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71-725: In 1933, the Stratford–Okahukura Line was completed, providing a rail link through northern Taranaki between the Marton - New Plymouth Line and the North Island Main Trunk Railway . On 4 September 1933, the new line's ownership was handed over to NZR from the New Zealand Ministry of Works , and early that morning, the first passenger service was operated. This inaugural service left Auckland at 7   pm on 3 September 1933 attached to

142-571: A $ 40 million project to reopen the line was a priority. Minister of Transport Michael Wood announced the government's 10-year plan for rail investment on 6 May 2021. Some specific plans could include re-opening the Stratford to Okahukura line. NZR RM class (88 seater)#Grassgrubs The NZR RM class 88-Seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand. New Zealand Government Railways (NZR) classified them as RM (Rail Motor) ,

213-425: A continuously welded rail. This work also involved a deviation at Stratford in conjunction with the shifting of that station to the southern edge of town (and the current station building being built). Crossing loops were established at Te Wera, Whangamōmona, Tangarakau, and Ōhura. Three stations (Te Wera, Whangamōmona, and Ōhura) had stationmasters. The short loops meant that long trains had to be split to fit into

284-556: A four-day demonstration train from Picton to Invercargill, creating much public interest. After initial trials around Wellington , the railcars were deployed on a wide variety of provincial services. In the North Island they ran: In the South Island they ran: From almost the beginning the railcars faced mechanical problems, with cooling being the primary issue, along with crankcase failures and electrical fires towards

355-415: A letter that traditional Midland red was associated with poor service, arguing that if the public saw the carriages as just old red railcars hauled by locomotives, that would have negative connotations. The first Grassgrub train ran on 5 December 1977 from Picton to Christchurch. The Napier-Gisborne Grassgrub service began on 20 March 1978, and proved popular. Between May and August average daily ridership

426-437: A medium-term solution to maintain rail passenger services. Cabinet agreed to the proposal following Treasury advice to convert 14 railcars on 27 September 1976. NZR's workshops began the conversions of the railcars. The workshops removed the railcars engines and drivers' cabs, added new lighting, seating, heaters, generators and new vinyl flooring. The carriages were classified as "AC". These carriages were refurbished painted

497-573: A more economical service, so they replaced the carriage train. They offered a more regular daily service on a quicker timetable but continued the Express ' s pattern of operating at night. The southbound service arrived in New Plymouth at 11:23 pm and departed for Auckland at 2:34 am. There was some speculation that the service was originally intended to only operate between Auckland and Taumarunui and its late running to New Plymouth

568-451: A serious partial derailment of a wagon occurred, damaging some 8 km of line preventing use by trains without repairs. KiwiRail describes the damage as covering 9.5 km (5.9 mi) of track. Following this KiwiRail decided to mothball the 144 km (89 mi) line, with rail freight now being routed through Palmerston North. Ideas for preserving the line emerged, with hopes that customers and investment could be found to return

639-476: A unique grass green (a Resene paint known as "Trendy Green.") with grey roofs and came to be known as "Grassgrubs" following an article in The Press describing the converted railcars as "The Grass-Grub Express" in an article on the trial run of the carriages on 1 December 1977. Small's successor as general manager, Trevor Hayward, insisted on this scheme, as railway historian David Leitch put to Hayward in

710-405: Is under a 30-year lease for a tourist venture. In July 2019 KiwiRail's CEO stated that reopening the line was a priority. Minister of Transport Michael Wood announced the government's 10-year plan for rail investment on 6 May 2021, which specifically stated that plans could include re-opening the Stratford to Okahukura line. The line from Stratford to Whangamōmona (of about 48 miles or 77 km)

781-606: The Auckland Harbour Bridge . Growing road traffic led to the requirement in 1956 that all railcars have headlights on at all times. While the delay in introducing the railcars on the Rotorua route (1959) and the difficult geography of the Northland and Bay of Plenty service meant poor patronage, the railcars stabilised NZRs long-distance rail patronage at 3 million passengers annually from 1959 to 1964. But by

