The ''Culverden Express'' was a passenger

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

operated by the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

between

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

and

Culverden Culverden is a small town in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It lies at the centre of the Amuri Plain. Culverden has traditionally been surrounded by sheep farms. Dairy farms have now become more common as a resul ...

. It ran from 1886 until its replacement by the '' Picton Express'' in 1945 and its route followed both the Main North Line and the

Waiau Branch The Waiau Branch was a branch line railway in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. Known as the Great Northern Railway for its first few decades of life, the Waiau Branch was seen as part of a main line north but was ...

. In the mid-1920s, the main northern terminus became

Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

, and to reflect this, the name was changed to the ''Parnassus Express''.

Introduction

On 8 February 1886, the railway line from Christchurch to Culverden was opened. Initially envisaged as part of the main route north to Marlborough, an express passenger train began operating between the two towns. It was the most important passenger train in the northern

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

region and it received modern rolling stock and

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomo ...

, such as the U^B class of 1899. In 1919, when the railway was extended beyond Culverden to Waiau, the ''Expresss operation was extended too: it ran twice daily between Christchurch and Culverden, continuing thrice weekly through to Waiau.

A new route

In 1900, work began on a coastal route north of

Waipara Waipara is a small town in north Canterbury, New Zealand, on the banks of the Waipara River. Its name translates to "Muddy Water", ''wai'' meaning water and ''para'' meaning mud. It is at the junction of state highways 1 and 7, 60 kilometre ...

, where the Main North Line turned inland to run through the

Weka Pass Weka Pass is a locality in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island between the towns of Waipara and Waikari. The Waipara River cut the Weka Pass by wearing down the soft limestone and mudstone in the area. Erosion has cre ...

to Culverden. This line reached

in 1912. Initially, the service to Culverden remained the main ''Express'', with carriages for Parnassus detached at Waipara and operated separately through to Parnassus. However, in the mid-1920s, Parnassus became the primary terminus, with the carriages detached in Waipara now conveyed to Culverden. The name of the train was changed to the ''Parnassus Express'' to reflect the alteration. This train was used for trials of the 'Midland Red' paint scheme to replace the Railways Department's former olive green with yellow trim livery; this paint scheme later came to be used nationwide through to the 1990s.

Replacement

The ''Culverden Express'' route gradually declined in importance as Parnassus became the primary terminus and work began on the coastal route as the line to the north. The

New Zealand Railways Road Services The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel servi ...

bus operations were actively encouraged, resulting in a stark decline in passenger demand on the Waipara-Culverden-Waiau route on what was now the Waiau Branch. In 1914, 20,000 passengers were carried, but by 1938, this figure was down to 3,000 annually and passenger services on the Waiau Branch were cancelled on 29 January 1939. The service to Parnassus continued to operate until the Main North Line was completed in full from Christchurch to Picton in December 1945. With the full line open, the Parnassus train was replaced by the ''Picton Express''.

References

External links

Tracks on OpenStreetMaps
(As dotted line, may require user to zoom in) {{NZR Passenger Long-distance passenger trains in New Zealand Railway services introduced in 1886 Railway services discontinued in 1945 1886 establishments in New Zealand 1945 disestablishments in New Zealand