Northerner (train)
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The Northerner Expresses were overnight passenger trains between Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand. They replaced overnight expresses, numbered #626 northbound, #227 southbound, that were the unnamed and less revered supplements to the Night Limited and unofficially called the "Ordinary" Expresses that had been replaced by the Silver Star in 1971. The Northerner service began running on Monday, November 3, 1975. The service last ran on Friday, November 12, 2004.
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[edit] Motive Power
Prior to November 3, 1975, the pre-Northerners were hauled by DA class diesel-electric locomotives. With the introduction of the Northerners, DX class locomotives were assigned to its haulage. From the 1990s onwards, DF class locomotives were used infrequently, and, on a more permanent basis DC class locomotives were used.
[edit] Rolling stock
The train used extensively refurbished 56 foot long (17.07 m) passenger cars that dated from 1937 - 1940. Ten cars were originally designed as two-lavatory 31 seat first class cars, later designated North Island Main Trunk first class cars for expresses in earlier guises run 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.
Three dining cars were created from 1960s built 60 foot 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 foot guard's vans were also heavily overhauled and, due to their role as luggage vans, were fitted with Japanese Kinki-Sharyo manufactured bogies out from under the three 60ft 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 foot steam-heating vans (with the same base design and bogies as the postal vans) built to facilitate heating the carriages of both the Night Limited and "ordinary" Express when diesel-electric locomotives displaced steam locomotives on the NIMT, three 50-ft 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.
[edit] New Bogies
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. The new bogies were based on the Kinki bogies aswell as bogies 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.
[edit] Just Juice Express
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.
[edit] Re-Equipping
The train was re-equipped with 8 Southerner cars (former South Island Main Trunk Main South Line first-class cars) and two former guards vans of a modular design, one from Mitsubishi, the other from Daewoo, turned into power-luggage vans with handbrake end-mounted 11kW 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. 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 April 15 1991, saw full buffet cars, both from the original Southerner - and the only 56 foot car to serve a Governor-General as a Vice-Regal car) 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.
[edit] 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 InterCity 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.
[edit] Temporary Silver Fern replacement
In 1989, 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 11kW end-mounted generator and painted InterCity blue to match, were assembled into the second incarnation of the Blue Fern.
[edit] 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 11kW 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 TranzAlpine/Connnoisseur car were added to provide extra viewing opportunities.
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, arrange forward-facing.
[edit] Air Conditioning and Panorama Windows
From Tuesday, January 26, Friday December 3 and 17 and Sunday December 19, 1993 till December 1994, one car from the Southerner (1988-1995), two cars from the Wairarapa Connection, two from Auckland excursion, 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 Zealand trains were refitted to match, with new 90kW generators for increased facilities onboard. In 1994, the second of the two Bay Express vans and an Auckland suburban van were similiarly fitted, while in 1997, one of the first two modular Northerner power/baggage vans returned, but with a 90-kW generator.
[edit] No Frills
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 cars at different times, as, progressively, the Northerner stock were rebuilt or withdrawn. In 1999, the former Southerner car and the two ex excursion 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 2001.
Today, the first exclusive NIMT rear view car and its matching full-length day car are withdrawn, as the Overlander continues with its other seven cars, the three Bay Express cars, a former Lynx Express car and one of the two full-length 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) has also been used.
[edit] Trivia
Noy very many people know that three of the 10 two-lavatory 56 foot long first class cars, later designated North Island Main Trunk first class cars, and one of three matching 56 foot vans that were refurbished for the Northerner in 1975 were the very three 56 foot first class cars and van that were part of the consist that made up the Northerner's prior incarnation, Train #626 on the night of Christmas Thursday Eve, December 24, 1953.
[edit] See also
| Long Distance Passenger Trains of New Zealand | ||||||||
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