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852-663: The Express in Stratford . At holiday times, the New Plymouth Night Express was run separately from the Night Limited due to large volumes of passengers, and as this service ran directly between New Plymouth and Auckland, it did not pass through Taumarunui, which is seven miles to the south of the junction in Okahukura; accordingly, a connecting train ran between Taumarunui and Okahukura. In 1940,

923-598: The Main North Line . The crankcases were not strong enough to absorb the power of the diesel engines that drove the railcars. These issues were considered so serious that NZR called a meeting with Drewry and Fiat in March 1957. Ten of the railcars had wrecked crankcases and blown motors. Following the meeting, a number of replacement motors and crankcases were ordered in late 1957. Additional Fiat staff and fitters came to New Zealand from Italy and essentially rebuilt

994-506: The Night Limited , and it consisted of one first class carriage, one second class carriage, a sleeping car , and a guard's van. In Taumarunui, these carriages were detached from the Night Limited, as it was to continue to Wellington , and ran as a separate train to New Plymouth, departing Taumarunui at 12:45 am and arriving in New Plymouth just after 6 am. The return working left New Plymouth at 7:10 pm, connected with

1065-572: The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) Railway, with 15 intermediate stations. It is 144 km (89 mi) long through difficult country, with 24 tunnels, 91 bridges and a number of sections of 1 in 50 (2 % ) grade . Near Okahukura there is an unusual combined road-rail bridge over the Ongarue River, with the one-lane road carriageway below the single rail track. The line is not currently in service for rail traffic and

1136-613: The "Blue Streak" service) and Wellington and Palmerston North. At the time it was intended to scrap all railcar services in the South Island, except for Vulcans on the Picton (Vulcan railcars and summer passenger trains replaced the 88-seaters on this route from 1967 to 1968) and West Coast services. From 31 July 1967 all railcar services between Auckland and Northland were cancelled, along with services from Auckland and Hamilton to Tauranga and Te Puke. The railcar service to New Plymouth

1207-583: The Auckland-New Plymouth express trains from 1956, but were cut back to New Plymouth-Taumarunui in 1971. Mixed trains were withdrawn in 1975. Scheduled passenger trains ceased in January 1983 as roads in the rugged and isolated northern Taranaki were improved and passengers switched to cars, though the line was not closed to all passenger trains until January 2007, after an excursion to Whangamōmona 's "Republic Day" celebrations. This terminated

1278-590: The Hamilton commuter market was served by many other services at lower second class fare cost in 1968 and the Blue Streak experiment was simply in the wrong direction at the wrong time. It was decided to introduce the railcar to a daytime service between Auckland and Wellington. This service, which started on Monday 23 September 1968, was highly successful and prompted the conversion of two further cars to 82 seats each to accommodate larger servery areas and, later,

1349-746: The Marton - New Plymouth Line the SOL also provided an alternative route when the North Island Main Trunk was closed between Marton and Taumarunui. In 1953 the Tangiwai disaster closed the NIMT for a period. The SOL suffered from a lack of investment and maintenance, leading to a number of speed restrictions being put in place. In July 2002 a fatal derailment occurred at Te Wera, and a number of other incidents also plagued operations. In November 2009

1420-563: The Minister for Public Works, the Hon Gordon Coates (subsequently Prime Minister, 1925-1928) said the cost of building that segment of the line was £33,000 per mile. At the same time, a separate report indicates that the track had been laid from Stratford for 47 miles (76 km) up to Tahora, leaving a 31-mile (50 km) gap between Tahora and Matiere. Ōhura had passenger and goods trains run by PWD from 18 December 1926, when

