page_title: NZR 56-foot carriage
section_title: 1930s-1940s: second batch
hierarchical_section_title: NZR 56-foot carriage / 1930s-1940s: second batch
caption_attribution_description: Original caption: “JA1271 with excursion consist climbing the Opapa incline - 16 February 2003 Joseph Christianson” — On photo
context_page_description: The NZR 56-foot carriage is a class of 17.07 m long railway passenger carriage formerly used on almost all long-distance rail transport in New Zealand. 88 carriages have been preserved.
context_section_description: It was not until 1937 that further 56-foot carriages were built, to a slightly different design. The new carriages had different bogie spacing and a more rounded profile, to allow general route availability. They were classed A, with the initial batch of 92 being built at Otahuhu Railway Workshops and Addington Railway Workshops. It took until 1945 to complete the order. Further carriages were ordered after 1938, but due to the Second World War, they were never delivered. The 1951 Annual Report noted 127 carriages were "on order" but not under construction, this was substantially reduced to five with the ordering of the 88-seater railcars in 1955, and disappeared altogether in 1957.
  There was a large amount of variation in the body arrangement between batches. This primarily reflected the carriages use – second class (X25480), first-class, first and second-class composite (X25916) or semi sleeping. There were also variations between carriages intended for North Island and South Island use. South Island first-class carriages (X25495) were built with pressure ventilation and a coupe compartment at one end, while North Island first Class carriages (X25485) used roof-based vents like second class carriages, and did not include a coupe. Up to 12 second-class carriages were converted into 20 bed ambulance carriages for use in World War Two and after the war were converted for general use, six of which were converted for first-class use, with four receiving seats of a more modern design, that were later used for the Endeavour and The Connoisseur car. Eight out of 11 Semi sleeper carriages were rebuilt as 16-berth all-sleeper carriages, one rebuilt as a 14-berth sleeper because it retained the original 4-berth cabin. 56-foot carriages quickly became the mainstay of the passenger fleet, being used on the NZRs important trains in their red livery.
  The carriages were 56 ft 0 in (17.069 m) long and 11 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in (3.467 m) high. The width was  8 ft 11 in (2.718 m) at the waist reducing to 8 ft 9 ¹⁄₂ in (2.680 m) at about window height so that the carriages could run over all NZR lines. The extra width allowed second class seating to have one double seat each side of the aisle so seating four per row; but first-class carriages had seating for three per row, a single seat on one side and two single seats on the other side of the aisle. The seating for passengers was:
  First class: 31 passengers in single reclining chair seats (a few had 32 or 35 seats)
  Second class: 56 passengers (initially 59 for some 1939-40 Addington carriages with one toilet, but rebuilt to 56-seat with two toilets 1942-43).
  Composite: 14 first-class and 28 second-class; total 42 passengers.
  First class coupe: 29 & 2 triple width seats seating 6; total 35 passengers
  The carriages had an enclosed vestibule at each end. The first-class coupe carriages with a small coupe compartment seating 6 had only one lavatory at one end with the coupe compartment at the other end, but most had two lavatories, one at each end, often marked "Gents" and "Ladies".
caption: NZR JA class steam loco hauling two NZR 56-foot carriages followed by several NZR 50-foot carriages on an excursion train
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