Picton Express

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The Picton Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between Christchurch and Picton. It ran from December 1945 until February 1956, and was thus the shortest-lived provincial express in New Zealand.[1] Following the end of railcar services in 1976,[2] a new carriage train between Christchurch and Picton began, under the same name as the earlier service, until it was replaced in 1988 by the Coastal Pacific Express.[3]

Introduction

The

Marlborough were primarily catered for with mixed trains, while the southern section was the route of the Culverden Express.[4] As of the mid-1920s, the Culverden Express began to terminate at the coastal Parnassus terminus rather than the inland Culverden terminus, and this was the forerunner to the Picton Express. The route north of Parnassus was completed as the Main North Line on 15 December 1945, and from this date, the Picton Express was introduced, operating the length of the line.[1]

Operation

The Picton Express began life as a daily service, offering a swifter connection between Canterbury and Marlborough than previously available. However, after operating for only a month, coal shortages in January 1946 meant that it was cut to thrice weekly, running on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It operated to this schedule for the rest of its existence, except when extra trains were run at peak holiday times such as Christmas and Easter.

AB class.[6]

Railcar replacement

As the 1950s began, competition increased from airlines, buses, and private cars. Passenger numbers began to dwindle, especially during off-peak periods, and the Railways Department began to investigate railcar alternatives that would be better suited to the service. In February 1956, just over ten years after the Picton Express began operating, it was replaced by the much faster RM class 88 seater railcars.[1]

The 88 seater railcars, however, proved expensive and time-consuming to maintain, and from 1967 began to be phased out with Picton route reverting to older

rail ferry
at Picton and only a limited connection with the 6:45 pm ferry northbound.

Reinstatement

When the railcars wore out in the 1970s, they were replaced by a carriage train, which was introduced because of the withdrawal of the rival Lyttelton-Wellington steamer express, operated by the Rangitira in 1976. That year, at the suggestion of Rangiora Member of Parliament Derek Quigley, the former first-class carriages previously used on the overnight mixed goods Picton–Christchurch train were transferred to the daytime express, and several other NZR 56-foot carriages were fitted with heaters.[7] The new train replaced the railcar service from 1 July 1976.[2]

This reborn Picton Express proved something of a success. The service made use of AC class "Grassgrub" articulated carriages, which were de-motored railcars. From 11 October 1982, the Grassgrubs were replaced by a normal carriage train.[8]

From 1982 until 1988 the Picton Express and the Greymouth and West Coast Expresses shared a pool of twelve former second-class NZR 56-foot carriages and guards vans with six 50-foot wooden box wagons, all painted bright red with wall-to-wall carpet, fluorescent strip lights and later, a new design of seat from Addington Workshops. Carriages with luggage space seated 46, passenger-only carriages seated 52.[8]

In 1984–1985, while the carriages were being fitted with new seats, three Southerner carriages and an

TranzCoastal.[4]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Mahoney 1982, p. 105.
  2. ^
    ISSN 0028-8624
    .
  3. ^
    ISSN 0028-8624
    .
  4. ^ a b Churchman & Hurst 2001, p. 177.
  5. ^ Mahoney 1982, p. 106.
  6. ^ Mahoney 1982, p. 111.
  7. ISSN 0110-6155
    .
  8. ^
    ISSN 0028-8624
    .
  9. ^ Churchman & Hurst 2001, p. 64.

Bibliography

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