Originally numbered 227 southbound and 626 northbound, the train used extensively refurbished
NZR 56-foot carriages that dated from 1937 to 1940. Ten carriages were built as two-lavatory 31-seat first-class carriages, later designated
North Island Main Trunk first-class carriages, for expresses on this route, two (with staff and hostess compartments retained and augmented) as the
South Island Main Trunk Main South Line single-lavatory 29 seat equivalent, along with four 16-berth sleeping carriages. In their refurbished form, the day carriages seated 30 in the same type of "bucket" seat and the day cars with staff compartments seated 25. The sleeping carriages still each accommodated 16 (2 berths in 8 cabins). In 1973 larger train sets were planned with the fitting of 20 first-class and sleeping carriages with heaters. The final fit-out of the train was not approved until November 1974 with instructions to complete the rebuild of the minimum rolling stock for the introduction of the express replacement within 12 months. Three dining carriages were created from 1960s built long aluminium-sheathed
Railway Travelling Post Office vans. These vehicles each seated 40 in
tip-up bench type seats, each for two persons, arranged in bays of four, alcove style, across tables. Larger kitchens were built due to the extra length provided by these vehicles. Three matching guard's vans were also heavily overhauled and, due to their role as luggage vans, were fitted with Japanese
Kinki-Sharyo manufactured bogies, classed X27250 by NZR, out from under the three postal vans, these bogies being of a more modern design than those undercarriages at the time and suited for heavier stock. Four 1960s built steam-heating vans (with the same base design and bogies as the postal vans) built to facilitate heating the carriages of both the
Night Limiteds and ordinary expresses when diesel-electric locomotives displaced steam locomotives on the NIMT, three wooden
box wagons turned postal vans, five more turned parcels vans and four more steel box wagons turned parcel vans completed the consist. The eight parcel vehicles were replaced by 15 box wagons of a more modern design turned parcels vans in the 1980s. The
Northerner was the first of the substantially overhauled carriage trains to be fitted with a new type of bogie of Korean manufacture, which offered a superior quality ride to its
Timken-built predecessors, classed X25330. The new bogies, classed X28020 by NZR, were based on the Kinki bogies as well as bogies, classed X28250 by NZR, used underneath the
Silver Star carriages. Substantial work was carried out on all 19 carriages
underframes to facilitate the 38 bogies' placement underneath. The underframes were raised to make easier the fitting of the newer bogies, and drawgear lowered the same distance. Following a government decision that operating subsidies for long-distance passenger trains would cease, Sunday 26 April 1987 saw dining cars, sleeping cars, nearly 100 jobs and $4 million in operating costs removed from this service and until Sunday 20 March 1988, the train offered biscuits and fruit juice served from the guards van. The train was re-equipped with 8
Southerner carriages (former Main South Line first-class carriages) and two former
FM class guards vans of a modular design, one from
Mitsubishi, the other from
Daewoo, turned into power-luggage vans with handbrake end-mounted 11 kW generators. The
Northerner service seated 53 or 45 per carriage to compensate for reduced carriages in reclining road coach-style seats as opposed to 30 or 25. From its inception, it also included in the two catering carriages and, in 1992, in the two 37-seat carriages to retain their coupe compartments when three trainsets were made available, video entertainment, comprising a large screen
GoldStar television at one edge of the carriage showing movies with the sound piped throughout the carriage. The 15 parcels wagons remained dedicated to the service until 1991, when
Speedlink Parcels was sold to
New Zealand Post, some still bearing the old yellow
Northerner livery. Sunday 15 April 1991, saw two full buffet carriages, both from the original
Southerner, one being prior to that a kitchen and dining car to the North Island Vice-Regal carriage for the
Governor-General of the day, returned to the train as part of an attempt to attract more patronage, along with a faster timetable and reduced seating (41-43 or 37 per carriage) to give passengers more legroom and line seats up with windows. This coincided with one carriage and one catering carriage leaving the
Northerner to join the new
Capital Connection service.
