Because I have nothing better to do on a Sunday (actually, I do), I decided to flick through some old timetables to see what sort of train service some towns in New Zealand once had.

Greymouth, to start. Today it has one departure, to Christchurch. Back in 1950? Bustling.

Images in prev tweet are by Weston Langford (nos 103730, 103732, 103744): https://westonlangford.com/ 

They show Greymouth on 2–3 Jan 1964: an overview; the old riverside platform (now a walkway); main station. The 2-storey brick building between platforms is now Speight's Ale House.

I did Monday–Friday for Greymouth as Saturday made it messy; few trains Sunday. Rest are Monday–Saturday. Here's another station once bustling: Invercargill in 1950.

Since 2002? Nothing.

Can't get over five trains to various Southland/Otago towns within half an hour, 4–4:30pm!

The towns above are from public timetables I scanned. Rest are from working timetables @MAndrewWaugh kindly sent me. First up? Napier 1947. Today? Zero.

Pics:
Last tweet: Invercargill, undated (Muir & Moody), @Te_Papa C.014841
Here: Napier 1922, AP Godber, @NLNZ APG-1248-1/2-G)

Let's check out Masterton in 1947. Wairarapa-class railcars ran almost all services. Today: 5–6 weekday trains to Wellington thanks to tunnel replacing Remutaka Incline, but none to Woodville. Pics: @WaiArchive 17-152/1-65 (Summit), 13-32/1-80 (Masterton), 17-152/2-2 (on Incline)

Back a bit further in time: trains from Whangārei, 1939. It has had no passenger service since 1976, and nothing meaningful for nine years before that.

Pics: Whangārei circa 1920s (NLNZ 1/2-003553-a-F) and two undated F.G. Radcliffe shots ( @Auckland_Libs 35-R1947 and 35-R1939)

One thing I wanted to see was the effect of the 1944 coal-saving timetables. Initially it doesn't look like much changed in Stratford. Look closer: some trains slip in frequency, esp intercity expresses.

Stratford's last passenger train ceased in 1983. Pic: Auck Lib'y 1370-334-3

All around NZ in 1944, expresses slumped from daily to 2–3x/week. Slower, less reliable too. When NZ bought new railcars in 1955, they were also unreliable. Didn't mean this to be promo for my book but this explains much of where our passenger trains went. https://andrebrett.com/2020/11/18/ive-been-there-i-know-the-way-the-nz-passenger-rail-book-is-happening/

Oops, so I just realised the Stratford one is hilariously incomplete: it shows trains heading only in two directions, not all three. Fixed now! Same comments apply: at first glance, appears only minor tinkering, but coal-saving timetable reduced frequency of passenger trains.