There are finally plans to move some of the crumbling old Auckland commuter train carriages blighting the main street of Taumarunui.
KiwiRail says some will go from the central North Island town next month - more than seven years after they were dumped there.
Since then vandals have struck, and exposure to the elements has caused them to deteriorate.
It is a situation that has frustrated Ruapehu District mayor Weston Kirton, who wants the carriages gone so the town can focus on its potential to - again - become the heart of the main trunk line.
Ruapehu District mayor Weston Kirton wants to see Taumarunui's rail yard come alive again. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
About 50 carriages remain. They span the length of the rail yard, next to the main road through Taumarunui.
"We've got a lot of graffiti here, which has deteriorated the whole set up," Kirton said.
"It was originally under security, and for about five years they had seven-day-a-week, 24-hour security, but since then KiwiRail has seen fit to walk away from security.
"It's allowed the vandals to come here and jeopardise the future of these carriages."
When Checkpoint revealed the situation a couple of months ago, there was one word on townspeople's lips: eyesore.
It is a word Kirton uses too, as he reflects on what a waste it is to see the carriages decline.
"There is probably an opportunity for people to take them and use them for accommodation or some other further use so they could well be resurrected, but the idea of having them on the rail is probably beyond them.
"It's a sad situation where they've deteriorated so much, mechanically, that we only have limited options."
KiwiRail correspondence obtained by Checkpoint shows that people had been sleeping in the carriages.
One email also raised concerns about their condition, saying: "They can't be moved by rail because [the] condition of the brake systems and suspension is unknown.
"Whenever we transfer them, eg to be donors for refurb projects, we do it by road at fairly high cost."
The old carriages are covered in graffiti, and are crumbling in the elements. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Some of the carriages are owned by heritage groups, while KiwiRail has said ownership of 29 was transferred to it from Auckland Transport.
Just this week it confirmed to RNZ that 21 of its carriages would be taken away in late January.
"The carriages will be rearranged within the yard this month to provide a safe working area," a statement said.
RNZ has asked where they will go, and how they will get there.
Kirton said he was previously told they would be gone by Christmas.
"We want to take pride in our town and to have these here, when people are coming past our town - it's near the main street, visible to visitors and people who come into the area.
"It just distracts [from] the pride that we have, so we owe it to our community to move them on."
That's a sentiment shared by town residents spoken to by RNZ, who still wonder how Taumarunui became a dumping ground.
This is the view that greets people arriving into Taumarunui by train. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Meanwhile, Kirton is focusing on the future.
He wants to see the rail yard completely cleared of the carriages and instead play host to items of heritage interest, such as an old steam train.
Many residents' families came to the area due to rail, Kirton said, including his own - a century ago his grandfather was the station master at Taumarunui.
He is also keen on the once-bustling rail centre coming alive again.
"We're renowned for our forestry. It's all trucked out at the moment, but the fact that we've got scale here in this part of the country in terms of a rail network - it's really attractive for businesses."
He said from next year the King Country Pet Food factory would be operating at full capacity, and it was the sort of business that could use rail.
King Country Pet Food would consider using rail if it were viable. Photo: RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
Factory site manager Marcus James said about 45 people worked at the 4-hectare site just south of the town, and that was expected to double.
"The operation is operating a 10-tonne-an-hour extrusion plant - the only one of its size in New Zealand."
It produced pet food for global markets and James said the factory would consider rail to get its product out and raw materials in if it were viable and cost-effective.
He said because the factory was so far from a port it had to move goods by road or rail.
"Having talked to rail in the past, we would need to be completing, probably, full train loads of 10 to 20 carriages, and they did indicate that they would consider putting on a shunter from Hamilton's inland port down here to move goods that way."
