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Kingston Flyer

The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train operating in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It uses 14 kilometres of preserved trackage that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch.

 

The name "Kingston Flyer" was originally applied to the express passenger trains that ran between Kingston and Gore, Invercargill, and less frequently, Dunedin. The services commenced in the 1890s, not long after the government acquired the Waimea Plains Railway and incorporated it into the national network. In October 1937, passenger services on the Kingston Branch ceased, resulting in the abbreviation of the Waimea Plains passenger services to a Lumsden-Gore service until it too ended, in September 1945. However, excursion trains from Gore and sometimes Dunedin through to Kingston continued to operate at peak holiday seasons until Easter 1957. For many years, these expresses and excursions operated in conjunction with steamers on Lake Wakatipu to provide the primary access to Queenstown. (Wikipedia)

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Uploaded on January 31, 2009
Taken on January 11, 2009