South Island Limited

The South Island Limited was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between 1949 and 1970. It operated between Christchurch and Invercargill via Dunedin, and in its heyday, it was New Zealand's premier express.

Previous expresses

Expresses between Christchurch and Dunedin began operating as soon as the Main South Line was opened. These services, the precursor to the South Island Limited, were the flagship of New Zealand's railways in the nineteenth century, and accordingly had the most modern motive power and rolling stock available. They were initially hauled by members of the first J class and limited to a speed of 60km/h, resulting in a journey time of eleven hours, but they were sped up with the introduction of the Rogers K class. The K locomotives could achieve speeds of up to 90km/h and they helped to quicken the schedule, with the T class handling the train on the hilly section between Oamaru and Dunedin. Upon their introduction in 1885, the N class took on the express duties, followed by the U and U^B classes, and then the Q and A class Pacifics cut the journey's time to eight hours in the early years of the twentieth century.

In 1904, it became possible to operate an express all the way from Christchurch to Invercargill in a single day. The Dunedin-Invercargill run was treated as an extension of the Christchurch-Dunedin express, and the train was sometimes called the Invercargill Express. In March 1914, it was possible to travel from Christchurch to Invercargill in thirteen hours. A^B class locomotives capable of speeds of 107km/h and higher took over from the A and Q locomotives from 1915, but it was in the 1940s that the express reached its zenith and became the South Island Limited.

Operation

In 1939, the second J class was introduced, followed by the J^A class in 1946. These locomotives allowed the service's schedule to be quickened, and in 1949, the South Island Limited was introduced. It operated three days a week and had less stops than the expresses which continued to operate on all other days. In its very early days, it was occasionally operated by A^B class engines, but the more powerful J and J^A locomotives quickly became the sole motive power, and they were famous for hauling long strings of red carriages at high speed, achieving a travel time between Christchurch and Dunedin of 7 hours and 9 minutes, and completing the entire journey to Invercargill in roughly 11 hours 45 minutes.^[1]

The South Island Limited carried mail as well as passengers, and this meant the train would have up to six mail carriages attached to the consist. The quantities of mail that had to be exchanged on and off the train during the course of its journey often led to delays, and the attempts of J and J^A engine crews to regain lost time became legendary. A stretch of fairly straight track across the Canterbury Plains near Rakaia acquired the nickname of "the racetrack" in New Zealand railway jargon due to the high speeds late-running South Island Limiteds would achieve. Crews claim to have broken the New Zealand railway speed record of 122.5km/h (78mph), set on 25 October 1940 by an RM class Vulcan railcar, but none of these claims were authenticated and remain unofficial.

Replacement

By 1970, steam locomotives had been almost entirely withdrawn from New Zealand. The North Island had been completely dieselised by the end of 1967, and the 1968 introduction of the DJ class had led to the dieselisation of almost all of the South Island's services. However, the South Island Limited continued to operate with steam motive power, a peculiar circumstance given that steam locomotives in most countries were last used on quiet, unimportant rural branch lines rather than the country's premier express. Its schedule was slightly slower than in previous years, as a number of stops had been re-introduced, raising the total number to 21. The decision was finally taken to replace the steam locomotives in late 1970. The South Island Limited was replaced by the diesel-hauled Southerner on 1 December 1970. This was not the end of the steam expresses, however; J and J^A locomotives continued to work Friday and Sunday evening expresses on the same route for almost a year. The last steam-hauled express, and last use of a steam locomotive in revenue service in New Zealand, ran on 26 October 1971.

Reference

• ^[2] Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966 - Train Services

Long Distance Passenger Trains of New Zealand

Currently operational: North Island Capital Connection - Overlander Currently operational: South Island TranzAlpine - TranzCoastal Historic: North Island Bay Express - Blue Fern - Blue Streak - Daylight Limited - Endeavour - Geyserland Express - Kaimai Express - Napier Express - New Plymouth Express - New Plymouth Night Express - Night Limited - Northerner - Northland Express - Rotorua Express - Scenic Daylight - Silver Star - Silver Fern - Taneatua Express - Taranaki Flyer - Thames Express - Waikato Connection - Wairarapa Mail Historic: South Island Culverden Express - Kingston Flyer - Lynx Express - Picton Express - Southerner - South Island Limited