The locomotives were dumped opposite the Oamaru Railway Station along the coast as erosion protection back in the mid-1930s, but what remains has been removed from the sea during new coastal protection work.
Most of the wreckage is from Uc class locomotives, which ran between 1901 and 1958.
They are piled in two heaps, which are now being advertised for expressions of interest in removing them.
One appears to be a half-complete Uc locomotive, although there are other bits of rolling stock.
Oamaru Steam and Rail is interested in one, which manager Harry Andrew hoped could be reassembled, cleaned and painted as a static display in the historic area of Oamaru.
Mr Andrew has yet to register his organisation's interest in the wreckage, but plans to do so before the deadline of March 6.
The Rail Heritage Trust New Zealand is advertising for expressions of interest for the remains on an "as is, where is" basis.
Its chairman, Euan McQueen, said yesterday two parties, both from Christchurch, had already shown interest.
He believed both would be considering using the parts to create a static display of a Uc class locomotive, rather than restoring them to running order.
"That would be a monumental and expensive undertaking, because the steel is so rusty and corroded by the sea," he said.
The Uc class locomotive was built in Glasgow by Sharp, Stewart and Co.
Eleven came to New Zealand in 1901. The last went out of service in 1958.
It was quite common for rail rolling stock to be dumped for erosion protection along rivers and the coastline in the 1900s, when scrap did not have a big value.
"I can remember them when I passed through Oamaru on the train to Karitane in the 1940s. They were a lot more visible then," he said.
Mr McQueen said the parts were being offered for removal under certain criteria.
If no-one wanted them, they would then be offered as scrap.
Mr Andrew hoped one of the locomotives could remain in Oamaru for a display because of its historic links with the town, but also acknowledged that would depend on the cost of preparing it.
He believed they were dumped along the foreshore in 1936 and 1937. All the running gear and half a boiler from a Uc locomotive is in one pile.
Already one locomotive has been rescued from the Oamaru foreshore, a 1928 electric rail car, which has gone to Ferrymead, in Christchurch, for static display.
