"We are growing in size and cannot be ignored forever," was the post former Invercargill woman Margaret Groves left on a site dedicated to saving the Kingston Flyer on Sunday night, as the number of fans reached 85.
The Otago Daily Times reported on Saturday Mrs Groves, who now lives in Levin, set up a page on Facebook, a social networking site, called "Save The Kingston Flyer - Please".
By Friday afternoon, Mrs Groves had eight followers.
By yesterday afternoon, that number had reached 150.
Mrs Groves said she was not surprised at the growth in supporter numbers because "everyone cares".
"I don't know if it's going to achieve anything though - I would quite like to know why Prudential (Mortgage Nominees Ltd) backed out of the sale . .
"I'm going to give it a shot."
Some of the followers had posted messages on the site, many of them sharing fond memories of the Flyer.
"I remember riding the Kingston Flyer as a kid.
"It's a part of New Zealand history. I would hate to see it disappear and fade into memory only," one man wrote.
A former employee said the train "deserves to be saved".
"I worked on the Flyer when it first started in the '70s . . . [I] also know the current workers, come on, let's help them . . . please."
A current member of the Kingston Flyer team said it was "so sad that a finance company can do this to a great icon".
"It still has a great future with, up until now, solid bookings and a promising coming season.
"Good on ya Prudential Mortgage Nominees Ltd."
Jayne Caldwell, Ian Caldwell's wife, congratulated Mrs Groves.
Mr Caldwell and Phil Kerr were directors of Kingston Flyer Steamtrain Ltd (KFSL), and Mrs Caldwell said the "whole episode" had taken a toll on their lives over the past 10 months.
"Life goes on and I'm sure there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
"Another woman called for some "powerful insight and action".
"Seems to me like those who have the clout to make decisions which affect historical icons, lifestyles of dedicated workers and communities, and the invested monies of passionate train buffs involved, are a law to themselves," she said.
"Oh for some powerful insight and action from someone [or several someone's] with moral comprehension."
Another woman asked why Prudential blocked a sale to United States-based company Railmark.
"We would all like to know that," was the response.
"If you know anyone who can actually talk to the people concerned, let us know the result."
One man blamed Invest Southland for the situation.
"If [it] had created a trust to run the Flyer rather than sell it off to a money-grabbing Jaffa . . . then this situation would never had arisen."
Mrs Groves said it was time to seek some answers.
She told the ODT there were "a lot of angry people" at the moment, particularly those who were about to lose their jobs.
"I haven't given up yet [but] apart from contacting Prudential, I don't know what else to do . . . maybe we'll have a sit-in."