1491-831: The New Plymouth-Taumarunui service ended on 23 January 1983 (having already had its rolling stock replaced by 56-foot carriages .) The Wellington to Gisborne service eventually terminated at Napier following Cyclone Bola in March 1988. By July 1988, the Wellington-Wairarapa service was abbreviated to terminate in Masterton as patronage on the Masterton – Palmerston North section was often fewer than 20 passengers per trip, due to improved highways and bus services. The Grassgrubs were sent to Douglas, Taranaki for scrapping, after their useful parts were stripped out of them at Easttown Workshops . One set

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1562-587: The Night Limited in Taumarunui, and was conveyed back to Auckland by the Limited for a 7:10 am arrival. Joint running with the Night Limited for the Tauramunui-Auckland leg was the pattern for the 1930s, with the service provided thrice weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. A class steam locomotives were typical motive power at this stage, and a train from Hāwera connected with

1633-647: The No 1 end of RM 133, which had been moved to the Pahiatua Railcar Society's site. The No 1 end of RM 121 was discovered at a holiday camp in Waitomo in 2001 - 02. The ends had been separated in the mid-1980s after the railcar was used as offices at a former theme park in East Tamaki, Auckland, and the No 1 end had then gone to Kaukapakapa until 1996 when it went to Waitomo. On New Year's Eve 2002,

1704-408: The No.1 end of RM 119 on the leading bogie together with some engines and gearboxes were kept at this time. After the project was wound up, the partial section of RM 119 was moved to Linwood Locomotive Depot where it remained in storage for several years. Subsequently, the further abbreviated RM 119 consisting of just the cab and part of the baggage compartment was stored in a Bromley scrapyard, where it

1775-607: The Public Works Minister, K J Williams , officially opened the line from Okahukura. The Mayor of Stratford celebrated the piercing of the last tunnel (52.5 chains or 3,460 ft or 1,060 m No.4 Mangatiti) on 2 August 1932 and, on 7 November 1932, the last spike was driven at Heao by the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. George Forbes , with Rt. Hon. Gordon Coates driving the first train. He said

1846-399: The completion of automatic single-line signalling on the line. The final section was from Whangamōmona to Okahukura, in those days a distance of 51 miles 52 chains (83.1 km) and consistent with modern distance measurements. Upgrades and maintenance to the track were undertaken in 1959–60. Some of the track was replaced with 75 lbs/yd rail that at some point was made into

1917-550: The completion of responses until 1947. In 1948, NZR decided not to proceed with this tender as the prices received were considered too high. In 1949, Cabinet approved a new tender to replace the Wairarapa railcars and other steam-hauled services, which were to have 88 seats and have braking equipment for the centre rail on the Rimutaka Incline . A total of 35 railcars were now specified. It was decided that engines for

1988-608: The decision to cancel the second batch of railcars in 1956. NZR requested the calling of tenders for new engines and crankshafts for all 35 railcars plus spares for £1.05 million New Zealand pounds in July 1966. In January 1967 the Cabinet approved only replacement crankshafts to continue the railcars for five years on the Wairarapa, Wellington-Napier-Gisborne and Auckland-New Plymouth routes and to conduct trials of fast upgraded railcar service between Auckland and Hamilton (later known as

2059-416: The end of their lives. Although modifications were made they continued to have a reputation for unreliability throughout their career, frequently having to run with one motor isolated. The 1950s was a period of increased prosperity and saw massive increases in the numbers of private motorcars, along with improvements to roads such as the tar sealing of main highways, and the construction of new roads such as

2130-639: The engines and power systems of all the railcars. The rebuilding was completed in March 1959, and the Minister reported that the railcars were giving "much better service" as a result. The second batch of 15 railcars was authorised by the government in October 1955, but cancelled in 1956 due to the unsatisfactory performance of the first batch of railcars, in particular, their high cost in repairs and excessive diversion of skilled labour for those repairs, particularly in Auckland. In early December 1955, NZR ran

