Those hoping to get a nostalgic whiff of good old-fashioned coal smoke at the Otago Central rail link's 130th anniversary this Labour Weekend will be disappointed.
Two of the stars of the event, steam locomotives JB1236 and Ab663 are "oilers" rather than coal burners, while hopes of bringing a coal-burning locomotive from the Kingston Flyer have not materialised.
And that means, according to steam enthusiasts, a difference in the smell of the event.
Organiser Grant Craig said the two locomotives coming from the North Island belonged to Mainline Steam Heritage Trust - the biggest private collection of steam locomotives in the world.
However, he said, all the trust's locomotive engines had been converted to burn oil for economic and logistical reasons.
"Coal's so dear and you can't just use any old coal. It's got to be good West Coast coal. So it's quite expensive coal-firing things now."
Mr Craig says the locomotives pull their own tankers of oil and water as they travel the country, rather than relying on local supplies.
He considers coal burners "smell nicer" but oil burners make the fireman's job a lot easier.
"All they've got to do is pull a lever rather than shovel tonnes of coal."
One of the few remaining Dunedin locomotive drivers with a steam ticket, Robbie Ferguson, says the "oilers" are just not the same.
"I would sooner be shovelling coal into a proper locomotive than just [operating] an oil burner. "The oil burner is just a matter of turning a valve.
"Lazy man's engines as far as I'm concerned."
"A coal-fired engine was really alive," Mr Ferguson said.
The "oilers" still require both a driver and a fireman, but on the trip to Invercargill tomorrow morning they would need to wear warm clothing because the "oiler's" boiler did not give off heat like that of a coal burner.
Mr Ferguson, who grew up right next to the tunnel at Roseneath, has clocked up 50 years working in railways and still drives the diesel locomotives on the main line.
He is one of just five Dunedin people left with the qualifications to drive a steam locomotive and all are well into their 60s.
Mr Craig said drivers were "getting few and far between" andthat could impact on steam events in future.
Plans to have Kingston Flyer locomotive AB778 at Middlemarch for the celebrations have not come to pass, Mr Craig said.
"The Kingston Flyer is in financial limbo at the moment and I couldn't persuade [the owner] to let me have the engine."
Steam haulage through Dunedin ended in November 1971 and as a coal-burner, the 70-year-old locomotive JB1236 was one of the last to operate here.
The weekend's celebrations occur on Monday at various points along the Otago Central line between Dunedin and Middlemarch.
