The "Kingston Flyer", Invercargill to Wairio Return. Filmed 1981 to 1982

Between Dec 1979 and April 1982 the 'Kingston Flyer' vintage steam train ran summer excursions from Invercargill on the freight only New Zealand Railways branch line to the railhead at Wairio, also being the terminus and interchangefor the 8 mile Ohai Railway Board Line. This 30 minute sound film follows a number of these runs through the beautiful rural Southland countryside while also featuring a now lost world of country railway stations & rail yards, the rhythmic clickety-clack of short bolted rail, semaphore signals, and even lineside railway telephone poles. Our 4-6-2 "Pacific" Class Locomotives are AB778 and AB795 built in 1925 and 1927 respectively. Our seven car consist comprises of a unique 'Birdcage' 1st class gallery car built in 1900, two combined 1st class cars with guards compartments from 1906 and 1911, a wide-bodied Vice-Regal & Ministerial car dating from 1909, now being used for refreshments, and three 2nd class cars dating from 1913 & 1923. The slight 'clatter' you hear is from the camera mechanism when originally filmed. When viewing on a computer screen set to 1080p HD but viewing on a television may improve lighting and colour reproduction.