2201-656: The evening for the Waikato or Manawatu or Horowhenua, while the NZR long term desire to maintain the New Plymouth- Auckland railcar service was much more because it brought people into Auckland in the morning, leaving Taumarunui at 6.30 am and Hamilton at 9.30 am and returned in the afternoon rather than for its night social and paper service through the King Country which Government saw as essential. Therefore,

New Plymouth Night Express - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-602: The first railcars was greeted with enthusiasm by local newspapers, and were described as a "new-dawn for long-distance rail travel" in New Zealand. A number of "ministerial special" promotional services were run in March 1955, and the first service operated by an 88-seater railcar was the Wellington-Gisborne daily service on 6 April 1955. Following their introduction, the railcars suffered overheating from ballast dust and engine failure, which led to railcars running 20 to 30 minutes late every two to three days. This

2343-498: The first to be replaced by 56-foot carriages on the Picton-Christchurch and Christchurch-Greymouth services by 1983. The remaining Grassgrubs were moved to Wellington and remained in use on the Wellington-Gisborne, Wellington-Wairarapa services. The Gisborne service Grassgrubs were withdrawn by 1984, along with the Wellington-Wairarapa services in 1985. Most of the passenger runs were continued after their demise, but

2414-474: The independent service began operating thrice weekly year-round. It departed Auckland at 7:50   pm on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, made refreshment stops in Frankton and Taumarunui as NZR did not operate dining cars at this point in history, and arrived in New Plymouth at 7:19 am the next morning. The opposite working left New Plymouth at 7:08   pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, made

2485-417: The isolated area served by the train were improved, and as locals turned to the private car in greater numbers, NZR was no longer prepared to incur losses from the service. It last operated on 21 January 1983. Stratford%E2%80%93Okahukura Line The Stratford–Okahukura Line (SOL) is a secondary railway line in the North Island of New Zealand , between the Marton - New Plymouth Line (MNPL) and

2556-636: The line had cost £2.9m and had 265,000 sleepers. Goods traffic started on 12 December 1932, though the SOL was not handed over by the Public Works Department to the New Zealand Railways Department until 3 September 1933. The line was unsignalled and worked under "open section working" when two trains collided at the northern portal to the Whangamomona Tunnel on 21 December 1934; Train No 521

2627-522: The line in emergencies and to resume control of the line depending on future circumstances and opportunities. The rail bridge over State Highway 4 at Okahukura has been removed making the track between the easternmost tunnel and Okahukura unusable. In 2019 the Rail & Maritime Transport Union revealed that a review of the line is being undertaken to assess the viability of reopening for "Fonterra and log traffic." In July KiwiRail CEO Greg Miller stated that

2698-463: The line to full service. Adventure tourism operator Forgotten World Adventures reached an agreement with KiwiRail in 2012 to lease the line for their new venture using modified petrol rail carts for tourists to travel between the line's termini at Stratford and Okahukura, via a number of trip options, starting from Labour Weekend 2012. The 30-year lease makes the company responsible for the line's maintenance and access control but allows KiwiRail to use

2769-791: The local population and allowed mixed trains to cease to operate along the route from 1 December 1975. The 88 seater railcars were mechanically deteriorating by this stage and last operated on 11 February 1978, but unlike most other provincial railcar services, the New Plymouth-Taumarunui run was not outright cancelled. There was sufficient traffic to justify a replacement carriage train, and its consist initially comprised carriages made from de-motorised 88 seater railcars; these carriages were known as Grassgrubs in New Zealand railfan jargon due to their paint scheme. The railcars were not designed to be hauled as carriages and were soon replaced by ordinary passenger carriages. Around this time, roads through

2840-691: The loop and siding. The SOL was initially served by the New Plymouth Night Express between New Plymouth and Auckland and by Stratford– Taumarunui passenger trains. When the line opened, it was reported that overnight express trains between Auckland and New Plymouth could now complete the journey in less than 12 hours. On Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays trains left Auckland at 7pm, Taumarunui at 12.45am and reached New Plymouth at 6.1am. The trains returned on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving New Plymouth at 7.10pm, Stratford 8.31pm and arriving at Auckland at 7.6am. Whangamōmona had refreshment rooms from 1933 to 1965. Fiat or "88 seater" railcars replaced

