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The Scenic Daylight was a relatively short-lived express train that ran between Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand, on the North Island Main Trunk Railway. It commenced in 1963 and was replaced in 1968 by the Blue Streak.
[edit] Introduction
The Scenic Daylight was preceded by the Daylight Limited, a steam-hauled service that operated primarily at the Christmas and Easter peak seasons; only the Night Limited ran year-round. However, as dieselisation of North Island railway lines progressed swiftly in the 1950s and 1960s, the decision was taken to replace the Daylight Limited with a diesel-hauled service, and to run it year-round. Year-round running was motivated in part by a strategy to attract tourist travellers with the scenery in the central North Island and was one of the New Zealand Railways Department's first attempts to capitalise on the tourist market. The service was introduced in 1963.
[edit] Operation
The Scenic Daylight was typically hauled by DA class diesel-electric locomotives and consisted of 56' seating cars that had been built around World War II. As dining cars had been removed from New Zealand's railways as an economy measure during World War I and never re-introduced, the Scenic Daylight would make refreshment stops for passengers in Frankton and Taumarunui. Due to the power of the DA locomotives, the service could operate to a quicker schedule than the Daylight Limited.
[edit] Replacement
In 1968, an RM class 88 seater railcar was refurbished and repainted in a distinctive blue scheme that led to it being nicknamed the Blue Streak. It initially operated an unsuccessful service between Hamilton and Auckland in early 1968, and was transferred to the Auckland-Wellington run on 23 September 1968. It initially ran in tandem with the Scenic Daylight, with the railcar operating from Wellington to Auckland on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and returning the previous day, with all other services operated by the Scenic Daylight. For the peak Christmas/New Year season, a second 88 seater was renovated into a Blue Streak and the Scenic Daylight was fully replaced, with a third Blue Streak introduced in 1969. Carriage expresses did not permanently return to the North Island Main Trunk until the 1991 introduction of the Overlander
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