The remains of old locomotives which ran on New Zealand tracks early last century may turn out to be a treasure trove for rail enthusiasts.
The remains, mostly of Uc locomotives which ran between 1901 and 1958, have been lifted from the Oamaru foreshore opposite the railway station where they were dumped in 1936 and 1937 for coastal erosion protection.
Last month, the rusted remains, which included wheels, axles, boilers and other pieces, were offered by Rail Heritage Trust NZ for expressions of interest for removal.
"Anyone looking for a quick project to do?" was the trust's line, but it failed to attract any responses.
Trust chairman Euan McQueen said yesterday there had been some verbal expressions of interest, but no definite proposals had been received by the trust by the deadline last week.
"That is not to say some individuals or groups may not have already taken some pieces, or approached OnTrack directly," he said, although he acknowledged the trust was the body which had advertised for interest.
He was aware that some parts had already gone to Ferrymead Heritage Park, in Christchurch, and Oamaru Steam and Rail had raised the prospect of getting enough parts from the piles to reassemble a complete locomotive as a static display in Oamaru.
Steam and Rail manager Harry Andrew said yesterday interest in the parts had been expressed to OnTrack.
The group hoped all the remains, including one pile north of the railway station which looked to contain most of the parts of one Uc locomotive, would be moved to behind Steam and Rails' building in the Oamaru historic area.
"We would hope to remove all the parts to create a Uc loco as a static display in Oamaru, putting it together, cleaning and painting it," he said.
The other pieces would be available for other rail groups to sort through and take what they wanted.
"There [are] also other bits and pieces," Mr Andrew said.