2911-714: The mid-1960s the railcars were dated, patronage fell and services became unprofitable. The 1952 Royal Commission recommended railcar services on the North Island Main Trunk and replacing the daylight multiple stops train on the Main South Line (which supplemented the South Island Limited and other fast express services) leaving Dunedin at 8:05 am and Christchurch at 9:40 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and replace local trains between Auckland and Hamilton, Wellington and Palmerston North, Christchurch and Ashburton. These services did not eventuate following

New Plymouth Night Express - Misplaced Pages Continue

2982-432: The nickname Blue Streak . The seating was reduced to 84 to accommodate a servery area from which light meals and assorted alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks could be purchased. This was notable as the first time that a regularly scheduled passenger train service in New Zealand had reinstated onboard catering since dining cars had been withdrawn across the network as an economy measure during World War I . This initial service

3053-413: The notation used for all railcars, numbering the 35 sets from RM100 to RM134. They were the most numerous railcars in NZR service. Their purchase and introduction saw the demise of steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains, and was part of a deliberate effort to modernise NZR passenger services at a time of increasing competition from private motor vehicles. Being diesel powered and lighter

3124-550: The operation of excursions, but efforts were made to have the line upgraded to a standard where excursions will again be possible. A working party of stakeholders was formed in June 2007 to investigate the current state of the line and to develop a case for upgrading it. Considerable maintenance was required to bring the line up to safety standards required for passenger trains at a cost of approximately NZ$ 6 million to complete, according to Stratford Mayor Brian Jeffares. Most freight

3195-400: The original 35 railcars had been withdrawn, due to engine problems or collisions with motor vehicles. In 1976 it was announced that no more railcars would receive major overhaul works, and they would be withdrawn from service as they wore out. Although the remaining services were to areas not well served by road, the mechanical condition of the railcars meant that by the mid-1970s replacement

3266-612: The purchase of the Silver Fern diesel-electric railcars for this service. Initially, the Main Trunk Blue Streak railcar ran from Wellington to Auckland on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Auckland to Wellington until a second railcar was refurbished for the Christmas 1968 and New Year 1969 period and a third for the 1969 Easter holidays. The service proved so popular that it

3337-493: The railcars should be mounted underfloor for increased passenger capacity and for a parcel and baggage compartment, with trussed-chassis to support the braking equipment. Tenders were received from English Electric and the Drewry Car Company . Drewry's tender presented a design for an articulated railcar with seating for 88 passengers, with either Hercules or Fiat 210 hp (160 kW) engines. An order

3408-408: The railcars to locomotive-hauled carriages was the most viable option given that most railcars were expected to have to be withdrawn by mid 1977 due to mechanical problems. The paper noted that as locomotive-hauled carriages, the railcars would not be able to maintain the same schedules, having to be slower when towed. While the paper recommended conversion, it also noted that the conversions were only

3479-451: The railcars were less expensive to operate and able to maintain quicker timetables, although they became plagued with mechanical and electrical problems, with a number of the classes eventually being turned into depowered locomotive-hauled carriages and reclassified as the AC class "Grassgrubs" . In the early 1950s, NZR was in the process of replacing steam traction with diesel and modernising

3550-492: The railways to cope with vastly increased traffic, the after-effects of wartime stringency, and increasing competition from motor vehicles and aeroplanes. As part of this modernisation process, it was decided to upgrade provincial passenger services, which were provided by a combination of steam-hauled passenger trains that operated several times a week, and "mixed" trains that carried both freight and passengers. NZR had experimented with several different classes of railcars, but it

