The Kingston Flyer

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
  • Kingston Flyer

    This is George. He’s the driver of The Kingston Flyer steam locomotive. At 22 years of age he has to be one of the youngest full time steam train drivers around. He got his ‘steam ticket’ at 18, when he worked on another steam railway in New Zealand.

    The heritage steam railway runs from Lake Wakatipu in Kingston, New Zealand, taking tourists and railway enthusiasts alike to Fairlight.

    I asked him if he had always dreamed of being a steam train driver. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a young man of today he said he hadn’t. He didn’t own model railyway train set as a kid, and while he had worked on another steam railway system before The Kingston Flyer, to him this was just a job – a great job yes – but a job nonetheless. “Before this I worked in McDonalds.” He told me.