Hundreds of residents congregated at Dubbo Railway Station over the weekend for the steam train rides with the return of Locomotive 3801 to Dubbo upon its recent restoration in March of this year.
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Residents who purchased tickets boarded the steam train from Dubbo Railway Station and enjoyed a one hour loop from Dubbo to Minore and back, while others simply showed up just to catch a glimpse of the locomotive and to get a picture with it.
Archer Connolly was one of the lucky ones who got to enjoy a ride on Sunday morning with his mum, dad and little brother.
Archer said it was the very first time he had ever been on a train.
"It was fast and the smoke smelt funny," Archer said.
Archer said it was also cold, but despite it all, he had a good time and would definitely do it all again.
"It was like a picnic in there, we had our own little space," he said.
Similarly, Tanya and Michael Connolly also said it was an experience they would definitely do again in the future.
For others, being a passenger on a train wasn't a first-time experience, but an experience worth having a second time around.
Brothers Flynn and Zavier Warman said their early Sunday morning ride was their second time as passengers on a train, but that didn't take away from the pair's excitement in the slightest.
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Other residents like David Rourke stood at a safe distance to catch Locomotive 3801 in all its glory.
But Mr Rourke wasn't alone, instead, he brought along his dog Saffy for the special occasion- one which was rather nostalgic for him.
"That was the train I used to come and do work on back in 1960," he said.
The 3801 steam locomotive operated by the NSW Government Railways between 1943 and 1974.
Locomotive 3801 was built in 1943 by Clyde Engineering and has been in preservation since its retirement from the NSW Railways in 1962.
Mr Rourke said he has only lived in Dubbo for a couple of years, but this was the first time he could remember that the locomotive had visited the town in at least a few years.
All passengers were required to sign in via QR code upon arrival and were asked to remain socially distanced.
The steam train rides on Locomotive 3801 are run by Heritage NSW.
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