3621-428: The same refreshment stops, and arrived in Auckland at 6:30 am the next morning. Operating through to Taumarunui removed the need for a connecting train between Taumarunui and Okahukura, but it did mean the front of the train at the start of the journey became the back for the second leg and the seats were reversed. Sleeping car facilities were removed in 1944 due to restrictions caused by World War II , and by 1950,

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3692-436: The service was replaced with buses. In March 1976, NZR general manager Tom Small instructed his chief mechanical engineer to prepare plans to convert 14 railcars to unpowered carriages. In April 1976 the chief mechanical engineer reported that 23 railcars were suitable for conversion to locomotive-hauled passenger carriages. A formal white paper proposal was put to Treasury on 23 July 1976. The paper argued that conversion of

3763-405: The train ran only twice weekly due to coal shortages. At this stage, J class locomotives had become the primary motive power and the train typically comprised two first class carriages, three second class carriages, and a guard's van. The actual New Plymouth Night Express ceased to operate in 1956. RM class 88 seater railcars had recently been introduced to New Zealand and they provided

3834-615: The trussed-chassis required to hold the braking equipment. The railcars were constructed under subcontract by the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company from Drewry. There were significant delays in delivering the railcars, with one (RM 120) damaged in transit, and used as a spare parts source for the other railcars. The first railcar was delivered in November 1954 and the last in May 1958. The arrival of

3905-463: The trust located the No 2 end of RM 121 in a quarry at Kerikeri, where it had been since the ends were separated. Its move to Kerikeri was reported in railway publications at the time, but it fell off the radar after that. Although the car was in a weathered condition and had been cut in half at some point, it was still relatively complete despite missing the seats, bogies (removed in the late 1970s at Otahuhu Workshops), and its diesel engines. This railcar

3976-481: Was 61 per cent of capacity. The Grassgrubs were also used on the New Plymouth to Taumarunui, Wellington to Palmerston North via the Wairarapa and Christchurch to Greymouth services. The Grassgrubs were ill-fated. Their drawgear and bodies were not designed to be locomotive-hauled and they quickly wore out. By 1985 they had all been withdrawn from service due to metal fatigue. The South Island based Grassgrubs were

4047-479: Was a result of this run being extended, but as it turned out, this section of the run was cancelled in 1971 and the railcars operated solely between New Plymouth and Taumarunui. Soon after this change, the service was altered to a daytime run in December 1973, with a departure from New Plymouth at 8:30 am and the return service leaving Taumarunui at 3:10 pm. The new daytime service proved more popular with

4118-712: Was authorised by the Railways Authorisation Act, 1900 The Hon William Hall-Jones turned the first sod of the Stratford-Okahukura Railway at Stratford on 28 March 1901. Okahukura, south of Ongarue, was to be the junction point with the North Island Main Trunk Line. Construction took nearly 32 years, and the western part, from Stratford, was operated as the Toko Branch from 9 August 1902. The SOL

4189-501: Was becoming urgent. By 1978, the only remaining railcars in NZR service were the Silver Ferns. In 1968, at the suggestion of Hamilton City Council, an 88-seater was refurbished for a new fast service between Hamilton and Auckland aimed at business customers, and it started on Monday, 8 April 1968. It was fitted with carpet and re-upholstered fabric-covered seats, and was painted in a new two-tone blue colour scheme that prompted

4260-438: Was despite two Fiat fitters being in New Zealand as the railcars went into service. The railcars also suffered frequent internal fires, which led to external fires in the farmland and foliage along the tracks. Both types of fire were due to excessive hot carbon particles in the exhaust emissions. These problems were most notable in the South Island on steep West Coast railway lines and the steep Scargill and Dashwood sections of

4331-433: Was due to cross with No 556 at Pohokura but departed without the guard as the engine crew claimed they saw his arm horizontal at the rear of the train indicating the train was to proceed; the crews were fortunate that they did not collide in the tunnel. Although generally understood to have trains operating, especially in the later years, on a warrant control basis, mention is made in the 1939 Railways Report to Parliament of

