Icons of steam train era to celebrate 130 years at weekend

A lot of steam will be let off in Kingston this weekend as two icons of Southland's pioneering past celebrate their 130th birthday.

The Invercargill to Kingston railway line and one of the original steam locomotives on the route, the Rogers K92, have reached this milestone and everyone has been invited to the birthday party.

It will be the first time the K92 has run on the Kingston line since 2000 and anyone wanting a trip down memory lane would be best to get in now, as its return may be short-lived. The locomotive's owner, the Waimea Plains Railway Trust, was getting close to installing her in its new railway museum, at Mandeville, chairman Colin Smith said yesterday.

The locomotive has been brought back to Southland especially for its birthday, having spent the past eight years on loan to groups in Ferrymead, Ashburton and Oamaru. "We wanted it back here for its birthday, it's the right thing to do," Mr Smith said.

The K92, once the fastest steam locomotive in New Zealand, was lucky to have reached the grand age of 130 after being dumped, in 1928, in the Oreti River, north of Lumsden, to combat erosion. She lay there for 57 years before being recovered by the Fiordland Vintage Machinery Museum. It took six years but in 1991 the K92 was in steamable condition. The trust took over ownership in 2000.

Mr Smith said this weekend's birthday would be quite an occasion. However, it would not match the opening of the line in 1878 when the Queenstown Borough Council and Lake County Council declared a public holiday. On that occasion an estimated 200 people travelled down the lake to Kingston by steamer while a special train, made up of three engines and 22 carriages, transported 1200 people from Invercargill.

Mr Smith said there would be plenty of chances for a ride on the historic locomotive during the weekend.