New Zealand Mainline Steam Tours general manager Ian Welch, of Wellington, said the locomotive last visited Dunedin in 2006, for the 100th anniversary of the railway station.
"It is good to be back."
More than 120 mainly overseas passengers disembarked at the station yesterday and will travel on the Taieri Gorge Railway to Middlemarch today, as part of a 16-day tour, before heading to Queenstown.
The visit of the locomotive, built in 1939, coincided with the installation of a span of the 104-year-old Dunedin railway overbridge, which was badly damaged when struck by a container wagon on February 12.
Constructed by Zeal Steel, the $240,000 bridge was lifted into place by a crane yesterday, and is expected to reopen to the public later this week.
