| Kingston Flyer | |
|---|---|
 The Kingston Flyer approaching the terminus at Fairlight, December 2000 | |
| Locale |  New Zealand |
| Terminus | Kingston |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Kingston Branch |
| Built by | Southland Provincial Council (to 1870) Otago Provincial Council (1870–1876) Department of Public Works (1877–1878) |
| Original gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Stations | 2 |
| Length | 13.69 kilometres (8.51 mi) |
| Preserved gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
| Commercial history | |
| 1886 | Kingston Flyer name first used for train between Gore and Kingston after nationalisation of the Waimea Plains Railway. |
| 4 October 1937 | End of regular passenger services. |
| 1957 or 1958 | End of holiday season passenger services. |
| 21 December 1971 | Re-opened to summer season vintage trains. |
| Closed to passengers | 17 April 1979 |
| Closed | 25 November 1979 |
| Preservation history | |
| 18 December 1982 | Kingston – Fairlight re-opened to summer season vintage trains. |
| 1 December 1992 | Operation sold to New Zealand Rail Limited |
| 2011 | Operation sold to private owner, David Bryce. Services restarted after a two-year lay up. |
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It used 14 kilometres of preserved track that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch. Originally, Kingston Flyer was a passenger express train between Kingston, Gore, Invercargill, and less frequently, Dunedin. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) from the 1890s to 1957. In 1971, NZR revitalised the service as a tourist venture, later leasing the locomotives and rolling stock in 1982 to a private company.[1] Since then, the Kingston Flyer has been through a number of owners, most recently being owned by the Kingston Flyer Ltd. A group of volunteers has restored the railway, rolling stock and locomotives to service.[2] In July 2021 the Kingston Flyer received resource consent to operate, initially for tour groups.[3]
- ^ Churchman & Hurst 2001, p. 209.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Jan2021was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Queenstown's Kingston Flyer back after eight years". New Zealand Herald. 17 July 2021. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.