The 1951 Hudson Steam Locomotive brought 250 passengers to Warrnambool who were able to catch up with friends and family before returning to Southern Cross Station at 4.30pm.

Steamrail Victoria's Eddie White said the trip was an opportunity to bring visitors and train enthusiasts to the south-west.

"It's a good thing for tourism and people get a chance to see what it was like back in the day," he said.

He said thousands of people waved to the train as it made its way to Warrnambool.

"There were people at every crossing," he said.

"We started at Southern Cross, then stopped at South Geelong and Waurn Ponds and we'll drop them off on the way back."

Mr White said the train was powered by waste oil and it was time consuming to run with a lot of parts for the train not readily available.

He said the train was run by volunteers with a passion and love for trains.

"It's great, when we brought it here in 2008 you couldn't even move on the platform," he said.

"It's great that more people can get a go."

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