An 1885 locomotive has been lifted from its watery grave at the bottom of a river bed where it has been for the past 93 years, in a bid for new life.

The Lumsden Heritage Trust had hoped to remove two partly-submerged locomotives from the Oreti River in Northern Southland on Wednesday.

They were able to lift one of the locomotives from the river but the other remains, deemed too difficult to pull out.

JOHN HAWKINS/STUFF Workers remove a partly-submerged locomotive from the Oreti River in northern Southland. Two locomotives were dumped by New Zealand Rail in 1927 after scrap metal prices remained low post-World War I.

Speaking at the work site this morning, trust chairman John Titter said the experience had been unbelievable.

READ MORE:

* Full steam ahead: Catching the Heartland Flyer

* Trust making progress in retrieving locomotives from Oreti River

* Locomotives unearthed in Southland for the first time in nine decades

New Zealand Railways tipped two 1885 V class locomotives into the Oreti River near Lumsden in 1927 for flood protection, after they were deemed as surplus stock and because the price of scrap metal was low after the war.

John Hawkins Lumsden Heritage Trust chairman John Titter looking happy after removing an old 1885 V Class locomotive from the Oreti River near Lumsden.

They have laid there ever since, but on Wednesday a crane lifted one of the former freight and passenger locomotives out of its resting place which is now a tributary of the Oreti.

Several tonnes of silt was removed from the 32 tonne locomotive so it could be lifted.

The Trust decided to try and retrieve the locomotives about six years ago, with the plan to display them at nearby Lumsden.

John Hawkins An old 1885 V Class locomotive being removed from the Oreti River near Lumsden.

Fifty percent of the $158,000 retrieval project came to fruition on Wednesday, but the decision was made not to attempt to remove the second locomotive because of the magnitude of the task.

"Wow, unbelievable, that's a mammoth task," said an emotional Titter as the locomotive emerged from its resting place.

On Tuesday night a coal tender was lifted from the same location, with Titter saying the tender and locomotive would be cleaned and displayed adjacent to the railway station precinct at Lumsden in northern Southland.

John Hawkins Workers watch as a locomotive is lifted from the Oreti River in northern Southland. Two locomotives were dumped by New Zealand Rail in 1927 after scrap metal prices remained low post-World War I.

There were no plans to restore them, he said.

The retrieval operation, on the property of Roger Hamilton, was six years in the making and only possible with local funding and a lotteries grant.

Some preparation work had been done in late 2018, with earthmoving machinery and manpower removing soil and mud covering some parts of the locomotives.

John Hawkins/Stuff An 1885 locomotive being lifted by a crane onto a truck after being pull out of a river bed in Southland on Wednesday.

When the trust was exploring its options to retrieve the locomotives, Titter talked of the "hope and dream" to get them out of the ground and on display.

On getting one of the "magnificent steam machines" out, he said his emotions were running high.

"When it was originally lifted the wheels on the 133 year old locomotive turned," he said.

John Hawkins Workers prepare to remove a partly-submerged locomotive from the Oreti River in northern Southland. Two locomotives were dumped by New Zealand Rail in 1927 after scrap metal prices remained low post-World War I.

"We had ambitions of getting them both but over the past couple of days it turned from a massive task to a mammoth task."

The locomotive was built specifically for New Zealand and both were probably the last remaining V Class locomotives in the world, he said.

The rarity of the trains was well documented with a story on them published in a 1929 The Railways Magazine.

John Hawkins Workers prepare to remove a partly-submerged locomotive from the Oreti River in northern Southland. Two locomotives were dumped by New Zealand Rail in 1927 after scrap metal prices remained low post-World War I.

The magazine documented the day the locomotives were tipped into the river.

Titter said lines were specially made to get them to the river side near Lumsden.

Trust secretary Rob Scott said it was exciting to see the task come to fruition.

John Hawkins Workers prepare to remove a partly-submerged locomotive from the Oreti River in northern Southland. Two locomotives were dumped by New Zealand Rail in 1927 after scrap metal prices remained low post-World War I.

"The dream is being fulfilled."