nzflag(1).gif (9615 bytes)        S/V TETHYS

Touring New Zealand by Car
December 2000, February, March 2001
Kingston Steam Railway
Kingston is situated on the south end of Lake Wakahepu. A railroad was built from Invercargill to Kingston by the Southland district to attrat business to Invercargill. Dunedin, the main town of the Otago district was the major beneficiary of the gold rush as is evident today by the great number of stone buildings from that era. Invercargil wanted a piece of the cake too. Lake Wakahepu view (11967 bytes)
Kingston steam engines (11951 bytes) Miners and goods travelled by train to Kingston and then boarded one of the steamship for the trip to Queenstown.

The Kinston Flyer is still operating, taking tourists on a countryside tour. We came, took pictures, had lunch, and continued to Queenstown by car.

There are two steam engines working the railway. The older and smaller engine built in the 1890's in New Jersey is used in the summertime.

The Kingston Flyer, a larger engine built in the 1920's is used everyday. The photo on the right show coal being poured into the hopper car.

 Steam engine loading coal (14731 bytes)
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