Otago Railway and Locomotive Society chairman Campbell Thomson said the Ocean Beach collection welcomed the arrival in service of a 1913 carriage at the weekend, after it had taken nearly a year to bring it up to standard.
"We hope days like this help to keep alive a history of New Zealand railways.
"Because 90% of our clients are families of young children, so one of the things we’re enjoying, we’ve got lots of people here, is just rekindling that sort of interest in trains for the next generation."
Each trip took about 10 minutes, he said.
"We don’t have a set schedule, we just sort of go.
"But the idea is, once you buy a ticket, if you want to go for one ride, or 10 rides, it’s up to you.
"It’s providing something that a lot of families can go to, which is not going to cost them an arm and a leg, and have a fun experience on the weekend. And they can do it again and again."
Amber Bottomley brought the whole family out for the event.
"It was a fun little journey. All of the kids loved it."
• The society announced last night the food drive had collected 440 cans and plenty of other food items for local food banks.