New livery The new
Northerner also bore the new InterCity dark blue livery with horizontal full-length white stripe and red band inside, with the name
InterCity in the red band. In 1991, the red band was replaced by a yellow band, to facilitate the transfer of rail services from the New Zealand Railways Corporation to New Zealand Rail Limited. In 1993, as panorama carriages entered the night-time run, a green band replaced the yellow one on carriage sides. When New Zealand Rail was renamed
Tranz Rail a new light blue stripe bearing the Tranz Scenic logo appeared on the carriages until the stripe and the retained dark blue livery was replaced by an overall light blue paint scheme in 1999. The Tranz Scenic logo remained.
Temporary Silver Fern replacement RM class Silver Fern railcars were employed to operate the daytime equivalent of the
Northerner, and when one derailed on 24 January 1989, a replacement carriage train was established as a temporary replacement. Two
Northerner carriages, along with the Railfreight Systems business carriage (originally a
Northerner dining carriage), and the first of three modular vans utilised on the reinstated
Endeavour now fitted with 11 kW end-mounted generator and painted InterCity blue to match, were assembled into what was the second incarnation of the
Blue Fern. This train would be re-activated again after derailments on 15 November 1990 and 11 January 1991, also involving
Silver Fern railcars.
Permanent Silver Fern replacement On Monday 2 December 1991 the
Silver Fern railcarriages were replaced on the daylight NIMT run by the
Northerner stock, InterCity having learned from the benefits a carriage train provided over the three 96-seat railcars. To facilitate this, a third modular van fitted with 11 kW generator for power-luggage use and a
Wairarapa Connection carriage turned 32-seat servery carriage were made available to form a third trainset. Also, the servery/observation/rearview
Bay Express carriage and the observation/rearview
TranzAlpine Connoisseurs carriage were added to provide extra viewing opportunities. The daylight services were named the
Overlander Expresses. During the transition period, the former Vice-Regal carriage turned
Southerner buffet carriage was refitted in 1993 with shorter buffet counter and 24 seats of the type designed by
Addington Workshops, arranged alcove-style to replace the long counter and 20 associated stools and was returned to the NIMT. Also, the
TranzAlpine rear-view carriage had seats and tables removed, replaced by 39 seats of the same design as the refurbished Wairarapa carriage, arranged forward-facing.
Air conditioning and panorama windows upgrade From Tuesday 26 January Friday 3 and 17 December and Sunday 19 December 1993 until December 1994, one carriage from the
Southerner (1988–1995), two carriages from the
Wairarapa Connection, two from the Auckland excursion fleet, three from Auckland suburban services and the
TranzAlpine rearview carriage were extensively rebuilt to form three three-carriage air-conditioned panorama train sets similar to the successful "big window"
TranzAlpine,
Coastal Pacific and pressure-ventilated
Bay Expresses to serve both the day-time
Overlander and night-time
Northerner runs. Modular vans from the
Bay Express, the
New Zealand Sesquicentennial 1990 display train, and the
Telecom New Zealand trains were refitted to match, with new 90 kW generators for increased facilities on board. In 1994, the second of the two
Bay Express vans and an Auckland suburban van were similarly fitted, while in 1997, one of the first two modular
Northerner power/baggage vans returned, but with a 90 kW generator.
No frills carriages A new "no-frills" concept was introduced, offering cheaper fares and using six former
Northerner carriages, and later still, a
Southerner carriage and two refitted Auckland excursion fleet cars at different times, as, progressively, the Northerner stock were rebuilt or withdrawn. In 1999, the former
Southerner carriage and the two ex-excursion fleet carriages were air-conditioned. Later on, the 1997 refitted
Bay Express servery/observation/rearview carriage and its two "new" running mates, refitted 1995, were added when the Napier return service was cancelled in October 2001. The first exclusive NIMT rearview carriage and its matching full-length day carriage are withdrawn, and as of 17 April 2009, were still stored at
Hutt Railway Workshops, along with the second of the original two
TranzAlpine and
TranzCoastal servery observation carriages, as the
Overlander continues with its other six carriages and the three
Bay Express carriages. From time to time over the last few years, the Corporate Business carriages (formerly the first and third of three original
Northerner dining carriages) were also used. ==See also==