The
Night Limiteds heyday was in the 1930s, when multiple extra services had to be run at the peak Christmas and Easter holiday periods to cater for the traffic volume. Accommodation on board was primarily seated, although first class sleeping cars were utilised. The sleeping cars had sixteen two-person cabins reached by a corridor along one side of the carriage. Dining cars were never used on the
Night Limited as they had been withdrawn as a
World War I-era economy measure and not re-introduced to the
North Island during the
Night Limiteds time. Passengers could purchase refreshments at stops along the journey.
Warren Freer became an Auckland
Labour member of parliament in 1947, and recalled the Friday night comradeship in a sleeping compartment of the train to Auckland after a week in Parliament, when a bottle of whisky would be produced and incidents in the house or caucus recalled. Freer and
Charles Petrie lived near the Otahuhu Station, and Petrie arranged via a sympathetic guard for the driver to slow the train after Middlemore Station so that they could save time by alighting there; the younger Freer first so Petrie could pass their bags to him and then alight; the train then speeded up towards Auckland. In 1949 air travel to Wellington was introduced for backbench MPs. Motive power in the days of steam was typically the most powerful and efficient locomotives available. AB class locomotives were superseded by members of classes such as the
K, and
KA and
J. During the 1950s, demand began to significantly decline as competition from aeroplanes and the private car increased. Business travellers increasingly opted for other options, although the schedule was steadily improved to 13.5 hours each way. In the North Island all
Limiteds went from steam to diesel power in 1963, and the afternoon expresses in 1964. The change, according to the railway annual report for 1965, "has eliminated smoke nuisance in tunnels and has enabled the journey time to be reduced by approximately 50 minutes". Diesel-electric motive power was typically provided by members of the
DA class. == Replacement ==