Three pieces of railway history are waiting at Pollock Cranes Tauranga yard for the ground to dry out, so they can be moved to their new homes.

They are going to be moved to new homes up the Minden, Omanawa and Taranaki, says Pollock Cranes dispatch operations manager Carl Hawkings.

Stainless steel Silver Star carriages at Pollock Cranes Tauranga yard. Photos: Chris Callinan.

'Two have stayed up in Thames, and that's about all we know about them.”

Carl believes one will be used for accommodation.

The stainless steel carriages were once part of the Silver Star express, NZR's late attempt to compete with jet aircraft for Auckland-Wellington business traffic.

The pricey all sleeper service never worked. The travelling public preferred to pay less for seats on the slower night express and those who could afford the overnight sleeper service, flew instead.

The Silver Star operated from September 1971 until June 1979. Plans to change the service stalled when blue asbestos insulation was discovered. The 24 cars were hauled to Auckland in 1987. In 1990 the train was brought by Orient Express Trains & Cruises and taken to A & G Price, in Thames, for regauging from New Zealand's 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge to 1000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge for Thai and Malaysian railway lines.

Six cars remained at A & G Price - two double sleepers, two single sleepers and two power vans with stripped out interiors, asbestos removed, and no longer on bogies. They have been for sale since December 2012.

The Silver Star was a luxury passenger train that ran overnight between Auckland and Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk.