A tram that featured in Peter Jackson's King Kong movie has a new home in Whanganui.
The former Brisbane tram, styled as a New York conduit streetcar as it was in the 2005 movie, was gifted to the Tramways Wanganui Trust by the Wellington Tramway Museum in 2015.
However, Tramways Trust chair Kritzo Venter said the 2015 Whanganui flood had delayed the arrival of the tram in the city.
"The flood set us back a couple of years," Mr Venter said.
"We had to put in a track and overhead wires for the Brisbane tram alongside the ones for our first tram, Mable. We were about halfway through the work when the flood diverted us by flooding the tram barn.
"We then had to take Mable apart, dry her out and reassemble her. Once that happened we moved back to preparation work for the new tram."
With the additional track and overheads now installed, the tram arrived in Whanganui on Tuesday and is housed in the Taupo Quay tram barn.
"Our plan is to do a restoration plan to make it back into a Brisbane tram and seek funding next year and we will probably do the restoration the year after," Mr Venter said.
"We also want to talk to the Whanganui District Council about extending the tram track up Market Pl toward Ridgway St. That would have a couple of benefits. It would take the tram further toward town and we want it to eventually go to the Watt Fountain. It would also mean we could get the tram to higher ground if there was another flood."
The new tram is 133, a Brisbane centre aisle two-bogie saloon car, popularly known as a 'Dreadnought'. It is one of a batch of 44 built between 1908 and 1920.
"The reason we wanted this tram is it has an interesting history, it provides a bit of variety and it also gives us a bit of redundancy if Mable needs repairs and is out of action," Mr Venter said.
"We want to see Whanganui showcase itself for historic transport. We have the Durie Hill elevator, the riverboats and the trams all within a close area. It's an under-utilised promotional opportunity for Whanganui."
Video from Mark Seconi