Mainline Steam Heritage Trust

Regular day excursions and multi-day tours are operated over rail lines throughout New Zealand.

Based around the collection of steam locomotives that were privately owned by Ian Welch, the first of which had begun operating on the mainline with J 1211 with an excursion to Timaru and Arthurs Pass double-heading with the Glenbrook Vintage Railway's JA 1250.

[3] The Wellington depot, located at Plimmerton, is a purpose-built building that replaced the formerly leased Upper Hutt goods shed.

The depot in Christchurch is a former industrial building that used to be located at Studholme, it was relocated to land on the premises of CWF Hamilton.

It has also imported former British Rail Mark 2 carriages for use on its steam-hauled excursions and is in the process of overhauling them for New Zealand use.

These range from short half-day excursions to an annual national tour lasting several weeks and covering much of KiwiRail's rail network.