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4402-413: Was for the rural hinterland, but along the SOL there were coal mines near Ōhura and Tangarakau, and also sawmills. One freight train operated each weeknight each way along the line carrying freight between New Plymouth and Auckland , interchanging at Taumarunui. In the late 1990s and early 2000s deferred maintenance issues meant these services operated under heavy speed restrictions. In conjunction with

4473-484: Was found and purchased by the RM 133 Trust Board. By the early 1990s, the only known survivor was RM 133 in its "Grassgrub" form as AC 8140, used for fire training at Auckland Airport. In 2001 the RM 133 Trust Board was able to obtain this car. Before the railcar could be removed a fire broke out in the No 2 end of the railcar, damaging the body. The RM 133 Trust decided to look for any other extant railcar halves to pair with

4544-624: Was kept but was cut back to operate between New Plymouth and Taumarunui in 1971, with passengers making connections to North Island Main Trunk trains. This service lasted until 11 February 1978 when it was replaced by a carriage train. The final run of an 88-seater railcar was in 1978 from Greymouth to Christchurch. The last trip came to an ignominious end when an engine failure and fire meant that passengers had to be taken onwards from Otira by bus. Almost all cancelled trains were replaced by New Zealand Railways Road Services buses. By 1971, 10 of

4615-552: Was nearly complete before the onset of the Great Depression , so work was not halted, unlike on many public works projects such as the East Coast Main Trunk Railway beyond Taneatua . The section from Okahukura to Matiere was officially opened on Tuesday 23 May 1922, although the bridges to the west of Tuhua were temporary rather than the final and stronger structures. At the opening ceremony,

4686-550: Was not uncommon to see two of the railcars running in multiple. On Thursday 18 December 1972, the Blue Streak services were replaced by the new Silver Fern railcars and were transferred to the Wellington-to-New Plymouth service, replacing Standard railcars . They continued in this service until Friday 30 July 1977. By that time they were no longer serviceable, patronage had continued to decline and

4757-471: Was not until after the second World War that railcars began to replace provincial passenger services en masse. Following the success of the Vulcan railcars introduced in the 1940s, NZR began investigating the replacement of the older Wairarapa class railcars in the mid-1940s with larger diesel-electric railcars. A tender for 25 replacement railcars was approved by Cabinet in 1944, but World War II delayed

4828-606: Was placed with Drewry in the United Kingdom in March 1950 for the railcars with the Fiat engines. Drewry had supplied some smaller diesel shunting locomotives ( D class and D class locomotives) to NZR previously. Due to the progress of the Rimutaka Tunnel (which opened in November 1955), and the impending closure of the Rimutaka Incline , it was decided by NZR to remove the requirement for centre-rail braking and

4899-423: Was purchased to become the replacement for the damaged half of RM 133 and moved to Pahiatua where restoration work began. The Trust negotiated with the owners of the No 1 end of RM 121 to buy it and were eventually able to do so in 2011 in exchange for two former wooden passenger cars. It was then trucked to Pahiatua to be reunited with the No 2 end there. The two ends of RM 121 are now being restored at Pahiatua;

4970-529: Was sold to the Ministry of Transport for fire service training at Auckland International Airport and has been preserved (see below). Following withdrawal from service, a number of the 88 seaters were stored around the country. Several units along with a Vulcan railcar were sold to the Southern Rail preservation project at Christchurch where they were later scrapped; the cab and baggage car section of

5041-519: Was unsuccessful, with patronage well below the levels needed to be profitable. The service might have been successful if run the other way round from Hamilton to Auckland in the morning but in 1968 the Wellington-Auckland Limited and Express were still timetabled to cater for the early morning commuter market from Hamilton and Huntly or in the other direction from Palmerston North and Levin and those leaving Auckland or Wellington in

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