After receiving a rap across the knuckles last week for moving a little too early, the Kingston Flyer's operations team got the train moving along the tracks smoothly yesterday morning.
Two years after it was mothballed, the historic steam train recaptured its former glory as it puffed down the tracks with owner David Bryce, driver Keith Simpson, operations manager Russell Glendinning and a bottle of whisky on board.
The three excited train enthusiasts sounded the deafening whistle and drank a toast to a successful season.
The season starts on October 29 with the first passenger ride.
But the Flyer's resurrection has not all been plain sailing.
Last week the old steam train caused some anxiety for Mr Bryce when, on one of the test runs, the embers started a small grass fire.
The operations team of Mr Glendinning and Mr Simpson were able to put out the fire before it caused any damage, but not before the New Zealand Transport Agency got wind of the news they had started up too early.
"We got a small rap over the knuckles," said Mr Simpson.
The train's relaunch has already captured the attention of the public.
Half the train was booked for October 29, administrator Diane Simpson said.
"It's generating a lot of excitement, a lot of interest and it hasn't even been advertised yet," she said.
"It's great." Mrs Simpson has four trainloads to sell for the grand "picnic day" in Kingston.
She hoped it would be a sellout.
She said bookings had come from as far away as Levin.
It was a big occasion for those who knew and loved the train's history, she said.
Mr Bryce's "vision" for the train was the reason both Mr and Mrs Simpson had moved back from Timaru, she said.
"With David at the helm ... his vision for the train".
Mr Bryce told the Otago Daily Times last week he hoped to put the train into a trust for the community to "take ownership" of it.
"If we set up a trust, that guarantees it stays in the community."
He said he would be using the trust to "keep things together for perpetuity".
Mrs Simpson approved of the trust idea, because she considered the train a heritage item.
"By putting it into a trust you have all the funding to preserve a heritage," she said.
