Train lovers will take another trip back in time when the Westcoaster steam train makes a return visit to Warrnambool later this year.
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Allansford train enthusiast Eddie White, who was behind last year's nostalgic train trip, said this time a 1950s S-Class diesel engine would be used to help the vintage engine up Warrnambool's hills.
Mr White said the trip, scheduled for September or October, would be pulling at least six old carriages, possibly more.
Last year, Mr White put $30,000 of his own money into bringing the train back to Warrnambool, and was able to cover his costs after he sold 225 tickets.
This year the trip is being run by Steam Rail Victoria, who will take over the bookings, but Mr White is still heavily involved.
"I'm still heading it up," he said.
"I'll be there front and centre again. I won't miss it for the world."
The S-class diesel engine is similar to the one West Coast Railway used to run when it operated the Melbourne to Warrnambool train service in the 1990s.
It will help the 1950s-era R711 which got stuck near the Simpson Street bridge for about 15 minutes on the last visit.
"Coming out of Warrnambool last time was a drama. It just wasn't able to get up the hill," he said.
Mr White said there was a lot of interest in the return visit.
"I'm expecting that this trip will sell out nearly as fast as the last one," he said.
"There's hardly a week or fortnight goes by that someone doesn't mention the last trip, or ask 'when is the next one coming back?'.
"It's still very popular with people down here."
Tickets are expected to go on sale at the end of the month, or early August.
It will arrive in Warrnambool about 2pm and depart about 6.30pm or 7pm.
"There'll be a few different tour options for the passengers on the train," he said.
He said there were "definitely" plans to keep the trips going.
"We've hopefully cemented a trip to Warrnambool every year in the steam program," he said.
"I wanted to prove we could do it in a day and we did.
"We've proved that it's a viable trip."
He said he hoped the community would get behind this trip like they did in May last year, the first visit to the region of the steam train in many years.
"It was the community support that blew everyone away," Mr White said.
"The people on the train were just astounded how many people came out. It was even a shock to me."
Mr White said he hoped to eventually get a steam train down for a few days so they could run short shuttle trips.
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