Queenstown New Zealand-1978: Red-Funnelled Lake Steamer Pouring Black Smoke at Its Wharf

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1978
Decade1970s
LocationQueenstown, Otago, New Zealand
Duration2s
Price$149 USD
Collection1978 · Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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From the same film reel

1978 · Marlborough Sounds & Marlborough · Reel 7588725b contains 21 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1978 · Queenstown, Otago, New ZealandExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1978Explore the year →Across the yearsQueenstown, Otago, New ZealandExplore the place →

What is in this clip

heritage steamship
coal-fired steam power
1970s tourism
lake travel
New Zealand holiday
alpine lake town

Shot type: wide
Camera: handheld · static
Setting: outdoor · lakeside wharf below a wooded hillside town with mountains behind
Time and weather: day · summer · overcast with low cloud on the mountain
Lighting: flat overcast daylight
People: 8 · Small, distant passengers on deck in red, blue and yellow jackets, plus a partial figure at the lower right edge of the first frames; no faces are clear.
Vehicles: lake steamer
Landmarks: TSS Earnslaw · Lake Wakatipu
Objects: red funnel · mast · derrick boom · lifebuoy · lifeboat · deck railing · timber wharf · houses on hillside
Colors: white · red · dark green · grey
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: High

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

The steamer sits at its wharf as black smoke rises from the red funnel.
The smoke plume thickens and drifts across the wooded hillside.
Passengers in bright jackets stand along the deck rail.
The shot ends with the smoke column still pouring skyward.

Red-Funnelled Lake Steamer Pouring Black Smoke at Its Wharf — Clip Details

Queenstown, New Zealand, circa 1978 home movie footage of the coal-fired lake steamer TSS Earnslaw tied up at its wharf on Lake Wakatipu. Black smoke pours from the red funnel and drifts across a wooded hillside dotted with houses, while passengers in bright jackets stand at the rail. A cloud-capped peak rises behind and pine branches hang across the top of the picture. The moment is held in one short handheld Super 8 shot taken from the shore.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 2s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800002365

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip. Review the flags below for your editorial context.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: Yes
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1978 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Answers requests for 1970s New Zealand travel footage or a working coal-fired steamer, suited to tourism-history, transport-heritage and South Island documentaries.
Period detail: The faded warm colour, visitors' bright nylon-style jackets and the steamer still burning coal for sightseeing trips may show the late-1970s tourist era at Queenstown.
Home-movie behavior: A visitor on the shore frames the steamer through pine branches, catching the moment the funnel pours smoke as fellow tourists wait on deck.
What appears in frame: A white steamer with a red funnel and black top, a thick plume of black smoke, passengers at the rail, a lifebuoy, a tall mast, wooded hills with houses and a cloud-capped peak.
Film character: Handheld Super 8 with warm faded colour, soft focus, a pale sky and scattered dust flecks that give the shot an authentic projected-film texture.
Edit role: Works as an establishing shot for Queenstown, a short cutaway in a steam-transport sequence, or a nostalgic memory beat in a travel montage.
Historical context: The vessel matches the TSS Earnslaw, launched in 1912 and leased as a tourist steamer from 1969, so the shot shows it in its later life carrying sightseers.
Research note: The copyright in the film is separate from the likeness of the small, unidentified passengers and from the vessel and its funnel emblem, which belong to a commercial operator; seek advice before branded or commercial use.
Research search match: TSS Earnslaw Super 8, Queenstown 1970s home movie, coal steamer black smoke, Lake Wakatipu vintage footage, New Zealand travel film circa 1978.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's Highland pipe band and historic cottages clips from Queenstown, then its ferry and fiord-cruise shots, then other vintage steamship and lake-travel footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

TSS Earnslaw smoking at its Lake Wakatipu wharf in Queenstown, New Zealand, circa 1978, framed by pine branches — The lake steamer sits at its wharf as smoke begins to rise from the red funnel, Queenstown, circa 1978.
License this still · $49

Thick coal smoke pours from the Earnslaw's funnel above Queenstown's wooded hillside, Lake Wakatipu, circa 1978 — A dense plume of coal smoke drifts across the hillside behind the steamer.
License this still · $49

Passengers in bright 1970s jackets aboard the TSS Earnslaw as it smokes at the Queenstown wharf, New Zealand — Passengers in bright jackets line the rail beneath the smoking funnel.
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Smoke column rises from the red-funnelled Earnslaw steamer on Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, circa 1978 Super 8 film — The smoke column climbs high above the steamer as the shot ends.
License this still · $49

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