A last-minute "hiccup" involving payment meant the carriages of the historic Kingston Flyer, not the complete train with a locomotive, were used in a Bollywood film shoot early yesterday.
A source close to the production said an "internet banking glitch" meant an undisclosed sum of payment to the receivers of the legally troubled tourist attraction could not be processed in time for filming with the locomotive before business hours yesterday morning.
The source said receiver Lindsay McLean, of Malloch McLean, asked for an undisclosed figure in a bank cheque before he could approve the release of the steam engine from its yard.
Mr McLean said film company representatives agreed to pay on Monday and had permission to film on the private land, as long as they paid the fee.
However, they failed to do so.
"I'm very disappointed after all the time, effort and compromise by a lot of people and the NZTA [New Zealand Transport Agency] that we've been let down," Mr McLean said.
More than 40 Indian and Queenstown cast and crew members set up and shot four montage scenes for the film I Hate Luv Stories with the stationary carriages of the Kingston Flyer, or its station, as backdrops to the action.
