The country’s most famous heritage train itself is a tribute to the “Flyer” passenger service introduced in the late 1890s as an alternative to grindingly slow freight trains.

The original “Kingston Flyer” ran Kingston-Gore on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Kingston to Invercargill on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

In 1971 a heritage steam train ran from Kingston to Lumsden, reducing to Kingston to Garston in 11 years later. In 2012 the Flyer puffed its last and was shunted onto a siding where it has remained since.

Original, shown here, is available.