The Kingston Flyer may yet ride West Coast rails after Development West Coast confirmed yesterday it is still investigating the option to buy the historic steam train in its entirety. It turns out the recent buyer of the train was only interested in the land it sits on at Kingston, at the head of Lake Wakatipu. A proviso in any sale was that key aspects of the train's infrastructure had to remain at Kingston including the rail tracks and equipment to service steam locomotives, namely a coal loading crane and a water tower. Central to that would be getting permission to operate the train on the West Coast rail network, including to previously suggested destinations such as Moana and Hokitika, suitably qualified train crews and the feasibility of operating it. In reality, operating historic mainline steam locomotives such as those on the Kingston Flyer was far more labour intensive than for modern train operations and would probably need a core of volunteers along with other people to make it work, he said.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 05, 2017 02:26 UTC