Daylight Limited

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The Daylight Limited was an express passenger train that operated between Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand along the North Island Main Trunk. It commenced in 1925 and was replaced by the Scenic Daylight in 1963.

1 Introduction
2 Operation
3 Replacement
4 Reference

[edit] Introduction

After the introduction of the Night Limited in 1924, the New Zealand Railways Department investigated the possibility of a daylight service on the main route between Wellington and Auckland. It was introduced on a trial basis in 1925-26, but was then cancelled for a few years until another trial in 1929-30. However, the economic impact of the Great Depression intervened at this stage and the service was cut back to operating solely during the Christmas and Easter peak seasons.

[edit] Operation

In the off-peak season, the Night Limited sufficiently catered for passenger demand between Auckland and Wellington, but at the times of the most intense demand in the Daylight Limited's operating season, extra trains would have to run to cater for the traffic volumes. In the early years of the service, A^B and sometimes W^AB class steam locomotives operated the train, and as time progressed, newer forms of motive power were introduced, such as the K^A class.

Passengers on the Daylight Limited could choose between first and second class seating cars. Dining cars had been withdrawn in 1917 due to World War I related economic restrictions and were never used in New Zealand during the Daylight Limited's lifetime. Instead, the Daylight Limited would make extended stops at stations equipped with cafes, so that passengers could purchase refreshments. These stations were located in Mercer, Frankton, Marton, and Taumarunui, though as schedules were made quicker, the Marton refreshment rooms were closed in 1954 and Mercer in 1958.^[1]

[edit] Replacement

For its entire lifetime, the Daylight Limited was hauled by steam locomotives, although electric locomotives of the ED and EW classes were sometimes employed for the stretch between Wellington Railway Station and Paekakariki. During the 1950s, diesel locomotives were heavily introduced to North Island services, and by the 1960s, the decision was made to replace the Daylight Limited with a diesel-hauled service. Accordingly, in 1963, the Daylight Limited was replaced by the Scenic Daylight on a year-round schedule.