A comparison between the old and new styles of New Zealand Railways Cups and saucers |
A Colourized view of the "Southerner" Express Buffet Car on a first trial run, late 1970 [Credit : Archives NZ Railways Collection] |
As with their Air New Zealand dinnerware commission, “Crown Lynn” designed a striking set of modern and relatively lightweight dinnerware which also reflected the limited space available on packed serving counters and at passenger’s fold out seat tables. The design in fact drew heavily on that produced for airline usage and the similarities in design is certainly no accident.
The full set comprised of a cup on a square saucer, an oblong side plate, a larger oblong dinner plate, a square sweet / salad / soup dish, and a small milk jug. The plates were not overly large but included high lips to both enable food to be contained within the plate as well as liquid spills for saucers, a very important consideration on a rocking and rolling refreshment carriage with sudden jolts being a not uncommon occurrence (I speak here from some experience). The cups are the same modern design as that used for the Air New Zealand set with handles being cleverly designed for ease of stacking, the limitations of storage space and the need to have everything within easy reach for staff working in crampt conditions in the new Buffet Cars being taken into consideration. While still made of vitrified china, that is where any similarity to the solid, heavy old Railways china ends.
Examples of the new NZR branded stainles steel cutlery |
Cutlery consisted of a stainless steel knife, fork, dessert spoon and teaspoon, all stamped with the new NZR logo. On board food and drink menus would also be a new feature.
Branding was an equally important consideration and this New Zealand designed and manufactured crockery would boldly feature the new NZR logo strikingly printed in white around the edges or bases of various pieces and on an attractive maroon base or background. Maroon was not a colour used on the exterior branding for the new expresses. Perhaps using those colours on railways china was thought to too closely resemble the Air New Zealand Teal dinnerware. But maroon was a bold choice and certainly highlights the white NZR logo.
Branding was an equally important consideration and this New Zealand designed and manufactured crockery would boldly feature the new NZR logo strikingly printed in white around the edges or bases of various pieces and on an attractive maroon base or background. Maroon was not a colour used on the exterior branding for the new expresses. Perhaps using those colours on railways china was thought to too closely resemble the Air New Zealand Teal dinnerware. But maroon was a bold choice and certainly highlights the white NZR logo.
The curious "light blue logo" china [Source : NZ Pottery Net] |
But to complicate matters, there are extant examples of the square railway saucers with the logo printed in a light blue on a white background. Presumably there were also cups with this same colouring but I have not seen any nor on plates. The best guess on a “Crown Lynn” forum group is that these were used on the luxury “Silver Star” express although another contributor stated that these were used on the "Southerner" Express. Opinions remain divided and without any defitive proof I cannot accept either statement as being correct. At this late stage, in fact almost half a century, perhaps only "Crown Lynn" or N.Z.R. archival records will definitively answer this question. Nonetheless, these "blue" examples are obviously not common and there may only have been one production run in this colouring before the colour and design were standardized. I for one am glad that all the Railways dinnerware was not produced in this colour, it just lacks a certain boldness. But more of this standardization process later.
An Original "Crown Lynn" Drawing for the New Zealand Railways Dinner Plate [Source : NZ Pottery Net] |
Examples of the "Crown Lynn" Dinnerware for General New Zealand Railways use |
The old Refreshment Rooms would continue with the traditional heavy old china to service railcar passengers and at the railway termini. The dates on original pattern solid railway saucers with the old style blue NZR and crown logo with production dates up to 1975 confirms this. But a more standardized and (in my opinion) rather uninspired and lacklustre style of everyday vitrified dinnerware would be manufactured from 1974 (this is the first example I hold) to 1984 for Station Restaurant use which featured a plain single black NZR logo on a white base. At least the logo was of the new design but there’s appears to have been no real effort here to create anything distinctive, it was purely standard pattern "Crown Lynn" commercial use vitrified chinaware. I am assuming that this standard china would also additionally be used “in house”, thus replacing the long-lived orange NZR logo china, the most recent example I have seen being dated 1971.
The new maroon logo on white "Crown Lynn" Dinnerware introduced circa mid to late 1970's |
Having previously mentioned the curious blue logo on white china saucer above, another alteration would be made but prompted solely by financial considerations. After the initial production run, and, I assume at some time in the mid to late 1970’s, the maroon colouring on the cups and plate bases would be discontinued and replaced with the NZR logo now in maroon on a plain white background. The saucer was the only part of the set never to have a design change, having always featured the NZR logo in maroon on a white base. The reason for this standardization was simply that having a maroon base involved an extra production process and the discontinuation of the coloured base and maroon coloured cup was purely a cost-cutting measure. While the design would stay the same all pieces bar one would now have the maroon logo on a white background.
An On-Board "Southerner" Menu Card [Source : Southerner Express FB Group] |
With the closure of the West Auckland based “Crown Lynn” factory in 1989 and the demise of the original long distance passenger services by the 1990’s and early 2000’s due to falling patronage and rising costs, usage of this dinnerware was then discontinued. Pieces still occasionally come up for sale, especially the later maroon on white versions but the original early 1970’s white logo on maroon background examples are naturally less common as these had the longest use. The rarest items today appear to be the white logo on maroon cup and similarly the small maroon milk jug, both commanding high prices for any collector eager to complete the full set.
Finally, I would stress that my intention here is to give an overview of this dinnerware and its history rather than a definitive and fully verified account. The full history of New Zealand refreshment room china from its initial use in privately owned railway establishments to the post 1917 Government owned Railway Refreshment Rooms and later onboard use is a truly fascinating subject. I am aware that further research work on the full history of New Zealand Railways chinaware is ongoing and which will build on the excellent research work already undertaken by the late Christine Johnson and of Michael O’Leary in the informative and well-illustrated booklet, “Railway Refresh in New Zealand” published by the Paekakariki Station Museum in 2020.
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Bibliography & Sources :
- Unless otherwise stated, all items are from my own personal collection
- "Railway Refresh in New Zealand" by Christine Johnson & Michael O'Leary, 2020- NZ History Net