vice-Regal car http://www.history.net.nz/media/interactive/vice-regal-car-ni for the Governor-General
Governor-General of New Zealand
The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....
of the day, returned to the train as part of an attempt to attract more patronage, along with a faster timetable and reduced seating (41-43 or 37 per car) to give passengers more legroom and line seats up with windows. This coincided with one car and one catering car leaving the Northerner to join the new Capital Connection service.
New livery
The new Northerner also bore the new InterCity dark blue livery with horizontal full-length 220 mm white stripe and 100 mm red band inside, with the name InterCityInterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...
in the red band. In 1991, the red band was replaced by a yellow 100 mm band, to facilitate the transfer of rail services from the New Zealand Railways Corporation to New Zealand Rail Limited. In 1993, as panorama cars entered the night-time run, a 100 mm green band replaced the yellow one on carriage sides. When New Zealand Rail was renamed Tranz Rail
Tranz Rail
Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd , was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.- Formation :...
a new light blue 350 mm stripe bearing the Tranz Scenic logo appeared on the cars, until the stripe and the retained dark blue livery was replaced by an overall light blue paint scheme in 1999. The Tranz Scenic logo remained.
Temporary Silver Fern replacement
RM classNZR RM class
The RM class is the classification used by the New Zealand Railways Department and its successors given to most railcars and railbuses that have operated on New Zealand's national rail network. As NZR and its successors has operated many diverse types of railcars, alternate names have been given...
Silver Fern
NZR RM class (Silver Fern)
This article is about the New Zealand railcar service and the railcars themselves. For other uses, see Silver Fern .The NZR RM class Silver Fern is a class of railcar in New Zealand. The three air-conditioned and sound-proofed 723-kW 96-seater diesel-electric twin-set railcars were built by...
railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
s were employed to operate the daytime equivalent of the Northerner, and when one derailed in 1989, a replacement carriage train was established as a temporary replacement. Two Northerner cars, along with the Railfreight Systems business car (originally a Northerner dining car), and the first of three modular vans utilised on the reinstated Endeavour
Endeavour (train)
The Endeavour was a long-distance passenger train service between Wellington and Napier in the North Island of New Zealand...
now fitted with 11 kW end-mounted generator and painted InterCity blue to match, were assembled into what was the second incarnation of the Blue Fern
Blue Fern (train)
The Blue Ferns, an unofficial name, were temporary replacement locomotive-hauled carriage trains between Wellington and Auckland on the North Island Main Trunk Railway in the North Island of New Zealand, in 1981-1984 and 1989-1990.-Twist of Fate:...
.
Permanent Silver Fern replacement
Monday, December 2, 1991 saw the Silver Fern railcars replaced on the daylight NIMT run by the Northerner stock, InterCity having learned from the benefits a carriage train provided over the three 96-seat railcars. To facilitate this, a third modular van fitted with 11 kW generator for power-luggage use and a Wairarapa Connection car turned 32-seat servery car were made available to form a third trainset. Also, the servery/observation/rear view Bay Express car and the observation/rear view TranzAlpineTranzAlpine
The TranzAlpine Express is a passenger train operated by Tranz Scenic in the South Island of New Zealand. This trip is often regarded to be one of the world's great train journeys for the scenery through which it passes . The journey is one-way, taking about four and a half hours...
Connoisseurs
The Connoisseur car
The Connoisseur cars were special railway carriages that were used in the consist of a number of passenger trains in New Zealand.- Inception :...
car were added to provide extra viewing opportunities. The daylight services were named the Overlander Expresses.
During the transition period, the former Vice-Regal car turned Southerner buffet car was refitted in 1993 with shorter buffet counter and 24 seats of the type designed by Addington Workshops
Addington Workshops
The Addington Railway Workshops was a major railway facility established in the Christchurch suburb of Addington in May 1880 by the New Zealand Railways Department. The workshops were previously in Carlyle Street and closed in 1990.-Description:...
, arranged alcove-style to replace the long counter and 20 associated stools and was returned to the NIMT. Also, the TranzAlpine rear-view car had seats and tables removed, replaced by 39 seats of the same design as the refurbished Wairarapa cars, arranged forward-facing.
Air conditioning and panorama windows upgrade
From Tuesday, January 26, Friday December 3 and 17 and Sunday December 19, 1993 until December 1994, one car from the Southerner (1988–1995), two cars from the Wairarapa Connection, two from the Auckland excursion fleet, three from Auckland suburban services and the TranzAlpine rear view car were extensively rebuilt to form three three-car air-conditioned panorama train sets similar to the successful "big window" TranzAlpine, Coastal Pacific and pressure-ventilated Bay Expresses to serve both the day-time Overlander and night-time Northerner runs. Modular vans from the Bay Express, the New Zealand Sesquicentennial 1990 display train, and the Telecom New ZealandTelecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...
trains were refitted to match, with new 90 kW generators for increased facilities onboard. In 1994, the second of the two Bay Express vans and an Auckland suburban van were similarly fitted, while in 1997, one of the first two modular Northerner power/baggage vans returned, but with a 90 kW generator.
No frills cars
A new "no-frills" concept was introduced, offering cheaper fares and using six former Northerner cars, and later still, a Southerner car and two refitted Auckland excursion fleet cars at different times, as, progressively, the Northerner stock were rebuilt or withdrawn. In 1999, the former Southerner car and the two ex-excursion fleet cars were air-conditioned.More recently, the 1997-refitted Bay Express servery/observation/rear view car and its two "new" running mates, refitted 1995, were added when the Napier return service was cancelled in October 2001.
Today, the first exclusive NIMT rear view car and its matching full-length day car are withdrawn, and as of April 17, 2009, were still stored at Hutt Railway Workshops, along with the second of the original two TranzAlpine / TranzCoastal servery observation cars, as the Overlander continues with its other six cars and the three Bay Express cars. From time to time over the last few years, the Corporate Business cars (formerly the first and third of three original Northerner dining cars) have also been used.
Trivia
- Three of the 10 two-lavatory 56 feet (17.1 m) long first class cars (later designated North Island Main Trunk first class cars) and one of three matching 56 feet (17.1 m) vans (that were refurbished for the Northerner in 1975) survive from the Tangiwai disasterTangiwai disasterThe Tangiwai disaster on 24 December 1953 was the worst rail accident in New Zealand history. An 11-carriage overnight express from Wellington to Auckland fell into the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai, ten kilometres west of Waiouru. The bridge carrying the North Island Main Trunk Railway over the...
, Christmas Eve 1953.
- The DA-class locomotive, DANZR DA classThe NZR Da diesel-electric mainline locomotive class ran on the New Zealand railway system between 1955 and 1989. With 146 locomotives, it was the most numerous class to operate in New Zealand, just five more than the AB class steam locomotive....
1482, which hauled the final Train #227 on Sunday, November 2, 1975, was also the same locomotive, DCNZR DC classThe NZR DC class locomotive is the most common class of locomotive currently in operation on the New Zealand rail network. Primarily employed to haul freight trains operated by KiwiRail, the class is also used for long-distance passenger trains operated by Tranz Scenic and suburban passenger trains...
4790, that hauled the final Northerner service, #203, on November 12, 2004.