But when the Taieri Gorge train stopped at Flat Stream yesterday, there was cheer among the 190 passengers who disembarked and made the two and-a-half hour trek to Machine Creek.
It was part of the annual Taieri Gorge Rail Walk which gave passengers a rare opportunity to experience one of the world's great railway lines on foot.
During the 8km walk, passengers walked through two tunnels, crossed four viaducts and experienced some of the Taieri's most spectacular scenery.
For 66-year-old Roger Parsons, a former employee in the foundry at Hillside Workshops for 50 years, it was the trip of a lifetime.
''It was excellent. It's not very often you're allowed to walk on a railway line with views like that.''
The walk was run by the Dunedin South Lions Community Trust to raise funds for the Dunedin Police Blue Light programme.
