The historic Oamaru Railway Station will be one of many Waitaki film locations for an upcoming Netflix production based on the classic American novel East of Eden.
Filming for the seven-part series will take place in Oamaru and the Waitaki District from early next year with pre-production starting before Christmas.
Hollywood actress Florence Pugh, famous for Little Women, Dune 2, Oppenheimer and We Live in Time, is expected to play the lead in the seven-part series.
East of Eden, set in the Salinas Valley, California, follows the intertwined families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, who in succeeding generations hopelessly re-enact the biblical fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
In John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel, protagonist Adam Trask’s scheme to ship fresh lettuce to New York by rail is a disaster, highlighting the folly of shipping perishable produce before refrigeration.
Oamaru Steam and Rail general manager Harry Andrew said they had already begun "setting up" for the 1900s American period drama for scenes involving the railway.
"[Part of] the story is about moving vegetables and lettuces across America ... we’ve worked with KiwiRail to use the Oamaru Railway Station ...
"We’ve got carriages and we’re bringing others to town.
"They’ll use some of the wagons and they’re going to put something on the wagons," Mr Andrew said.
Other rail heritage items would be trucked to Oamaru for the production.
The Oamaru harbour and heritage precinct would also be used, the Oamaru Mail understands.
Mr Andrew said the Scottish Hall had been confirmed and other North Otago set locations were still to be confirmed.
