Silver Star (NZR train)
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The Silver Star was a luxury passenger train that ran overnight between Auckland and Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) railway of New Zealand, operated by New Zealand Railways (NZR). The train ran from Monday 6 September 1971 until Sunday 8 June 1979. It replaced the Night Limited express passenger trains which provided a faster service than the ordinary express trains, by stopping at only six intermediate stations en route and not hauling a postal (sorting) van as on previous trains.
Silver Star arriving in Auckland alongside Hobson Bay and Tamaki Drive in March 1973, hauled by two DA class locomotives.
North Island Main Trunk
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The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is 682 kilometres (424 mi) long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of 1,067 mm and serves the large cities of Palmerston North and Hamilton.
Panorama of the Raurimu Spiral.
Approaching Auckland CBD through the eastern suburbs on the Westfield deviation to the North Island Main Trunk.
In the 1930s, the Wellington end was deviated from Wellington to Tawa Flat by the Tawa Flat deviation, including two long tunnels. The deviation is the centre two tracks, with the Wairarapa Line's Ngauranga station in the background, alongside State Highway 1.
EW1805 hauling DC 4611 near Paekākāriki on the electrified Wellington section. This section of the North Island Main Trunk was electrified in 1940.