The public announcement of plans for the new train was made in December 1965 Extensive study was made of other early 1960s Australian overnight trains, particularly the Queensland Rail "Sunlander", the Victorian Railways/South Australian Railways "Overland", and similar designs in the United States, such as the final Santa Fe Railroad 'High-Level' and Burlington Railroad carriages. New Zealand built carriages were estimated by NZR Chief Mechanical Engineer, J. Black in 1958, to cost NZ£25,000 pounds for a second-class carriage and £35,000 for a first-class carriage.