On Tuesday, January 14, the Rainforest Rattler was returning home to Paterson after having spent 12 days in Coffs Harbour and organiser Neil Manson though it might be nice to pick up passengers from Taree and bring them to Gloucester.

Neil contacted the Gloucester Soldiers Club the Friday before to see if they could assist with transporting a few passengers into town while they waited for the 4.20pm XPT back to Taree.

The club's secretary manager, Anthony Hughes thought it would be great for Gloucester to have a few extra people come into town, so he agreed with the expectation of around 20 people.

Apparently the chance to have a ride on a vintage diesel-powered train was more popular than expected and 80 people ended up on the platform around 2.30pm. Thanks to the support of the Gloucester Country Club and the Avon Valley Pub, all three courtesy buses were put into action.

Unfortunately, the train was delayed by 30 minutes and the already quick visit was made even shorter, meaning the visitors didn't have much time to meander through town.

According to train driver, Rod Short they're hoping to do something similar again in the future.

"But I think we're going to need a bigger bus, we weren't expecting 80 passengers," Rod smiled.

Needless to say, the passengers enjoyed their experience on tracks, especially being able to open the windows, one of the unique aspects of the train.